The End of the Revolution?
The battles that took place between Villa and Obregon in 1915 would hearken the end of Villa and the Conventionists. Carranza had taken the key port of Veracruz which held an immense stockpile of weapons and ammunition. This would be key in a prolonged struggle against the Conventionalists. Along with the weapons came the money generated by the port. The Mexican economy had suffered greatly during the years of strife and money was hard to come by. The ability to pay and supply troops would enable the Conventionalists to stay longer in the field.
Obregon had studied the conflict in Europe and was familiar with the new developments in strategy that modern weapons allowed. At Celaya Villa, Obregon had utilized existing terrain in the way of irrigation canals and further dug trenches to fortify this feature (Gonzales, 2002. Pg. 148). Alongside the trenches Obregon deployed barbed wire and machine guns. The ongoing crisis in Europe had showed the futility of charges when an enemy is fortified behind such defense structures. Unfortunately, Villa had become overly reliant on repeat cavalry charges winning the day. At Celaya Villa, Pancho Villa ordered charges again and again with a result of incurring devastating losses. This sequence would play out with all too common familiarity in the coming battles between Villa and Obregon. On top of this Obregon was continuously getting resupplied from Veracruz (Gonzales, 2002. Pg. 149). This spelled the end of the largest army of the Conventionalists.
The constitutional convention started on September 14, 1916 and Carranza imposed a deadline on the convention for February 1, 1917 (Gonzales, 2002. Pg 162). Carranza hoped this deadline would mean his version of the Constitution would get railroaded through. In reality, many liberal elements slipped into the Constitution due to last minute negotiations. There were two main factions at the convention; The first was the liberales carrancistas who held somewhat anticlerical views, were proponents of individual rights, and supported the Constitution of 1857. The second were the jacobinos who were rigidly anticlerical, wanted state intervention to correct inequalities in society, and emphasized society over the individual.
After the presidency of Carranza came to an end, Obregon was next to assume the mantle of leadership. President Obregon immediately set about to mend fences and strengthen ties across factions. He appointed revolutionary leaders to positions of power, gave a general amnesty to supporters of Carranza, reached a new agreement with the Zapatistas, convinced Pancho Villa to give up his arms, and allowed many Porfirian era caudillos to return from exile (Gonzales, 2002. Pg 184). This whirlwind of action would take place all while Obregon was faced with over 100 strikes from the growth of organized labor and resistance from foreign companies to new tax rates and changes in law.
Even after the reforms of Obregon, Mexico was still susceptible to waves of revolution. The anti-clerical views and actions that took place in the early 1920s would give rise to the Cristero Rebellion during Calles’s time as President in 1926 (Gonzales, 2002. Pg. 204). The reign of Calles would be marked by political arrests, assassinations, and continued mobilization of agraristas. The revolution may have quieted down from the large scale battles of the early 1900s but Mexico was still in the grip of competing forces.
Mexico would struggle in the coming years with the same issues that had plagued it from the beginning namely land reform, international corporations, worker rights, the church, and succession. Each President would attempt to find the perfect balance between competing factions in each category with limited success. Each aspect of conflict can be found elsewhere on the world stage but it was the particular mix of these ingredients that created a unique and ongoing revolution in Mexico.
