The Revolution Continues

As the Mexican Revolution continued, both the Constitutionalists and the Conventionalists found themselves at odds. The Constitutionalists under the leadership of Carranza and Obregon wanted to establish a liberal democracy and enact some land reform. Their idea of land reform did not include actually returning prior lands seized and taken from the peasant class. The Constitutionalists also wanted to nationalize Mexican resources and land held by foreign nations.

As Gonzales writes, “Obregon’s approach to social and political reconstruction depended less on ideology than on pragmatism that led to compromises with Porfirian elitists, foreign business interests, ruthless caudillos, and land-hungry peasants].” (Gonzales, 182). An important note about Obregon once he is elected president is that his administration was the first stable presidency since 1910 and led to the creation of the 1917 Constitution.

For the Conventionalists under the leadership of Villa and Zapata, land reform was key. Whether or not it was feasible to enact such a radical undertaking was not an issue for them. The Conventionalists also wanted power to rest with the state government rather than offer a strong central or federal government.

The Constitutionalists under Obregon were successful because Obregon was able to secure the loyalty of high-ranking federal army officers (Gonzales, 183), which were “bought” with generous financial incentives. Obregon also began the task of bringing together factions and meddling schisms that developed during the early years of the revolution.

For the Conventionalists, Zapata was assassinated. Villa carried on as leader but ultimately retired and vowed not to get involved in government politics. However, Gonzales writes that Villa only vowed to stay out of politics until Obregon left office, “…his pledge to stay out of politics would expire at the end of Obregon’s term” (Gonzales, 200).