0.2 The great war (part i)  (Page 5/14)

Rallying to Madero were other anti-Diaz and anti- gringo leaders, whose names have become legendary on both sides of the Rio Grande: Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Alvaro Obregon, Plutarco Calles, and Venustiano Carranza. Although many of these caudillos joined with Madero for personal reasons and frequently engaged in outright banditry and murder in “the name of the Revolution,” they nonetheless were united in their cause to drive both Diaz, who they regarded as a gringo lackey, and all foreigners out of Mexico. In 1911, Madero, with the help of such individuals, defeated Diaz’s forces and the former president fled to Cuba and eventually to Spain, where he lived the remainder of his life.

However, no sooner did Madero take office than counter-revolutionary, right-wing military leaders in collusion with foreign capitalists conspired to overthrow his government. In 1913 General Victoriano Huerta succeeded in toppling via a coup d’etat, the Madero regime. Madero was held prisoner for a few days then along with his entire family and cabinet, brutally executed by Huerta henchmen. Madero’s murder had the full-fledged support of the foreign capitalists and their respective legations. With Huerta in power the European and American businesses could now continue their exploitation of Mexico’s resources and industries and its people for their own private profit. Despite the backing of United States and European capitalists, Huerta could not quell the fires of revolution. Villa, Zapata, and the other pro-Madero chieftains formed uneasy alliances to overthrow the Huerta regime.

The US had been less than dedicated to their support of any one Mexican official and to make matters more nebulous, some Mexican leaders were fighting against the old regime in Mexico as well as US corporate interests in Mexico. For example, a man named Francisco Villa was initially supported by the United States, until a more “democratic” fellow named Venustiano Carranza won the fancy of President Wilson. Wilson’s support for Carranza resulted in Villa launching attacks against US interests on the Mexican side of the US-Mexican border, until the fall of 1916 when Villa raided the New Mexican town of Columbus, killing at least twenty Americans in the process and resulting in Wilson ordering the US Army to invade Mexico.

Under the leadership of General John “Blackjack” Pershing, the US military force included many elements of National Guards from Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Pershing’s task was to locate and arrest Villa. Not only did Pershing fail to capture Villa, but American and Mexican forces clashed resulting on the deaths of both American and Mexican troops. Wilson will order Pershing out of Mexico in early 1917 in order to prepare the US for its participation in the war to end all wars.

Causes for the Great War

Some of the long-range causes of the war include militarism, nationalism, and secret alliances. Many European powers had been developing new weapons such as machine guns and the airplane. Although national borders such as Russia, Austria, and France were clearly delineated by 1914, ethno-linguistic ties transcended seemingly artificial national borders. For example, many French citizens living in the Alsace-Lorraine region of western France spoke German and some smaller areas of the Austrian Empire had religious and language ties to Russia, such as the Serbs. Finally, what made this war different was the long list of countries who promised to mobilize their forces in support of other countries in times of international duress. For example, England had an agreement with France in which England would mobilize its forces if Germany ever threatened France and Russia had pledged to support (militarily if necessary) the Slavic-speaking, Orthodox-praying Christians living amongst Muslims in the southern tip of the Austria-Hungarian Empire.