Key Facts
- Duration
- 20 Nov 1910 – 1 Dec 1920
- Total deaths
- ~1,000,000 (mostly non-combatants)
- Constitution promulgated
- February 1917
- Federal Army fate
- Destroyed and replaced by revolutionary army
- Revolutionary generals in power
- 1920–1940
Strategic Narrative Overview
Díaz resigned in May 1911 and went into exile. Madero was elected president but faced Zapata's agrarian rebellion and was overthrown and assassinated in February 1913 by General Victoriano Huerta. The Constitutionalist Army under Venustiano Carranza defeated Huerta by July 1914. Revolutionary factions then turned on each other; Carranza's forces defeated Pancho Villa's army by mid-1915. A new constitution was promulgated in February 1917, establishing workers' rights, land reform, and secularism.
01 / The Origins
The decades-long rule of Porfirio Díaz had grown increasingly unpopular, marked by labor unrest such as the Cananea and Río Blanco strikes. When Díaz jailed presidential challenger Francisco Madero in 1910, Madero issued the Plan of San Luis Potosí calling for armed revolt. Rebellions erupted in Morelos and northern Mexico, exposing the Federal Army's weakness. Foreign powers, especially the United States, had significant economic stakes in the outcome of Mexico's internal power struggle.
03 / The Outcome
Carranza became president in 1917 but was killed in 1920 after attempting to impose a civilian successor against the wishes of northern generals. The conflict formally ended on 1 December 1920. Revolutionary generals subsequently held the presidency from 1920 to 1940, centralizing state power, implementing revolutionary reforms, and bringing the military under civilian government control.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
3 belligerents
Francisco I. Madero, Venustiano Carranza, Emiliano Zapata, Francisco 'Pancho' Villa.
Side B
2 belligerents
Victoriano Huerta, Porfirio Díaz.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.