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The Spark of the Revolution In 1908, Porfirio Diaz said the following during an interview with American journalist James Creelman:

“He esperado pacientemente porque llegue el día en que el pueblo de la República Mexicana esté preparado para escoger y cambiar sus gobernantes en cada elección, sin peligro de revoluciones armadas… creo que finalmente, ese día ha llegado” Porfirio Díaz, 1908. “Los indios, que constituyen más de la mitad de nuestra población, se preocupan muy poco de la política. Están acostumbrados a dejarse dirigir por los que tienen en las manos las riendas del poder, en lugar de pensar por sí solos. Esta tendencia la heredaron de los españoles, quienes les enseñaron a abstenerse de tomar parte en los asuntos públicos y a confiar en el Gobierno como su mejor guía. Sin embargo, creo firmemente que los principios de la democracia se han extendido y seguirán extendiéndose en México” “Me retiraré cuando termine el presente periodo y no volveré a gobernar otra vez” Porfirio Díaz “Doy la bienvenida a cualquier partido oposicionista en la República Mexicana. Si aparece, lo consideraré como una bendición, no como un mal” Using your laptops, research what happened during the 1910 elections and how Francisco I. Madero rose to power 1. What was one of the central themes of this interview? One of the central themes of the interview was if it is okay for a president to keep his position for several years, and if Porfirio Díaz would decide to get re-elected. Díaz said that sometimes a population is not ready for democracy, and their own freedom can cause big problems if they are not ready to embrace all the consequences that come along with freedom. He said that he considered that finally Mexico was in a position in which democracy could work and he would stay away from the elections. 2. How old was Diaz during the interview? How do you think this affected his opinion of Mexico? He was 78 years old during that interview. He had a very old-fashioned way of thinking, he was probably not really concerned about the future of the country because he would not live many years longer, so he probably decided to base his decisions on what was best for him. He could not perceive the needs that young people had because he did not understand them. The conditions in which he lived when he was young were completely different to the conditions of the youth at the time he was 78, so he did not know how to satisfy the needs of Mexico´s future. 3. What was the impact of the Diaz-Creelman interview on early 20th century Mexican politics? Since Díaz would not get the presidency back many political parties started to rise, many campaigns began and the Mexican people finally felt like they had a word

on who would be chosen to rule our country, but also fear rose because no one knew what to expect, and there was a fear that the new president would be worse than the last dictator they had. No one had security on what would happen. 4. What was La Sucesión Presidencial de 1910? Who wrote it? What was its objective? “La Sucesión Presidencial de 1910” was a book written by Francisco I. Madero on 1908, in which he described the conditions that Mexico went through while Porfirio Díaz was president. He talks about the biggest issues that the country was facing such as corruption and the conditions in which many people found themselves in. He wanted to stop Díaz governance, this book was supposed to help the “Partido Democrático Nacional” to which Francisco I. Madero belonged. 5. Why was Madero incarcerated during the 1910 elections? Where was he imprisoned? Because he had given a speech against Díaz, which they took as aggression to the authorities, of course it was probably part of plan for Díaz to get re-elected instead of letting Francisco I. Madero win the elections. He was arrested in Monterrey and was later taken to a Prison in San Luis Potosí. 6. What was the Plan de San Luis? What were its objectives and promises? The “Plan de San Luis” was a document written by Francisco I. Madero to get the Mexican people to revolt against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. It was the spark that started the Mexican Revolution. It disclaimed Porfirio Díaz as the Mexican president, it proclaimed that the presidents could not be re-elected, he promised he would respect his obligations as president, and also promised to give the lands back to the farmers that were taken away during the “Porfiriato” 7. In May 1911, Diaz resigns as the president and Francisco Leon de la Barra becomes the interim president. How did this new president break ties with Emiliano Zapata’s forces? Many people did not agree with Francisco Leon de la Barra being president because it would be the same as the Porfiriato only that the person in charge would be Francisco Leon. While Francisco I. Madero wanted to get to an agreement with Emiliano Zapata, De la Barra sent troops to start a campaign against “los Zapatistas” for consider them as rebels and a threat to the government. Emiliano Zapata considered that Madero had betrayed him and completely broke ties with him. 8. In October 1911, Madero becomes president with Pino Suarez as his vicepresident. He tried to appease different factions of the Mexican population, but ultimately was accused of betraying revolutionary ideas. Who accused him of this? What were their arguments?

Emiliano Zapata was the one who accused him of traitor because his vicepresident sent forces against him, but also he did not accomplish the “land reforms” that were supposed to be made by Madero, which he had promised in the “Plan de San Luis”. 9. In November 1911, the Plan de Ayala was signed. What was the main objective of this plan? Why was it so controversial? The main objective of this plan was to disclaim Francisco I. Madero as the president and to accomplish all the promises that were made to the farmers in the “Plan de San Luis”. It caused controversy because it recognized Orozco as the president, but later he joined forces with Huerta, so Emiliano Zapate changed it to disclaim Orozco as the president. 10. Why was Madero unable to create peace and stability at the end of the Porfiriato? Because there were many other revolutionary leaders and he was not able to satisfy the demands they all had. Everyone wanted something different and the power was divided, instead of getting together to solve the problems the country was facing, they got into internal wars over power and the decisions that were better for Mexico. Also he did not accomplish what he had promised so there was a lot of instability.

Sources: Se firmó el plan de Ayala. Retrieved from https://mx.tuhistory.com/hoy-en-la-historia/se-firmo-el-plan-deayala WikiMexico - El tiempo de las intrigas: Francisco León de la Barra. Retrieved from http://www.wikimexico.com/articulo/el-tiempo-de-las-intrigas-francisco-leon-de-la-barra Hernandez, E. plan de San Luis. Retrieved from https://www.historiademexico.info/2018/07/plan-de-sanluis.html Plan de Ayala. Retrieved from http://bdmx.mx/documento/plan-de-ayala Villa, A. (2016). Madero, traición y muerte. – MexiConCiencia. Retrieved from https://mexiconciencia.org/madero-traicion-y-muerte/ La presidencia de Madero y su asesinato - La Revolución Mexicana y los Estados Unidos en las colecciones de la Biblioteca del Congreso | Exposiciones - La Biblioteca del Congreso. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mexican-revolution-and-the-united-states/madero-presidency-sp.html Cazares, E. (2015). ¿Por qué detuvieron a Francisco I. Madero en Monterrey?. Retrieved from https://www.diariocultura.mx/2015/09/aprehension-de-francisco-i-madero/ Luján, J., del Campo, M., & Creelman, J. Entrevista Díaz - Creelman. Retrieved from https://www.bibliotecas.tv/zapata/bibliografia/indices/entrevista_diaz_creelman01.html...