The Life and Times of Pancho Villa

The Chihuahuan revolution was only one of the many movements that made up what is generally called the Mexican Revolution, but one of the most important: in 1910-11, and again in 1913-15, the Chihuahuan revolutionaries and their allies changed the course of the nation. The Chihuahuan movement's historical experience differed from that of the movements based in other regions in at least five respects. The first was its military strength. In 1910, the Chihuahuan revolution was the only large-scale movement to rise up against the Porfirian regime. It was only after the Chihuahuans showed the rest of Mexico how vulnerable Diaz was that mass revolts broke out in other parts of the country. In 1913-14, it was again the Chihuahuan revolutionaries and their allies from Durango and parts of Coahuila who bore the brunt of the fighting against Huerta and achieved the most significant victories against the federal army.

Second, the revolutionary movement in Chihuahua was unique in its social composition. It was the only movement in the Mexican Revolution that included members of all social classes but excluded hacendados. In that respect, the Chihuahuan revolutionaries were different from their counterparts in Coahuila and Sonora, on the one hand, and in Morelos, on the other. Hacendados led the revolutionaries in both Coahuila and Sonora, and the Zapatista rebellion in Morelos basically consisted of peasants from free villages, largely excluding peons, workers, and (except for a handful of intellectuals) members of the middle classes. Third, no other revolutionary movement had such volatile relations with both the U. S. government and American business interests. For a time the Chihuahuans maintained closer links to the Americans than any other movement. Later they became the group most hostile to the United States. Fourth, the personal history of the Chihuahuan leader was unlike that of any other.