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Beginning of Epic Revolution, triggered by unrest amongst peasants and urban workers, who are led by Emiliano Zapata.
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Mexico's dictator, Porfirio Diaz, is overthrown. The new president is Francisco I. Madero, a liberal. Madero introduces land reform and labour legislation. Political unrest continues with Zapata leading a peasant revolt in the south.
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Madero is assassinated. Victoriano Huerta seizes power.
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Huerta is viewed with suspicion by the United States for his alleged pro-German sympathies. Huerta is succeeded by Venustiano Carranza.
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US forces cross the border in pursuit of the guerrilla leader Pancho Villa.
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A new constitution is adopted, which is designed to ensure permanent democracy in Mexico.
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Venustiano Carranza is murdered. Civil war follows.
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The National Revolutionary Party is formed. In 1946 it is re-named the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.
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President Lazaro Cardenas begins programme of oil nationalisation, land reform and industrial expansion.
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Mexico declares war on Japan and Germany.
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Student demonstration in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, during the Olympic Games is fired upon by Mexican security forces. Hundreds of protestors are killed or wounded.
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Huge offshore oil reserves discovered; the Cantarell field becomes the mainstay of Mexico's oil production.
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Earthquake in Mexico City kills thousands and makes many more homeless.
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Mexican parliament ratifies the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with the US and Canada.
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A guerrilla rebellion in Chiapas by the Zapatista National Liberation Army is brutally suppressed by government troops. The rebels oppose Nafta and want greater recognition for Indian rights.
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Former President Carlos Salinas goes into exile after his brother Raul Salinas is connected with Colosio's murder.
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The insurgency in the south escalates as the leftist Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) attacks government troops.