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Plan de Agua Prieta
Declared by Alvaro Obregon against Venustiano Carranza who pretended to put Ignacio Bonillas as his successor. While Carranza was trying to escape, he was murdered. -
Obregon elected
Alvaro Obregon was elected president with 95 percent of the vote. -
Education and Culture during Obregon's Presidency
Obregon chose José Vasconcelos as the head of the newly created Ministry of Education. Under his guidance, funds were used to build 2000 libraries and more than 1000 schools from 1921 to 1924. Mexico’s Indian past was also heavily promoted in an attempt to unite the country. Muralists were allowed to use the walls of government buildings to portray the importance of the Indian in Mexican history and society. -
National Agrarian Commission
Obregón created the National Agrarian Commission in order to survey Mexico’s agricultural areas. -
Bucareli Treaty
Agreement between Mexican and US representatives that ‘solved’ the dispute over subsoil rights. -
Soviet Union Embassy
The Soviet Union opened its embassy in Mexico City. This did not sit well with the USA because they had soldiers in Russia supporting the anti-Communists. -
Presidency to Calles
Obregón was able to pass the presdency to his successor Plutarco Calles without violent upheaval. -
Constructive Phase
The General Law of Institutions for Credit passed, the National Banking Commission was founded, the National Bank of Mexico was also founded, and the National Road Commission was created. -
Bolshevism
Tension between the US and Mexico increased after the american secretary stated ‘It is declared to be a fact that radical doctrines have been spread in Mexico …Two members of the Cabinet, León and Morones, in charge of the Departments of Agriculture and Labor, are declared to be Bolshevist in their tendencies.’ -
Constructive Phase
The Federal Irrigation Law passed, and the National Bank of Agricultural Credit founded -
Cristero Revolt
Calles had church-state conflict. He was an atheist and he didn’t want the church be part of the government so he completely separated both of them. This led to the Cristero War, in which Cristeros organized a revolt but even though they tried, they lost.
This lasted since 1926 to 1928 and during this period of time many people died. It started with 4500 priests and finished with 334 for the whole country. In solo states, there weren’t even a single one. -
Mexico, Nicaragua and the US
During a political struggle in Nicaragua, the USA and Mexico supported two opposing sides. Calles supported the Liberal Juan Bautista Sacasa, while the US supported the Conservative Adolfo Díaz, who had recently seized power. Which lead to a small-scale trade war but finished with an agremeent between both countries. -
Almost war between USA and Mexico
Because of the Soviet Union oresence in Mexico and the response of the USA, Mexico send threats to the USA petroleum companies. And during 1926 and 1927 there were even conversations in both countries about war. However, bankers calmed the situation because in Mexico the effects of war would be devastating and all the effort done would have been in vain, so war wouldn't solve any problem. Harding and Kellogg soon backed down. -
1928 Elections
Obregón decided to re-enter national politics in 1928. However, the law of no reelection forbade it but Calles pressured Congress to amend the 1917 Constitution to allow Obregon to be reelected. He won the elections. -
Obregon is murdered
José de León Toral, a Roman Catholic opposed to the government’s anti-Catholic policies, killed Obregon before assuming presidency. -
Emilio Portes Gil elected
Calles acted quickly and pressured Congress to elect Emilio Portes Gil as interim president; with the beginning of his presidency the Maximato begun. During his presidency which endend in Febrary 1830, he tried to enact significant land reform and his administration was responsible for several public works. -
Fundation of the PNR
The Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR) or National Revolutionary Party, was formed. Calles hoped to bring some order to Mexican politics by creating a national political party that would be responsible for choosing the country’s leaders and creating national policies. -
1929 Elections
The two main contenders were Pascual Ortiz Rubio, backed by the PNR, and the former Secretary of Education, José Vasconcelos, chosen by the Anti-Re-electionist Party. Ortiz Rubio was elected President with 93.6 percent of the vote which was clearly manipulated by the PNR. -
Pascual Ortiz Rubio as president
Whenever Ortiz Rubio tried to chart an independent course, Calles held him back. Ortiz Rubio could not turn to the Party for any sort of substantial support because the PNR was torn apart by various factions. The legislative elections in July 1930 was a clear example of how the PNR had become the controlling force in Mexican politics. -
Mexico's debts
Foreign bankers wanted to be sure the country could repay its external debts before lending it any further money. Mexico had ahuge debt withe USA an even though the US gave Mexico 45 years to pay their debts they still asked for more loans. -
Again... Mexico, USA, and oil
The US oil companies begun to be more interested in Venezuela, where it's governemet didn't threat oil production. This lead to oil production and exports fell significantly during the Great Depression, from 200 million barrels in 1921 to 33 million in 1932. -
The Great Depression affects Mexico
It led to the repatriation of over 300,000 Mexican workers from the United States and also forced the departure of roughly 40,000 US workers from Mexico. -
League of Nations
Mexico finally joined the League of Nations. -
Ortiz Rubio Retires
Ortiz Rubio resigned for ‘health reasons’ in September 1932. -
Abelardo Rodriguez's election
Congress unanimously chose him to complete the final two years of Obregón’s unserved sexenio. He was put in place to administer Calles’ programs. -
Actions during presidency
• Some economic progress made
• Peso allowed to float
• National industries expanded
• Increased locally produced goods
• Military further professionalized
• Minimum wage set
• Repression against suspected opponents of the regime
• Calles chose Cárdenas as successor to Rodríguez -
Lazaro Cardenas became president
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Cardenas's salary
His first action was to cut off his salary in half. -
Six Year Plan
The number of elementary schools jumped from 8477 to 12,879 and there was a 54 percent increase in primary school pupils during his presidency. Education was now more than just learning how to read and write. -
Presidecy style
First, he dismissed his whole Cabinet, and followed this up with replacing most governors, some members of Congress and several Callista generals. -
Calles and Cardenas confrontation
Cárdenas ordered the arrest and deportation of Calles. -
Expropriation Law of 1935
Law that gave the federal government the power to nationalize industries for the public good. Compensation was to be paid over a ten-year period. -
Oil works and unions
Creation of the Sindicato de Trabajadores Petroleros de la República Mexicana (STPRM) or Republic of Mexico Union of
Petroleum Workers, which gathered all the workers into one union. Soon, the STPRM joined with the Confederación de Trabajadores de México or Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), the largest trade union. For the first time, they negotiated with the companies with one voice. -
La Laguna
Cárdenas distributed the lands of La Laguna in one month, and all of the important and revolutionary measures there were taken during his administration. -
Creation of the Department for Indigenous Affairs
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The Yucatan
The land to be distributed was not meant for the peons but landless peasants, and this led to fierce resistance by the landowners and the peons. -
Secretariat of Public Education
It was created to focus on indigenous education. -
Union demands
Oil workers asked for a raise of 65 million pesos. The STPRM
called for a strike in 1937, but this proved short-lived as the Mexican
government realized that any prolonged interruption in oil production would harm the country’s economy. -
Supreme Court decision
The Supreme Court ordered the companies to pay 26 million pesos to the workers in wages and benefits. The companies ignored the high court’s decision. The oil companies organized an international boycott of Mexican oil and spare parts needed to keep the oil pumps pumping. -
New political party
Cárdenas remade the PNR into a new political party, the Partido Revolucionario Mexicano, or Mexican Revolutionary Party (PRM). It no longer represented regional interests. Instead, it was composed of four distinct groups: the agriculture, labor, the military and the popular sector. -
1940 Elections
Cardena's succesor, Manuel Ávila Camacho, won with a reported 93.9 per cent of the vote.
