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Carranza and The Decision to Revolt, 1913: A Problem in Historical Interpretation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Mark T. Gilderhus
Mark T. Gilderhus*
Affiliation:
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
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Extract

Venustiano Carranza occupied a place of conspicuous importance in Mexican history. He achieved ascendancy in the crusade against Victoriano Huerta in 1913 and maintained it against all challengers until the spring of 1920. During this time he also resisted efforts by the United States to influence the course of events and undertook to reconstruct Mexico after years of devastation and turmoil. Yet in spite of his prominence, surprisingly few scholars have attempted a sustained or systematic examination of his role in the Mexican Revolution. No altogether satisfactory biography exists. He has appeared as a principal protagonist in several studies of factional disputes and diplomatic controversies during the Constitutionalist period, but often such accounts have projected an opaque, contradictory image of him. He has seemed either larger than life or lifeless and has been portrayed alternatively as a selfness champion of progressive reform or as a self-serving traditionalist who stood against the forces of meaningful change.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , October 1976 , pp. 298 - 310
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1976

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References

1 The most thorough study of the Carranza period is Cumberland, Charles C., Mexican Revolution, The Constitutionalist Years (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1972);Google Scholar the best biography is Taracena, Alfonso, Venustiano Carranza (Mexico: Editorial Jus, 1963)Google Scholar. For an excellent appraisal of the pertinent literature, see the bibliographical essay in Meyer, Michael C., Huerta, A Political Portrait (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1972), pp. 239–255 Google Scholar.

2 Such studies include the forenamed works by Cumberland and Meyer as well as Meyer, Lorenzo, México y Estados Unidos en el Conflicto Petrolero (1911-1942) (México: El Colegio de México, 1968);Google Scholar Cockcroft, James D., Intellectual Precursors of the Mexican Revolution, 1900–1913 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1968);Google Scholar Grieb, Kenneth J., The United States and Huerta (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1969);Google Scholar Womack, John Jr., Zapata and the Mexican Revolution (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1969);Google Scholar Wilkie, James W., The Mexican Revolution: Federal Expenditure and Social Change Since 1910 (2d ed. rev.: Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970);Google Scholar Ulloa, Berta, La Revolución Intervenida, Relaciones Diplomáticas entre México y Estados Unidos (1910-1914) (México: El Colegio de México, 1971);Google Scholar and Beezley, William H., Insurgent Governor: Abraham González and the Mexican Revolution in Chihuahua (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1973)Google Scholar.

3 For accounts of the decena trágica and the overthow of Madero, see Cumberland, Charles C., Mexican Revolution, Genesis Under Madero (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1952), pp. 229–243;Google Scholar Ross, Stanley R., Francisco 1. Madero, Apostle of Mexican Democracy (New York: Columbia University Press, 1955), pp. 276 Google Scholar 329; Grieb, , US. and Huerta, pp. 1–23;Google Scholar and Meyer, , Huerta, pp. 45–63 Google Scholar. Also see Carranza to Coahuila legislature, Feb. 19, 1913, in Fabela, Isidro (ed.), Documentos Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, Revolución y Régimen Constitucionalista (Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1960), vol. I Google Scholar, tomo I, p. 4; hereafter cited as DHRM.

4 Archivo de Venustiano Carranza, Libro Actas del Congreso de Coahuila de 12 febrero a 19 de abril de 1913, 19 de febrero de 1913, Centro de Estudios de Historia de México, Departamento Cultural de Condumex, S.A., México, D.F.; Proclamations by the Coahuila legislature, Feb. 19, 1913, in DHRM, I, 5–6.

5 This view is stated most effectively in Junco, Alfonso, Carranza y los Orígenes de su Rebelión (México: Ediciones Botas, 1935);Google Scholar Grieb, Kenneth J. draws heavily upon it in “The Causes of the Carranza Rebellion: A Reinterpretation,” The Americas, XXIV (July, 1968), pp. 25–32 Google Scholar, and also in U.S. and Huerta, pp. 31–38. In addition, on June 24, 1917, the Revista Mexicana, an anti-Carranza organ, published similar accusations in an effort to discredit Carranza. The article is reprinted in Breceda, Alfredo, México Revolucionario (Madrid: La Tipografía Artistica, 1920), vol. I, pp. 179–201;Google Scholar Breceda seeks to rebut the charges. Similar material is included in Brito, Bernardo Meno (ed.), Carranza: Sus Amigos, Sus Enemigos (México: Ediciones Botas, 1935)Google Scholar.

6 DHRM, El Plan de Guadalupe (México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1963), vol. IV; Fabela, Isidro, Historia Diplomática de la Revolución Mexicana (México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1959)Google Scholar, vol. I; Rodríguez, Juan Barragán, Historia del Ejército y de la Revolución Constitucionalista (México: Talleres de la Editorial Stylo, 1946), vol. I;Google Scholar and Breceda, , México Revolucionario, I Google Scholar. These works were written by staunch Carrancistas with close personal ties to the First Chief.

7 The argument is developed in Junco, Orígenes; and in Grieb, “Causes.” For variations on the anti-Carranza theme from divergent points of view, see Pardo, Luis Lara, Matchs de Dictadores, Wilson Contra Huerta, Carranza Contra Wilson (Méjico: A.P. Márquez, 1942);Google Scholar Pedrueza, Rafael Ramos, La Lucha de Clases a través de la Historia de México, Revolución Democraticoburguesa (México: Talleres Gráficos de la Nación, 1941);Google Scholar Estañol, Jorge Vera, La Revolución Mexicana, Orígenes y Resultados (México: Editorial Porrua, 1957);Google Scholar and Muñoz, Ignacio, Verdad y Mito de la Revolución Mexicana (Relatada Por Un Protagonista) (México: Ediciones Populares, 1960–65), vols. I-II Google Scholar. Quirk’s, Robert E. fine, balanced study The Mexican Revolution, 1914–1915, The Convention of Aguascalientes (New York: The Citadel Press, 1963), p. 10 Google Scholar, characterizes Carranza as “bourgeois mediocrity incarnate.”

8 DHRM, IV, p. 32; Barragán Rodríguez, Historia, I, pp. 28 33, 71, 79; Breceda, México Revolucionario, I, pp. 150, 161–162, 169–172. Other studies somewhat sympathetic to Carranza include Flores, Jesús Romero, Anales Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana (México: Ediciones Encaudernables, 1939), vol. II;Google Scholar Moheno, Roberto Blanco, Crónica de la Revolución (México: Libro Mex Editores, 1958–59), vols. I-II;Google Scholar and Manuel Ramírez, González, La Revolución Social de México, Las Ideas—La Violencia (México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1960), vol. I Google Scholar.

9 This characterization is derived from a number of works on Carranza. For commentary on his background and early career, see especially Taracena, Carranza, pp. 5–19; Vélez, Ildefonso Villarello, Historia de la Revolución Mexicana en Coahuila (México: Talleres Gráficos de la Nación, 1970), pp. 13–104;Google Scholar Moreno, Daniel, Los Hombres de la Revolución, 40 Estudios Biográficos (México: Libro Mex Editores, 1960), pp. 285–305;Google Scholar and Velázquez, Gregorio A., “El Señor Carranza y su Acción Heroica dentro de México,” in DHRM, Revolución y Régimen Constitucionalista (México: Editorial Jus, 1970), vol. XVIIl, vol. 6 of tomo I, pp. 150–217 Google Scholar.

10 For background to the Revolution, see Cumberland, Genesis; Ross, Madero; and Cockcroft, Intellectual Precursors; for commentary on Carranza’s early role, see Taracena, Carranza; and Villarello Vélez, Historia … Coahuila.

11 See Bryan, Anthony T., “Mexican Politics in Transition, 1910–1913: The Role of General Bernardo Reyes” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Nebraska, 1969)Google Scholar.

12 Cumberland, Genesis, pp. 65–76; Ross, Madero, pp. 65–70; Taracena, Carranza, pp. 14–29; and Villarello Vélez, Historia … Coahuila, pp. 111–166. Also see Rodolfo Reyes, De Mi Vida, Memorias Políticas, 1899–1914 (Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, 1929–1930), vol. I, pp. 118, 121.

13 Carranza later won election to the office in his own right. See Taracena, , Carranza, pp. 31–45 Google Scholar, 52–53; Vélez, Villarello, Historia … Coahuila, pp. 193 Google Scholar 206; Carranza to Francisco Vázquez Gómez, April 16, 1911, in Gómez, Francisco Vázquez, Memorias Políticas (1909-1913) (México: Imprenta Mundial, 1933), pp. 87–88 Google Scholar.

14 Junco, Orígenes, pp. 17–43, employs this argument against Carranza; Taracena, , Carranza, pp. 52–72 Google Scholar, is less critical and prints some of the correspondence between Madero and Carranza; Vélez, Villarello, Historia … Coahuila, pp. 227–228 Google Scholar, asserts that Carranza was planning not to rebel, but rather to defend the nation’s institutions; Barragán Rodríguez, Historia, I, pp. 25, 32–33, denounces the accusation as a fabrication.

15 Junco, Orígenes, pp. 35–38; Taracena, Alfonso, Carranza Contra Madero (México: Biblioteca de los Andes, 1934)Google Scholar. In later years, Taracena moderated this judgment; see his Carranza, pp. 72–77.

16 Rodolfo Reyes, General Reyes’s son, was convinced that Carranza was planning to move against Madero independently of his father, Diaz and Mondragón; see De Mi Vida, I, pp. 191, 207, II, p. 177. United States Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson shared a similar view; see Wilson to Secretary of State William J. Bryan, March 5, 1913, 812.00/6505, March 12, 1913, 812.00/6840, Records of the Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs in Mexico, 1910–1929, Record Group 59, Microcopy 274, Washington, D.C., The National Archives, 1959; hereafter cited as RDS.

17 Carranza to Gustavo Madero, n.d., in Taracena, Carranza, pp. 75–76.

18 See note #4.

19 In addition to Coahuila, only the governments of Sonora and Chihuahua seemed inclined to resist Huerta’s demand for submission. The others either complied or responded in a noncommittal fashion; see Grieb, “Causes,” p. 27; and Cumberland, Constitutionalist Years, pp. 15–16.

20 DHRM, IV, pp. 32–33; Revolución y Régimen Constitucionalista (México: Editorial Jus, 1968), vol. XIV, vol. 2 of tomo I, pp. 108–109.

21 Grieb, “Causes,” argues that Carranza was moved by “a desire for power,” but initially sought an understanding to safeguard his position in Coahuila. Grieb bases much of his argument on Holland’s dispatches; see especially Holland to Secretary of State Philander Knox, Feb. 21, 1913, 812.00/6302, 812.00/6472, RDS. In later years, when critics publicized his remark, Carranza claimed in 1917 that he never made such a statement; see Junco, Orígenes, p. 90; Breceda, México Revolucionario, I, pp. 193–201; and note #5 above. Taracena, Carranza, pp. 100–101, calls Holland’s assertions “lies,” and suggests that the consul, allegedly in league with Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson and General Huerta, wanted to discredit Carranza. Since Holland’s words seemed to impugn the Constitutionalist revolt when viewed in a certain light, Carranza and his apologists were eager to deny them. In this instance other evidence seems to corroborate Holland’s account. See the discussion which follows.

22 Carranza to Huerta, Feb. 22, 1913, in Junco, Orígenes, pp. 87–88.

23 Henry Lane Wilson to Philander Knox, Feb. 24, 1913, 812.00/6347, RDS; United States, Department of State, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1913 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1920), p. 764; hereafter cited as FR.

24 FR 1913, pp. 765–766; DHRM, IV, p. 36.

25 DHRM, IV, p. 36; Carranza to García Granados, Feb. 25, 1913, in Taracena, Carranza, p. 100.

26 FR 1913, p. 764.

27 Carranza to Gen. F. Trucy Aubert, Feb. 23, 1913, in DHRM, IV, pp. 34–35.

28 FR 1913, pp. 764–766; DHRM, IV, p. 36; the original and revised versions are found in Breceda, México Revolucionario, I, pp. 199–200; the version which reached Washington is in FR 1913, p.742.

29 Junco, Orígenes, pp. 99–101; Breceda, México Revolucionario, I, pp. 169–175.

30 Huerta and Díaz to Carranza, Feb. 29 [28?], 1913, in DHRM, XIV, pp. 94–95.

31 Discrepancies on dates in the documents make it difficult to piece together these events accurately. Carranza apparently gave the note to Silliman on March 3, but it may have been dated Feb. 28. See FR 1913, p. 767; and Breceda, México Revolucionario, I, pp. 226–229.

32 Carranza to Huerta and Diaz, March 11, 1913, in DHRM, XIV, p. 95.

33 Taracena, Carranza, pp. 109–110; also see Cumberland, Constitutionalist Years, pp. 23–57; Meyer, Huerta, pp. 83–108; and Breceda, Alfred, México Revolucionario (México: Ediciones Botas, 1941)Google Scholar, vol. II.

34 For the text, see DHRM, IV, pp. 56–58.

35 On occasion Carranza suggested the need to move against social and economic inequities by gradual, reformist and paternalistic means; see his Manifesto to the People of Coahuila, Aug. 1, 1911, in Taracena, Carranza, pp. 48–52; and his Hermosillo speech, Sept. 24, 1913, in Breceda, México Revolucionario, II, pp. 197–204.

36 Quoted in Womack, Zapata, p. 298.