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... carranza. This war went on for many a month with Carranza and Obrgon warring against Villa and Zapata. It was at this time that Carranza wrote a constitution that gave many rights to the government and the people.
While the constitution allowed many freedoms, it had one drawback that might have been considered unacceptable to the Mexican populace: it gave the President dictatorial powers. The Mexican Constitution of 1917 embodied the ideas of all the revolutionary groups, and included the liberties and rights of citizens, as well as the democratic and federal concepts of the 1857 Constitution. It also recognized social rights such as the right of workers to strike and to organize, the right to education, and the right of the Nation to regulate private property in accordance with the common interest (Constitution). The constitution also controlled the limitation of the church and the ownership of land. It stated that the wealth contained in the soil, the subsoil, the waters and seas of Mexico belongs to the Nation. The right to [own] land [and] exploit the subsoil may only be granted by the Nation (Constitution).
This severely limited the power of the church, who ran many private schools and also angered the foreign investors that bought property in Mexico. However, Zapata and Villa were still fighting against Carranza and Obrgon. The tide turned against Carranza when he set up an ambush to kill Zapata. The war between these two groups was shortly broken up after Zapata was murdered in the trap set by one of Carranza's generals. This stage for the Mexicans was much like that of the French Revolution. The crisis stage of the French Revolution was reached when the radicals took control.
The radicals, led by Robespierre, formed the Committee of Public Safety, which was in charge of the war against Europe and the business of the state. This same group of radicals also instituted the Reign of Terror, a period in which they executed hundreds of people for some very inadequate reasons that were used to justify the execution of public enemies. According to Erika Vause, the causes of the Reign of Terror were the European War, the civil war in the Vendee, the rebellion of certain provinces, hyperinflation, and the numerous factions that existed in Paris (Vause). These events led up to the peak of the crisis stage. All these reasons contributed to the Terror in different ways.
The European and civil wars forced a strong, disciplined government to take action, while a financial crisis caused famine and a need for the people to be brought under control. France went to arms against most of Europe during this time period for many reasons. One was that foreign countries viewed France as a troubled and divided nation and perhaps open and vulnerable to attack. Another may have been that nobles fled the country and formed armies to try to gain back the land that was rightfully theirs. A further and conceivably most important reason was that the other monarchs of other countries did not want Frances revolutionary ideas spreading to the populace of their own kingdoms, or the kingdom would have the same fate it did with France. The crisis stage is yet a further example of how much the Mexican Revolution and French Revolution are alike.
They are similar in the fact that they both broke out into civil war. Mexico had to deal with the dueling parties of Obrgon and Carranza against Villa and Zapata. In France, citizens were fighting each other almost everywhere, particularly in the Vendee. They were also the comparable because both revolutions reached their desired goals. In Mexico, the people wanted equal, just rights with a republic form of government much like the United States today. In France, the people sought a well-structured republic with no monarch to boss them around.
Mexico and France both reached their desired styles of government, but only the French achieved it in the crisis stage. Mexico had to wait until the end of their revolution to see the fruits of their hard earned, much deserved labor. These goals were also characteristics about the revolutions that resembled each other. The Recovery Stage started out quickly for the Mexicans while Napoleon took over France to reorganize its system of government.
The Mexicans held Carranza responsible for the death of Zapata, and therefore the public turned on him. Upon realizing his political career was spiraling, Carranza attempted to flee Mexico. Carranza sensed the tide turning against him, but it was already too late. He was killed just outside Mexico City on May 21, 1920 (Summary). A few months later, Alvaro Obrgon, Carranza's former ally, was voted by a landslide majority vote as the new President of the Mexican Republic, and peace was finally achieved after numerous years of bloodshed and battle. In contrast the Recovery Stage during the French Revolution was a long, drawn out process that continued for many years after the actual revolution ended.
After Robespierre stepped down, the Directory took over for a number of years. Under the Directory, many great military achievements were reached, although most were mainly due to the way the Committee of Public Safety had organized France during its time of control. The Directory was ended in 1799 when Napoleon completed a successful coupe data that put himself into power as the Emperor and dictator of France, and ended the republican form of government in France. Napoleon had many effective accomplishments for the good of the state, and created many new laws that protected the rights of men such as the Code of Napoleon. The Recovery Stage allowed Mexico to reap the benefits of their revolution, while France had Napoleons leadership to guide them through the turbulent waters of recovery. The effects of the Mexican Revolution and the French Revolution are still being felt around the world.
The Mexican Constitution of 1917 is still basically the same right now, as it was when it was written. Also, the Mexican Revolution has been the prime example of a third world country revolution and has been the model for every third world revolution since. The French Revolution established many basic rights that are still in effect in France today from the Declaration of the Rights of Man. A difference between the two revolutions was that Mexico was able to keep its republican form of government even after the revolution, whereas France reverted back to a dictatorship and then a monarchal form of government at the conclusion of their revolution. Today, Mexico is still a constitutional republic, based on the Constitution of 1917. Mexico has a president and a legislative branch.
Mexico's government system is more stable due to the Mexican Revolution of 1910. In past decades, the French have changed their constitution many times. Today, their government is also based on a president and a parliament system, much like the United States. Originally, the goal of the French Revolution was to establish a constitutional monarch, much like that of England at the time. Currently, France has a stable government and most likely a bright future ahead.
Both these revolutions had one thing in common, they both fought for what they believed in, and at the end, alls well that ends well. Bibliography: Buckler, John, et al. , eds. A History of Western Society. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995. Constitution of 1917 URL: web kids / history /revolution/ 1917 kids.
html (6 Jan 2000). Harvey, Donald Joseph. French Revolution. URL: web (5 Jan 2000). Johnson, William Weber.
Heroic Mexico: The violent emergence of a modern nation. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1968. Meyer, Michael and Sherman, William. The Course of Mexican History.
New York: Oxford Press, 1991. Mex Connect URL: web (5 Jan 2000). Revised Mexican Constitution web (5 Jan 2000). Ruz, Jan Eduardo. The Great Rebellion: Mexico 1905 - 1924.
New York: W. W. Norton, 1980. Summary of the Mexican Revolution. URL: web (5 Jan. 2000).
Vause, Erika. Class Lecture. 17 Dec. , 1999. Websters New World Dictionary. New York: Dynamic Vinyl & Stationery, 1982.
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