Society And Culture During The Revolutionary Years PDF

Printed by: quinn.smid!@avc:.edu. Printing is for pcil80D8l, privare uso only. No part of1his book may bci npn,dua,d or tnmsmitb:d without pabliahcr'a prior permisaion. VIOl.a1ms will be proeec:uted. CHAPTER 29...

Printed by: quinn.smid!@avc:.edu. Printing is for pcil80D8l, privare uso only. No part of1his book may bci npn,dua,d or tnmsmitb:d without pabliahcr'a prior permisaion. VIOl.a1ms will be proeec:uted. CHAPTER 29 SOCIETY AND CULTURE DURING THE REVOLUTION A RY YEARS THE IMPACT OF THE REVOLUTION O N T HE MAS,SES The rapid changes in the presidential chair, the clebates in Aguascalientes and Quexe- taro, and the redounding phrases of the Constitution of 1917 had less significance fQr the Mexican masses than the violence of the first revolutionaty decade that most dominated the.ir lives. For every prominem death-Francisco Madexo, Jose Marfa Pino Su.ir~ Pascual Orozco, Emiliano Zapata, or Ven11$tlano,Carranza-one hundred thousand na,neless Mexi cans also died. By any standard the loss of life was tremendous. Although accurate statistics were not recorded, moderate es1imates calculate that between 1.5 and, '2 million lost their lives in those tenible ten years. In a country with a population of roughly 15 million in 1910, few families did not directly feel the pain as o ne in every eitwt Mexicans was killed. Even Mexico's high bin.qrate could not offset the carnage of war.'l'he census takeis in 1920 counted almost a million fcwex Mexicans than they had found only a decade before. Some matching armies had been equipped with small medical teams. and Pancho Villa even fitted out a medical train on which banle6eld opeiations could be performed_ But medi- cal care was- generally so primitive that within a week aftex a major engagement deaths of wounded often doubled or tripled losses sustained immediately on the battlefield. And in more cases than one both federals and rebels, enemy prisoners were executed rathex than cared fOl)lild fed. Civilian deaths rose into the hun'areds of thousands as a result of indiscriminate ar- tillery bombardments and. in some C!{les,'the macabre policy of placing noncombaiants before firing squads in pursuit of some imperfectly cona:ived political or military goal. It is axiomatic that war elicits not only the wom but often psychotic behavior in otherwise normal human beings. In Mexico, the cumulative stress of exhaustion and constant exposure to death produced atrocities during the fim decade of the revolution and. on occasion, led w behavior that can only be termed sadistic. The rape and lnhumaniryvisited upon civilians bysol- diexs became legendary in the folklore of the revolution. One could pass offstories of mutilated prisoners hanged from i:rees or telephone posts as exaggerations had not scores of eager phowg- raphers caprured hundreds of horrifying sa:nes for posterity_ Bodies with hands or leg; or geni- tals cut offwexe a grotesque caricature of a movement originally motivated by the highest ideals. ,,, Printed by: quinn.smith@awi.edu. Printing is for pmcma1, priva&e me only. No part of'lhis book may be reprodnced or transmitted without publisher's prior permisaii>n. Violatvn will be prosec:utcd.  4 12 TIU REVOLUT I ON' OJ' 19t 0...... qecution wi1hou1 bentfi.1 o( rcial was comm~ ~ring the "'Tole~ J,c,1d, or 191().:1(), Bodi.. wrn, ltft hongi11g '"' ~-« ks ;as objec1 lcuo11.s. Fmcriddal horrors so OUl.tllfli'MJS and so cataclysmic exacted bumin11cresel\lmel\l and rear in the civilian population.\o approad1ing unit in~-ariably meant a~mble for poor, rural Mexi- a' c.ms. The best that C\>llld be hoped for was a small band demru1dq;1£ me,11. Bui often the de- mands were more out~us the war did not lend iiself to decq,cy or compassion. In nonhern Mexico tens or thousands of n1ral Mexicans joined !heir m-J.dl'.- dass and wealthy coumerpans In Sd, most remal~d in the United Sutes where maoy 'cot'uibuted 10 lnvlgoratlng Catholicism in the south"-'eSL In central and southern Mexico th\re was vin uaUy no place to nm, and the civilian p0pula1ion had no choice but to keep t~ hen.ds low and resign themselves 10 the 1,-ors1. 'l\,-o months spent clearing a field and planting crops under a burning sun could be wiped om in fi,-e minutes as an army of five huna~ horsemen galloped through the carefully tilled rows or rom and beans. Then they might s10p a1 the one-room but and confiscate the one milch cow and four turkeys !hat held out some promise for a sligl1tly less redundant diet in the six monlhs 10 follow. 11w documemary ,'Vidcnce From the period su11&es1S forcefully that 1he excesses or war cannot be auributed simply to one side or another: Bolh federals and rebels were gullty. What was the impact of the early revolmion on people's lives? We can learn mud, rrom the thousands of Images captured not only by myth-making photographers Hke Agustin Viaor Casasola and Manuel Ramos, but by the scores of others induding many women. that illu.suau, the hu man price of warfare. Other depictions jump from the pages of Luis Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae only. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced OJ' trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be proJec:Uted.  soanr ond a.lum during rh, Ret'(!/U/"""")' y...,,. 41 3 Con7.alez's perceptive and beautifully wrinen account of the Mkhoacin village of San Jo~ de Gracia (populatio n about 1,200 in 1910). By 1913, when violence engulfed the region for 1he first 1imc, Don Gregorio l'ulido had given up taking local products ID Mexico City, for bands of revo, lutionar1es made 1he rcMds un~.,Je for tr.,vd. 11te S;)Jl lost ~re., beg.in 10 return 10 1he old practice of consuming its own produas. Trade declioed...... From 1913 on, increased pov erty w~s the rule... Ev('r}'thing m San Jo.w shiftrd mt rewr.,c. ·n-.e ,woluuon did no f.tvors for th~ town or the surmunding randU!'f'UU.... P.lnies of rebeJs often ca.m~ tO visit their friends in Sn.n Jose, eilher to rescue the girls from virginity, or LO fe;i I happily'oo !he deli- cious loe.11 chcese:s and meats. or 10 add th~ An, horses oflhe rc,:,on 10 their own, 1'hey summoned all the rich residents :and told them hffl" muchmoneym'go!d min each was to conuibute to the mu.~ In vir'\" of the riOe:s.. no one prmested 1 The feared armies did no! look much Ii~ armies Siandard uniforms were unheard of among the rebel~. and weapons consisted of whatever could be found or appropriated. Sometimes makeshift insignias identified r~1k but ga slight clue as 10 group affiliation. Anonymity served rebel commanders well as il left them unconcerned with the niceties of accou111abilily, bu! it caused problem~ ror the rural campesino wanting to respond correctly to the question, ·Are you a HuenisL1, a \lillista, or a Carrancisia! For Mexican women, the li-.red experknct! of the re,'Olution brought chang_es,.1'th un- welcon1ed and appreciated. 10 1h,·1r daily 1ou1ines Wl1h husbands, f.uh e,s, an~ sons serving somewhere in the ranks. they wert!.subjec1ed 10 the terror and indignity of,wamon assaulL But many did 1101 mope or anionship, to be sure, but because aei 1hcqh federal.umy northe rebel annies prq\lid,a comm~1ry service, they for.,ged for food, rook¢, washed and, in Lhe absence of more ~petenl medical service, nursed the wounded aod'buried 1he dead. Uoth sides depended){Jpon them, and in 1912 a federaJ battalion aau- atTy 1h rea1ened mutiny ,vhen 1he secre.t.1ry of war ordered tha1 1he women could no1 be 1aken along on a cenain maneu\'er. The o~was rescinded. Not infrequently, the soldaderas aau. ally served in 1he ranks, sometimes with a baby slung in a nbo:o or a young chi ld dinging to their skirts.. Women holding officer ranks were not uncommon in the rebel armies. The soldadera endured the hardships of the campaign without special consideration. While the men 111ere generally moun ted, the women m~t o flen walked. cirrying bedding, pots and pans, food, firearms, ammunition, and children. Often the men would gallop on ahead, engage the enemy in battle, and then resL By the lime the women rnught up. they were I Lul, Corwk,._ Su /oJ/ ,kc,.,,.,, M01lin, TX. I ? 7 4 ) , I 2.lr.lte m--olutfon.uy cominge:ntJ in MH.iro, I.ht Yaqui lndiaiu of Sl'inot.& figured prominimdy in ll'K- t;.im1l;1.igns of tht nouhwCM Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae only. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced or trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be p!'OleCUted.  soanr ond a.lum during rh, Ret'(!/U/"""")' y...,,. 4 15 bounds.... At no point during the 11ext several years did she ,1ew her life as anything but a tremendous improvemem after Yucai.in. 2 In another 1wis1 on the powerful appeal of a milii,ry vocation fnr women who wished 10 enjoy the satisfoction of lx.-coming fully mas cu.line, Amelia Robles changed her gender to become Zapatista colonel Amelio Robles and later recei~-ed a ve1eran's pension for service 10 the revolution.' In conuas1 to such behaviors, public displays ofchivalry persisted. One traveler t0 Mexico Ciiy in 1918 was especially amused by the sign he found posted in the streetcar: When you see lady stmding on h«r feet you will not find it po»lbl io remain CP.'11\.£\.tEN: sitting with tranquility. Your eduGJtion will fmbid )'OU to do so. C:.ENOtAL MANACER()fTllf IW.LWA\':!) In an oblique and unintended way the revolution contrit,tued to the emancipation of the Mexican woman. As the shon.ige of adult males in the cities ton1r.,cted the labor supply, women began 10 make some inroads into the labor force. At first their contributions con- sisted of the simples! type of work in scores amJ factoritt but once escaped from the confines of the house they would not be persuaded easily 10 '1um. In Yucat:ln, Covernor Snlvador Alvarado encouraged advances in women's rights. and in 191 G he sponsored the Congreso ~enlno in M~rida, Yucat.in. Uut ~ven his suppon still defined women in tcm1i ol I.heir roles as wives, mothers, and educators and limi1ed their full membership in pub~;life. So while it can be argued that lh~ rc-voluuon opened up social spaces for women, !>'was in the fernh,ine role as educato~/numucts 1.h.11 1vomen most readily found work ,In promoting literacy, welfare. hygiene. aod tem_l?e spirit In Mexico. Wh.it IS striking is how the tut moil of war and the collapse of old institutions engendered both sl'J.!al change and cultural creativity. As we have seen, gender roles experienced transforn)ations from the Porfiriato through the early revolution. Ne\., public spaas opened for omen not only in jobs and consumer culture, but also in artistic endeavors. The life otEsperanza Iris offers a window omo signifiCll n1 changes for women forged in the anis world. She began her career as an actress during the Lue Podiriato as pan of a theatcr-mt8ition dating back to the late colonial period that grew rapidly in the waknhauer. bui most especia lly wirh I Jenri Ue~1l's mas- terpiece L' Evollllion crearrice ( 1907), rhey lashed om against the cientfficos and launched a movement for ideologic-Jl and educational reform. By 1912 tbe members oft.he Ateneo began 10 give some practical applica tion to their antipositivist poswre. Interested in moving into ar~s that Diaz had ignored, in Dec.ember Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae only. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced OJ' trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be proJeCUted.  soanr ond a.Jum during rh, Ret'(!/U/"""")' y...,,. 41 9 1912 th~ founded a 'people's unive.rsity, Lhe Universidad Popular Mexicana, and took their message 10 the faaories and shops in Mexico's leading population cen ters. Mexico's future happiness,. they preached, did 001 depend upon commercia l or industrial gro,.-ih but rather upon social progress. The Uni\'ersidad Popular Mexicaoa did not offer degrees; rather, it 1tied to bring humanistic knowledge to those who would not otherwise receive 1L Suessing lessons in citizenship and patriotism as well as practical insiruetlon in hygiene and stenography. the atairurru who constinued the faculty noL only lecrured but sponsored weekend tours to ort galleries. museums. and hisLOrical and nrchaeolog,c.li si1es. 1 hey all served without pay. ·n,e winds of change shook the literary and artistic communities as well. A new age in the Mexican novel was born in l 91S when Mariano Azuela (1873 1952) wro1e Los de abajo (translated as Tire Underdogs). A classic in twentieth-cenrury Mexican litera1ure, Los de abajo chronicles the life of Oeme1rlo Macias to probe the mt-aning tde 10 the 101, Que les deja mucha plata. To ge1 lhe spoil> of 1var. En el none Pancho Villd In the north, it' Pancho v;lt, Yen cl sur 1Viva Zapata! In 1he ,auu,, 1V1V;1._Znpata! At lhe same time, musical styles were changing to rclleQ lexfcan traditions. Manuel Ponce {1882-1948), a 1alenied young pianist and composer f'°m Zacatecas Introduced a new nativist movemenL Ponce decried lhat Mexican salo~ 1910 s hould welcome only foreign music. I le urged the acrep1ance of 1he n.uiv folk tmdltion and created classical music based on popular Mexican runes. In an essal he,auacked me stodgy salons.. TI1clr doors remainoo raohnely clo«'llld be hoped for was a small band demru1dq;1£ me,11. Bui often the de- mands were more out~us the war did not lend iiself to decq,cy or compassion. In nonhern Mexico tens or thousands of n1ral Mexicans joined !heir m-J.dl'.- dass and wealthy coumerpans In Sd, most remal~d in the United Sutes where maoy 'cot'uibuted 10 lnvlgoratlng Catholicism in the south"-'eSL In central and southern Mexico th\re was vin uaUy no place to nm, and the civilian p0pula1ion had no choice but to keep t~ hen.ds low and resign themselves 10 the 1,-ors1. 'l\,-o months spent clearing a field and planting crops under a burning sun could be wiped om in fi,-e minutes as an army of five huna~ horsemen galloped through the carefully tilled rows or rom and beans. Then they might s10p a1 the one-room but and confiscate the one milch cow and four turkeys !hat held out some promise for a sligl1tly less redundant diet in the six monlhs 10 follow. 11w documemary ,'Vidcnce From the period su11&es1S forcefully that 1he excesses or war cannot be auributed simply to one side or another: Bolh federals and rebels were gullty. What was the impact of the early revolmion on people's lives? We can learn mud, rrom the thousands of Images captured not only by myth-making photographers Hke Agustin Viaor Casasola and Manuel Ramos, but by the scores of others induding many women. that illu.suau, the hu man price of warfare. Other depictions jump from the pages of Luis Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae only. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced OJ' trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be proJec:Uted.  soanr ond a.lum during rh, Ret'(!/U/"""")' y...,,. 41 3 Con7.alez's perceptive and beautifully wrinen account of the Mkhoacin village of San Jo~ de Gracia (populatio n about 1,200 in 1910). By 1913, when violence engulfed the region for 1he first 1imc, Don Gregorio l'ulido had given up taking local products ID Mexico City, for bands of revo, lutionar1es made 1he rcMds un~.,Je for tr.,vd. 11te S;)Jl lost ~re., beg.in 10 return 10 1he old practice of consuming its own produas. Trade declioed...... From 1913 on, increased pov erty w~s the rule... Ev('r}'thing m San Jo.w shiftrd mt rewr.,c. ·n-.e ,woluuon did no f.tvors for th~ town or the surmunding randU!'f'UU.... P.lnies of rebeJs often ca.m~ tO visit their friends in Sn.n Jose, eilher to rescue the girls from virginity, or LO fe;i I happily'oo !he deli- cious loe.11 chcese:s and meats. or 10 add th~ An, horses oflhe rc,:,on 10 their own, 1'hey summoned all the rich residents :and told them hffl" muchmoneym'go!d min each was to conuibute to the mu.~ In vir'\" of the riOe:s.. no one prmested 1 The feared armies did no! look much Ii~ armies Siandard uniforms were unheard of among the rebel~. and weapons consisted of whatever could be found or appropriated. Sometimes makeshift insignias identified r~1k but ga slight clue as 10 group affiliation. Anonymity served rebel commanders well as il left them unconcerned with the niceties of accou111abilily, bu! it caused problem~ ror the rural campesino wanting to respond correctly to the question, ·Are you a HuenisL1, a \lillista, or a Carrancisia! For Mexican women, the li-.red experknct! of the re,'Olution brought chang_es,.1'th un- welcon1ed and appreciated. 10 1h,·1r daily 1ou1ines Wl1h husbands, f.uh e,s, an~ sons serving somewhere in the ranks. they wert!.subjec1ed 10 the terror and indignity of,wamon assaulL But many did 1101 mope or anionship, to be sure, but because aei 1hcqh federal.umy northe rebel annies prq\lid,a comm~1ry service, they for.,ged for food, rook¢, washed and, in Lhe absence of more ~petenl medical service, nursed the wounded aod'buried 1he dead. Uoth sides depended){Jpon them, and in 1912 a federaJ battalion aau- atTy 1h rea1ened mutiny ,vhen 1he secre.t.1ry of war ordered tha1 1he women could no1 be 1aken along on a cenain maneu\'er. The o~was rescinded. Not infrequently, the soldaderas aau. ally served in 1he ranks, sometimes with a baby slung in a nbo:o or a young chi ld dinging to their skirts.. Women holding officer ranks were not uncommon in the rebel armies. The soldadera endured the hardships of the campaign without special consideration. While the men 111ere generally moun ted, the women m~t o flen walked. cirrying bedding, pots and pans, food, firearms, ammunition, and children. Often the men would gallop on ahead, engage the enemy in battle, and then resL By the lime the women rnught up. they were I Lul, Corwk,._ Su /oJ/ ,kc,.,,.,, M01lin, TX. I ? 7 4 ) , I 2.lr.lte m--olutfon.uy cominge:ntJ in MH.iro, I.ht Yaqui lndiaiu of Sl'inot.& figured prominimdy in ll'K- t;.im1l;1.igns of tht nouhwCM Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae Cllll.y. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced or trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be p!'OleCUted.  soanr ond a.lum during rh, Ret'(!/U/"""")' y...,,. 4 15 bounds.... At no point during the 11ext several years did she ,1ew her life as anything but a tremendous improvemem after Yucai.in. 2 In another 1wis1 on the powerful appeal of a milii,ry vocation fnr women who wished 10 enjoy the satisfoction of lx.-coming fully mas cu.line, Amelia Robles changed her gender to become Zapatista colonel Amelio Robles and later recei~-ed a ve1eran's pension for service 10 the revolution.' In conuas1 to such behaviors, public displays ofchivalry persisted. One traveler t0 Mexico Ciiy in 1918 was especially amused by the sign he found posted in the streetcar: When you see lady stmding on h«r feet you will not find it po»lbl io remain CP.'11\.£\.tEN: sitting with tranquility. Your eduGJtion will fmbid )'OU to do so. C:.ENOtAL MANACER()fTllf IW.LWA\':!) In an oblique and unintended way the revolution contrit,tued to the emancipation of the Mexican woman. As the shon.ige of adult males in the cities ton1r.,cted the labor supply, women began 10 make some inroads into the labor force. At first their contributions con- sisted of the simples! type of work in scores amJ factoritt but once escaped from the confines of the house they would not be persuaded easily 10 '1um. In Yucat:ln, Covernor Snlvador Alvarado encouraged advances in women's rights. and in 191 G he sponsored the Congreso ~enlno in M~rida, Yucat.in. Uut ~ven his suppon still defined women in tcm1i ol I.heir roles as wives, mothers, and educators and limi1ed their full membership in pub~;life. So while it can be argued that lh~ rc-voluuon opened up social spaces for women, !>'was in the fernh,ine role as educato~/numucts 1.h.11 1vomen most readily found work ,In promoting literacy, welfare. hygiene. aod tem_l?e spirit In Mexico. Wh.it IS striking is how the tut moil of war and the collapse of old institutions engendered both sl'J.!al change and cultural creativity. As we have seen, gender roles experienced transforn)ations from the Porfiriato through the early revolution. Ne\., public spaas opened for omen not only in jobs and consumer culture, but also in artistic endeavors. The life otEsperanza Iris offers a window omo signifiCll n1 changes for women forged in the anis world. She began her career as an actress during the Lue Podiriato as pan of a theatcr-mt8ition dating back to the late colonial period that grew rapidly in the waknhauer. bui most especia lly wirh I Jenri Ue~1l's mas- terpiece L' Evollllion crearrice ( 1907), rhey lashed om against the cientfficos and launched a movement for ideologic-Jl and educational reform. By 1912 tbe members oft.he Ateneo began 10 give some practical applica tion to their antipositivist poswre. Interested in moving into ar~s that Diaz had ignored, in Dec.ember Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae Cllll.y. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced or trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be proJeCUted.  soanr ond a.Jum during rh, Ret'(!/U/"""")' y...,,. 41 9 1912 th~ founded a 'people's unive.rsity, Lhe Universidad Popular Mexicana, and took their message 10 the faaories and shops in Mexico's leading population cen ters. Mexico's future happiness,. they preached, did 001 depend upon commercia l or industrial gro,.-ih but rather upon social progress. The Uni\'ersidad Popular Mexicaoa did not offer degrees; rather, it 1tied to bring humanistic knowledge to those who would not otherwise receive 1L Suessing lessons in citizenship and patriotism as well as practical insiruetlon in hygiene and stenography. the atairurru who constinued the faculty noL only lecrured but sponsored weekend tours to ort galleries. museums. and hisLOrical and nrchaeolog,c.li si1es. 1 hey all served without pay. ·n,e winds of change shook the literary and artistic communities as well. A new age in the Mexican novel was born in l 91S when Mariano Azuela (1873 1952) wro1e Los de abajo (translated as Tire Underdogs). A classic in twentieth-cenrury Mexican litera1ure, Los de abajo chronicles the life of Oeme1rlo Macias to probe the mt-aning tde 10 the 101, Que les deja mucha plata. To ge1 lhe spoil> of 1var. En el none Pancho Villd In the north, it' Pancho v;lt, Yen cl sur 1Viva Zapata! In 1he ,auu,, 1V1V;1._Znpata! At lhe same time, musical styles were changing to rclleQ lexfcan traditions. Manuel Ponce {1882-1948), a 1alenied young pianist and composer f'°m Zacatecas Introduced a new nativist movemenL Ponce decried lhat Mexican salo~ 1910 s hould welcome only foreign music. I le urged the acrep1ance of 1he n.uiv folk tmdltion and created classical music based on popular Mexican runes. In an essal he,auacked me stodgy salons.. TI1clr doors remainoo raohnely clo«'