StudyaidBonus.docx

Bonus! Exam Study Terms! Get’em while they are hot! Antonio López de Santa Anna Mexican General in the War for Independence, and President (several times) of Mexico. He was a Caudillo (military dictator) and was also sometimes democratically-elected. He was the General of the Mexican Army in the Tex...

Bonus! Exam Study Terms! Get’em while they are hot! Antonio López de Santa Anna Mexican General in the War for Independence, and President (several times) of Mexico. He was a Caudillo (military dictator) and was also sometimes democratically-elected. He was the General of the Mexican Army in the Texas War for independence (1835-1836, he loses and signs the Treaty of Velasco giving Texas its independence), and the Mexican-American War (1846-1848, he loses BIG TIME and signs away half of Mexico at the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo). He sells a big chunk of land to the US, called The Gadsden Purchase, in 1854. Maximiliano and Carlota Don’t let the names throw you! Although they sound Spanish, this is Emperor Maximilian I (Austrian) and his Belgian wife Carolyn. Hapsburg prince who is convinced by a fake election to become Emperor of Mexico in 1865. Napoleon III thinks he can control Maximilian. He is wrong. Maximilian initiates a series of liberal reforms, and even offers Juarez the Presidency of the country (he refuses). Eventually he issues the Black Decree making it a crime punishable by death to aid Juarez and his men. The countryside rises up against him. Napoleon has had enough and pulls out the troops. Maximilian’s reign crumbles. He is caught and executed in 1867. Emiliano Zapata Mexican revolutionary general who helps defeat a string of anti-revolutionary politicians. Dies by assassination in 1919. Helps force Porfirio Diaz out of power in 1910 during the Mexican Revolution. Demands widespread land reform for the poor and nationalization of industries like oil drilling and mining. Hated both Diaz and his successor, Francisco Madero (Madero is too conservative for Zapata and doesn’t respond fast enough with reforms). Brilliant general. Pancho Villa Mexican revolutionary general who also helps defeat a string of anti-revolutionary politicians. Also demands wide-spread land reform and democratic reform. His army is all but wiped out by the Huerta government in 1915. Villa leads a raid on Colombus, New Mexico hoping to spur the United States into invading Mexico in 1916. He is eventually captured and killed in 1923. Lázaro Cárdenas Mexican revolutionary general and Mexican Nationalist who becomes President in 1934, ruling the country until 1940. Cardenas instituted wide-spread land and economic reforms aimed at reducing the control of the wealthy elite. Nationalizes the Mexican oil industry. Makes peace with the Catholic Church. Helps the government take over the labor unions, reducing them to “Blanco” or white paper unions (meaning they have little real power) while also implementing many of the union’s major policy issues. Is considered one of if not the greatest Mexican Presidents. Rafael Trujillo Brutal Dominican Republic dictator from 1930 to 1961, serving as President some of those times, and as just a straight up dictator during others – he’s assassinated in 1961. His secret police jail and execute thousands of activists. He’s the “bastard” that was on the side of the United States, much to our shame, because he was violently anti-leftist. Ruled through a “Cult of Personality” where the most powerful people in the country all but worshipped him. Supported the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. A real nasty piece of work. Rigoberta Menchú Guatemalan human rights activist of Mayan descent. Bravely organized against the right wing government in the 1960s, demanded women’s and indigenous rights. Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her lifetime of activism. Exiled by the government in 1981, she led a resistance-in-exile movement against the dictatorship in Guatemala. Became a UNESCO Ambassador for world peace.