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Revolutionary Mexico: The Coming and Process of the Mexican Revolution.
This acclaimed reinterpretation of the Mexican Revolution, based on new evidence obtained in Mexican and American archives and on the historical literature of recent years, is available here in the tenth anniversary edition, complete with a new Preface by the author.
478 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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August 19, 2025Since there is jack here on GR about this book, and I have not read it, I am importing an intelligent review that I came across. This book is expensive on Amazon, even used. Perhaps hit your Library sales.
This interesting book is a structural analysis of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. In Hart's analysis, the Mexican Revolution was a crisis of modernization, or perhaps more precisely, a crisis of uneven modernization. The proximate outbreak of the Revolution was widespread dissatisfaction with the regime of Porfirio Diaz that dominated Mexico for the prior 35 years. The Diaz regime pursued policies of aggressive economic modernization by opening Mexico to foreign capital investment, particularly American investment, and increasing centralization of political power. The greatest share of benefits from these policies fell primarily to a relatively narrow sector of Mexicans associated with the Diaz regime. The Diaz era policies eroded the political and economic power of regional elites, impoverished traditional artisans, accelerated the destruction of traditional peasant/communal landholidings, expanded an impoverished and politically repressed industrial proleteriat, and alienated a growing Mexican middle class who were excluded from economic and political opportunities. Up to 1900, there was sufficient economic growth that dissent never reached a critical mass. After 1900, the social dislocations were magnified by Mexico's greatly increased involvement in the turbulent international economic environment of the early 20th century. A series of international and domestic economic crises provoked widespread unrest and ultimately destroyed the legitimacy of the regime.
The ensuing Revolution, like most revolutions, became a civil war between shifting coalitions of the major groups - regional elites, industrial workers, rebellious peasant communities, and the emerging middle class - that overthrew the Diaz regime. Hart has a good analysis of the course of Revolution and how each of these groups attempted to achieve their objectives. Hart also deals with other important aspects of Revolution, such as the importance of ethnicity, particulary the role of Indian communities, and the pervasive effect of nationalism provoked by large scale American economic penetration of Mexico.
Hart is particularly concerned with exposing the important role of American investment and the US government in both the outbreak and course of the Revolution. He devotes an impressive number of pages to detailed description and analysis of American investment and exploitation of Mexico. A great deal of this investment came from Texans who were powers in the American Democratic Party, including Woodrow Wilson's important advisor, EM House. The actions of American financial interests and the US government are described as crucial determinants of the outcome of the Revolutionary Civil War with Americans acting essentially a covert kingmakers by selective provision of armaments and financial support. Hart's assessment is supported by a great deal of original archival research.
Hart has also an interesting chapter in which he places Mexico in international perspective, comparing the events of the Revolution with approximately concurrent events in Iran, Russia, and China. He makes a reasonable case for important similarities, particularly attempted revolutions provoked by expanding international capitalism.
In Hart's view, the Revolution ended with the gradual re-imposition of central government authority, defeat of the peasant insurgencies, domestication of industrial workers, reassurance of foreign investors, and an opening up of political and economic opportunities to a broader spectrum of Mexicans. This occured in the framework of an authoritarian state that carefully circumscribed political liberties, provided a great deal of patronage, and largely suppressed more radical currents in Mexican socieity.
There are significant defects in this book. A major one is the writing and organization of the book. It is rather repetitive. With better organization, this book could have been about 2/3s the length of the present book. Hart is a competent, as opposed to good writer. Probably because he unearthed some much interesting material related to American involvement in Mexico, his discussion of this (very important) issue sometimes overpowers other aspects of the book. For example, I would like to know more about how the forces of Obregon coopted Mexican industrial workers into their attacks on the peasant movements. Hart claims that industrial workers provided crucial manpower for Obrego's armies. At the crucial battle of Celaya, however, it is generally believed that Yaqui Indians from Obregon's native Sonora formed the core of his troops. Is this true? Hart suffers also from a typical historian's preoccupation with telling instead of showing. Instead of page after page of descriptions of how Americans owned huge chunks of Mexico, a few good charts or tables would have told the story. Hart made a strong effort to link the events of the Revolution with a broad swath of preceding Mexican history. Some of this seems reasonable, particularly the part dealing with peasant resistance to commercialization of agriculture. But some seems strained, not every attack on Mexican governments of the preceding 2 centuries can be linked to the phenomena that gave rise to the Revolution. Hart is sometimes sloppy in this terminology. It really doesn't seem to make much sense to speak of rural and urban working classes when the former and the latter have rather different world views.
This interesting book is a structural analysis of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. In Hart's analysis, the Mexican Revolution was a crisis of modernization, or perhaps more precisely, a crisis of uneven modernization. The proximate outbreak of the Revolution was widespread dissatisfaction with the regime of Porfirio Diaz that dominated Mexico for the prior 35 years. The Diaz regime pursued policies of aggressive economic modernization by opening Mexico to foreign capital investment, particularly American investment, and increasing centralization of political power. The greatest share of benefits from these policies fell primarily to a relatively narrow sector of Mexicans associated with the Diaz regime. The Diaz era policies eroded the political and economic power of regional elites, impoverished traditional artisans, accelerated the destruction of traditional peasant/communal landholidings, expanded an impoverished and politically repressed industrial proleteriat, and alienated a growing Mexican middle class who were excluded from economic and political opportunities. Up to 1900, there was sufficient economic growth that dissent never reached a critical mass. After 1900, the social dislocations were magnified by Mexico's greatly increased involvement in the turbulent international economic environment of the early 20th century. A series of international and domestic economic crises provoked widespread unrest and ultimately destroyed the legitimacy of the regime.
The ensuing Revolution, like most revolutions, became a civil war between shifting coalitions of the major groups - regional elites, industrial workers, rebellious peasant communities, and the emerging middle class - that overthrew the Diaz regime. Hart has a good analysis of the course of Revolution and how each of these groups attempted to achieve their objectives. Hart also deals with other important aspects of Revolution, such as the importance of ethnicity, particulary the role of Indian communities, and the pervasive effect of nationalism provoked by large scale American economic penetration of Mexico.
Hart is particularly concerned with exposing the important role of American investment and the US government in both the outbreak and course of the Revolution. He devotes an impressive number of pages to detailed description and analysis of American investment and exploitation of Mexico. A great deal of this investment came from Texans who were powers in the American Democratic Party, including Woodrow Wilson's important advisor, EM House. The actions of American financial interests and the US government are described as crucial determinants of the outcome of the Revolutionary Civil War with Americans acting essentially a covert kingmakers by selective provision of armaments and financial support. Hart's assessment is supported by a great deal of original archival research.
Hart has also an interesting chapter in which he places Mexico in international perspective, comparing the events of the Revolution with approximately concurrent events in Iran, Russia, and China. He makes a reasonable case for important similarities, particularly attempted revolutions provoked by expanding international capitalism.
In Hart's view, the Revolution ended with the gradual re-imposition of central government authority, defeat of the peasant insurgencies, domestication of industrial workers, reassurance of foreign investors, and an opening up of political and economic opportunities to a broader spectrum of Mexicans. This occured in the framework of an authoritarian state that carefully circumscribed political liberties, provided a great deal of patronage, and largely suppressed more radical currents in Mexican socieity.
There are significant defects in this book. A major one is the writing and organization of the book. It is rather repetitive. With better organization, this book could have been about 2/3s the length of the present book. Hart is a competent, as opposed to good writer. Probably because he unearthed some much interesting material related to American involvement in Mexico, his discussion of this (very important) issue sometimes overpowers other aspects of the book. For example, I would like to know more about how the forces of Obregon coopted Mexican industrial workers into their attacks on the peasant movements. Hart claims that industrial workers provided crucial manpower for Obrego's armies. At the crucial battle of Celaya, however, it is generally believed that Yaqui Indians from Obregon's native Sonora formed the core of his troops. Is this true? Hart suffers also from a typical historian's preoccupation with telling instead of showing. Instead of page after page of descriptions of how Americans owned huge chunks of Mexico, a few good charts or tables would have told the story. Hart made a strong effort to link the events of the Revolution with a broad swath of preceding Mexican history. Some of this seems reasonable, particularly the part dealing with peasant resistance to commercialization of agriculture. But some seems strained, not every attack on Mexican governments of the preceding 2 centuries can be linked to the phenomena that gave rise to the Revolution. Hart is sometimes sloppy in this terminology. It really doesn't seem to make much sense to speak of rural and urban working classes when the former and the latter have rather different world views.
August 15, 2020
It's all more complicated than you imagine. Most Americans see only a simplified distortion. We all have a lot to learn.
August 27, 2025
The Americans did it!
Mexico for Mexicans!
Gud buk. Old School!
Mexico for Mexicans!
Gud buk. Old School!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews