The whole movement was so vast that it encompassed socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist and also agrarianist secondary movements. It was only a question of time before the struggle led by Francisco I Madero against the established rule under Porfiro Diaz, turned into a full-on civil war on more than two fronts.

Are you asking yourself yet how much the revolution lasted? It lasted until 1920 and if you’re wondering what it came out of the whole thing; the answer is a new constitution and basically, a new rule under the National Revolutionary Party. This formation kept hold of the power for a long time, until the 2000 elections.

This is mainly what happened but I am sure that there are some more questions people ask themselves about the Mexican revolution. Some of them might even not know their questions have something to do with this event. For example, who are the Zapatistas? I am sure that many of you, on more than one occasion, have heard a reference to Zapatista women, especially with the modern feminist movements.

Who were the Zapatista women and what did they have to do with the revolution? Women were very actively involved in the revolution and they had a great influence on how society came into shape after the movement. Bear in mind that this happened in a time when women were almost entirely excluded from any political matters, and a time when few western women questioned why that was the general state of affairs.

The Mexican women first gave aid to Zapatista soldiers in their homes but soon enough these women became soldiers themselves. Their most common motivation was revenge for the death of loved ones. They were men’s clothing and were heavily armed.

The question we get to next is who is this Zapata? Emiliano Zapata was a key figure of the revolution, fighting on the side of the peasants, for their political and economical emancipation. He was also called the Attila of the South and was assassinated in 1919.

These are just surface facts. If you want to really understand and appreciate this part of history you have to do a lot of research. Even so, the last question you should ask yourself even if you don’t want to go deeper into the subjects, is what was USA’s involvement in the whole thing? It’s no surprise that this involvement at the turn of the century is mainly economical. You might be shocked to find out that at that time about 27% of Mexican land was owned by American companies. For economical reasons, once again, we were well involved in the conflict and gave our support to whoever was in power. On two occasions the US government even sent troops to Mexico

These are just a few facts you should know about the Mexican revolution, and this revolution is just one in a long line of events all Americans should ask more about, since our government is sure to come out at one point in our investigations as a significant force of influence.