Mexican Revolution

Introduction
Origins of the Mexican Revolution
The Madero regime
Rebellion against Huerta’s rule and U.S. intervention
Civil war
Carranza and the Mexican constitution of 1917

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Combatant in the Mexican Revolution, 1911

arrest of Francisco Madero, February 9, 1913

portrait of Francisco Madero in local newspaper

At a Glance

Mexican Revolution summary

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Civil War era cannon overlooks Kennesaw Mountain National Battle. (military, artillery, American history)

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Louis IX of France (St. Louis), stained glass window of Louis IX during the Crusades. (Unknown location.)

World Wars

D-Day. American soldiers fire rifles, throw grenades and wade ashore on Omaha Beach next to a German bunker during D Day landing. 1 of 5 Allied beachheads est. in Normandy, France. The Normandy Invasion of World War II launched June 6, 1944.

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Related Questions

How did Article 3 of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 address education?
How did Francisco Madero challenge Porfirio Díaz in the 1910 election?
How did Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco help Madero’s rebellion in northern Mexico?
How did Zapatista guerrilla tactics work during the Mexican Revolution?
How did foreign investment affect Mexico during Porfirio Díaz’s presidency?
How did haciendas affect rural workers and Indigenous communities in Mexico before 1910?
How did the científicos influence the Díaz government?
How did Álvaro Obregón become president of Mexico in 1920?
How did Álvaro Obregón begin carrying out land reform and education programs after 1920?
How did Álvaro Obregón defeat Pancho Villa at the Battle of Celaya?
How was Emiliano Zapata assassinated in 1919?
What conditions under Porfirio Díaz helped cause the Mexican Revolution?
What did the Plan de San Luis Potosí call on Mexicans to do?
What did the slogan Tierra y Libertad mean to Zapata and his followers?
What happened at the Convention of Aguascalientes in 1914?
What role did the rurales play under Porfirio Díaz?
Why did Emiliano Zapata turn against Francisco Madero?
Why did Francisco Madero disappoint many of his revolutionary supporters as president?
Why did Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata enter Mexico City in 1914?
Why did Pascual Orozco rebel against Francisco Madero’s government?
Why did Porfirio Díaz resign and go into exile in 1911?
Why did President Woodrow Wilson send General John J. Pershing into Mexico in 1916?
Why did Ricardo Flores Magón and the Regeneration group criticize the Díaz regime?
Why did U.S. President Woodrow Wilson refuse to recognize Victoriano Huerta’s government?
Why did Venustiano Carranza reject the decisions of the Convention of Aguascalientes?
Why did many Mexican peasants lose their land before the Mexican Revolution?
Why did many Mexican revolutionary leaders oppose the U.S. occupation of Veracruz?
Why did the Mexican Constitution of 1917 limit the rights of the Roman Catholic Church and foreign interests?
Why did the Pershing expedition fail to capture Pancho Villa?
Why do many historians use 1920 as the end of the Mexican Revolution?
Why was the Battle of Celaya in 1915 a turning point in the Mexican Revolution?
What factors led to Hurricane Otis’s rare intensification?
How many people died as a result of Hurricane Otis?
Who was Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla?
What is Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla known for?
How did Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla die?
How did Antonio López de Santa Anna come to power?
What is Antonio López de Santa Anna most famous for?
What is Antonio López de Santa Anna’s legacy?
How did Porfirio Díaz come to power?
When was Porfirio Díaz in power?

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External Websites

Texas State Historical Association - Handbook of Texas Online - Mexican Revolution
UC Berkeley - Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies - MEXICO'S CENTENNIALS: The Promise and Legacy of the Mexican Revolution
History Today - The Mexican Revolution
Teach Democracy - Land Liberty and the Mexican Revolution
1914-1918 - International Encyclopedia of the First World War - Mexican Revolution
National Endowment for the Humanities - EDSITEment - The Mexican Revolution: November 20th, 1910
ScholarWorks at BGSU - The Mexican Revolution: An Uneven Path
Harvard University - Peabody Museum - Video: The Mexican Revolution of 1910: A Sociohistorical Interpretation
Seattle University - ScholarWorks - The Manifestation of Total War in the Mexican Revolution. (PDF)
Harvard University - Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology - Video: The Mexican Revolution of 1910: A Sociohistorical Interpretation
PBS LearningMedia - The Storm that Swept Mexico: Revolutionary Leaders | Media Gallery

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Mexican Revolution - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)

Mexican Revolution

Mexican history [1910–1920]

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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

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Last updated

Oct. 19, 2026 •History

Mexican Revolution, (1910–20), a long and bloody struggle among several factions in constantly shifting alliances which resulted ultimately in the end of the 30-year dictatorship in Mexico and the establishment of a constitutional republic. The revolution began against a background of widespread dissatisfaction with the elitist and oligarchical policies of Porfirio Díaz that favoured wealthy landowners and industrialists. When Díaz in 1908 said that he welcomed the democratization of Mexican political life and appeared ambivalent...

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