History ETDs

Publication Date

7-10-1973

Abstract

Although the Mexican Revolution and its concomitant reforms in Yucatán have been the subject of a number of works in Spanish, they are of uneven quality; however, no narrative history, in English, exists specifically dealing with events in a state which helped finance the Revolution and served as a proving ground for socialistic approaches to societal organization. Based primarily on newspaper accounts, material from Mexican archives, and United States Department of State files, this work presents a comprehensive narrative of events in Yucatán from late 1909 to early 1924, relates those events to the situation in the rest of Mexico, and concludes by placing developments in Yucatán within the context of general revolution and modernization theory. Each chapter, except the last, begins with a political narrative followed by sections on economic and social conditions and reforms, if any, and concludes with a political narrative. The primary focus in each chapter is on political developments, the henequen industry, organized labor, rural reform, educational and other social reforms, and religion. The final chapter (Chapter IX) provides a review, conclusions, and a theoretical framework for the period. An appendix contains biographical, historiographical, and statistical information dealing with land reform, the henequen industry, Yucatecan governors, and Carrillo. The Mexican Revolution and reform in Yucatán eliminated many of the state's "feudal" aspects. Events of the period ended separatism, consolidated federal control over the state, and gave rise to party, as opposed to personalist, politics on the state level with the growth of the Partido Socialista del Sureste. The prime mover and main beneficiary of reform and the Revolution was the middle class. Yucatán changed significantly as a result of the Revolution; and although the Revolution and reform did not turn the state into Shangri-la they left Yucatán more closely bound to the Mexican nation and molded Yucatán into a modern state.

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Degree Name

History

Department Name

History

First Committee Member (Chair)

Edwin Lieuwen

Second Committee Member

Troy Smith Floyd

Third Committee Member

Unknown

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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