Emiliano Zapata

Emiliano Zapata Salazar (August 8 1879 – April 10 1919) was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz that broke out in 1910.

Revolution against Huerta and Carranza

Madero was soon thereafter overthrown by Victoriano Huerta, a former porfirista general, who gave amnesty to Díaz and suppressed indigenous resistance to land reforms. The peasant reaction to this increased the size of Zapata's forces considerably, and also gave rise to a new group in the north: the Villistas under Pancho Villa. The Villistas were mainly composed of Madero supporters. Zapata at first was hesitant to meet with Villa, after Villa vehemently rejected the Plan de Ayala when a Zapatista introduced him to the concept in prison.

Related Topics:
Victoriano Huerta - Villistas - Pancho Villa

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Opposition to Huerta coalesced under Venustiano Carranza, who led a Constitutionalist faction which both Villa and Zapata eventually allied with.

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These forces proved too much for Huerta to match, and he was quickly deposed.

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Following his defeat, the Constitutionalists set up a convention to decide the form of the government. Zapata refused to attend the convention, pointing out that none of the attendees had been elected. Instead the chiefs in Morelos sent a delegation to present the Plan de Ayala for consideration and observe the state of the convention.

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Soon thereafter Carranza had himself made head of the government, which sparked further outrage. Initially Carranza commanded the loyalty of Álvaro Obregón, who suppressed the Villista guerrillas. The Zapatistas, however, remained mobilised, but grew increasingly fractured after many long years of campaigning.

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The Carranza regime ultimately put a bounty on Zapata's head, expecting disenfranchised Zapatistas to betray him. It also attempted to entice away the other chiefs in the Zapatista army; neither proposition proved successful.

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