Porfiriato

The Porfiriato is a period of General Porfirio Díaz's presidential tenure in Mexico during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The credit for the term goes to Mexican historian Daniel Cosío Villegas. General Porfirio Díaz's long presidency, whose rule extended for almost 31 years from 1877-1880 and 1884-1911. Despite the Mexican State’s gradual modernization and relative peace, the class-based contradictions intensified due to the disproportionate wealth distribution and unequal modernization. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the world was characterized by structural and ideological changes. The emerging anarchist and socialist ideologies and other global revolutionary movements such as the Russian Revolution of 1905, the Chinese Revolution in 1911, the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, and World War I could have influenced Mexican society’s social awakening. This period was characterized by Ricardo and Enrique Flores Magón and their anarchist ideals as well as by the Científicos. The Científicos were the scientific and technocrats-advisers to the General The development of railroads and mining infrastructure combined with a relatively free press meant that the “radical” and “satirical” ideas and news could spread much more rapidly. The economic growth under the general was characterized by the accumulation of wealth and its maldistribution across society. Historian Paco Ignacio Taibo II has tried to provide answers to a commonly asked question-Was Porfirio Díaz a hero or villain?

In 1909, US President Taft met with President Díaz in El Paso, Texas. The visit was documented by Mexico's Alva Brothers in a black and white silent film. The United States has always been intimately involved in Mexican internal affairs, even before Alamo. In the late 19th century, the "Logical Paternalism" of Díaz and growing discontent meant the United States also served as a home to Mexican "revoltosos."

Among them were Ricardo and Enrique and Jesús Flores Magón brothers. Ricardo Flores Magón was a social reformist and anarchist. His followers are known as Magonistas. Magonism and its ideals were the precursors to the Mexican Revolution. Magón brothers were influenced by the texts of Russian Anarchists- Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin.

He founded Regeneración. It was a Mexican anarchist newspaper that was the mouthpiece of the Mexican Liberal Party. In 1900, it was forced to move to the United States in 1905. Jesús Flores Magón published the paper (along with Anselmo Figueroa, a leading member of the party), while his brothers Ricardo and Enrique contributed articles. In 1910, Mexico celebrated its one-hundredth anniversary of Independence. However, Porfirio Díaz's regime was not without challenges. On the eve of the Revolution, Serdán brothers whose revolutionary activities led to the tragic events in November of 1910. Before Regeneración, he wrote in a satirical newspaper, "El Hijo del Ahuizote." The newspaper published articles that questioned the legitimacy of the Porfirian rule through its satirical articles.

They formed a short-lived rebellion in Baja California. Magonistas captured Tijuana but were eventually defeated. Ricardo Flores Magón authored "Program of the Liberal Party," in 1911. He fled to the United States in 1904 and returned to Mexico after the end of the Porfiriato. He was arrested in 1916 and died in 1922 in the Fort Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas. For his biography see here.