Paper Topic:

`The Great Rebellion: Mexico` Book Report

In this comprehensive review I 'm going to examine the thesis and major themes found in the book The Great Rebellion : Mexico , 1905-1924 ' by Rumon Eduardo Runz and to state my personal opinion about the identified thesis

Rumon Eduardo Runz disagrees with this popular opinion and claims that the events in Mexico were an example of a bourgeois revolution typical for the 19th century . So , the comparison for him is with the French Revolution of 1789 , and not the Russian Revolution of 1917 or the Cuban Revolution of 1959

All other

major themes in the book form a dynamic interplay with the dominant thesis theme . The author explains Mexican class system , where the upper class was strong and dominant . No serious pressures from below were evident in those times , and this also contributed to the nature of the revolution

Indeed , the socialists revolution have middle class (or lower middle class , like politically active peasants and factory workers ) as the source of change . In Mexico , all the political influence and economic capital were consolidated in the hands of Diaz and a few close associates of him . While the peasants and middle class (very small in number ) wanted a change of the Status Quo of early 1900 's , intellectual and merchant middle class were quire reluctant to be involved in the active struggle against the government

In deciding whether to agree or disagree with the author 's thesis I carefully researched the typical characteristics of both bourgeois and socialist revolution . The popular perception of the revolution is often perverted because it produced international leftist legends , e .g . the rebel Emiliano Zapata , the painter Diego Rivera , and the journalist Ricardo Flores Magun . But this is not a basis to consider the revolution to be socialist

The matter is really complicated , because the Mexican revolution was colored by socialist , nationalist , and anarchist tendencies . While socialist and anarchist tendencies indicate the similarities with the 20th-century socialist revolution , nationalism was often a typical feature of bourgeois revolution

But analyzing the results of the Mexican revolution one should acknowledge that the Mexican Constitution of 1917 was the first in the world to recognize collective labor rights and social guarantees , which leaves an aftertaste of classical socialism . However , victories like trade union rights came with a high price of the loss of working-class autonomy from the capitalist state . For instance , according to new labour laws workers could organize trade unions and strikes , but the government had the right to rule the strikes legal or illegal . So , the socialism gains were often of a limited nature

Another approach to analyzing the nature of Mexican revolution suggests that the Dnaz 's rule was due to a bourgeois revolution . But the Mexican bourgeoisie was a weak (though large in number ) and not constructive class , unable to develop a classical bourgeois democratic revolution and develop Mexican capitalism . In that period Mexico 's economy was dependent on foreign imperialists . Since the bourgeois revolution proved unsuccessful , a new one , a socialist one , was to...

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