historical Crisis

Historical Crisis : Mexican Peso Crisis

2008

Introduction to Mexico and its Economic Basics

Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821 . Mexican society was composed through a process of "racial mixing " of Spanish and indigenous Indian communities during the colonial period . For the first fifty years of its independence , the Mexican economy was stagnant and politics were unstable as forty-five administrations came and went . During the mid-1840 's Mexico lost about half of its territories to the United States . Mexican history marked another period with Porfirio Diaz 's dictatorship known

as Porfiriato (1875-1911 . During this period although a considerable industrial development was achieved , the majority of the population did not benefit much from this economic development , and they were excluded from political participation . This "Unfair " political and economic system generated a series of grievances among workers and peasants , and incited the "first great social revolution of the twentieth century " in 1910 (Centeno , 6 . The revolution had multiple actors with different goals . As a result , the revolution was followed by a civil war , which lasted until 1919 theless , the revolution and the subsequent civil war gave birth to the contemporary Mexican state

Challenges to the revolution and political instabilities in the 1920s were resolved in 1929 with the leadership of Plutarco Elias Calles (1929-1934 , who created a new political body , the National Revolutionary Party (PNR ) which later became the PMR and was the precursor of today 's Institutional Revolutionary Party , PRI . Calles was able to bring competing interests under the PNR...