The Mexican Revolution: Part VIII-The Convention at Aguascalientes

The Mexican Revolution lasted from 1910 to 1920. Although Francisco Madero managed to overthrow  the dictator Porfiro Diaz, he proved to be an ineffective president, who soon lost power. A succession of generals and rebel leaders struggled to gain the president's chair, but the fighting merely grew more destructive until Alvaro Obregon emerged as the victor in 1920. Part VIII examines the aftermath of Heurta's defeat as the various factions met in the Convention of Aguascalientes to resolve their differences and form a new government, hoping to avoid a civil war.

Cast of Characters:
Francisco Villa-rebel leader in Chihuahua, his followers are called villistas
Emiliano Zapata-leader of an agrarian movement in Morelos, his followers are called zapatistas
Victoriano Huerta-a general in the federal army, who led a coup against Madero and appointed himself president but was forced into exile
Venustiano Carranza-governor of Coahuila, former minister of war and leader of the Constitutional movement against Huerta, his followers are called carrancistas
Alvaro Obregon-a leading general in Carranza's Constitutional army
Felipe Angeles-a general in the federal army, who was loyal to Francisco Madero, and then became Villa's leading general
Eulalio Gutierrez-carracista general from San Luis Potosi, elected provisional president during the Convention of Aguascalientes
Roque Gonzalez Garza-villista general, Gutierrez's successor as president 

Sources:
Villa and Zapata: A Biography of the Mexican Revolution-Frank McLynn
The Mexican Revolution: Volumes I & II-Alan Knight
Mexico: Biography of Power, A History of Modern Mexico, 1810-1996-Enrique Krauze, translated by Hank Heifetz
Empire and Revolution: The Americans in Mexico since the Civil War-John Mason Hart
Revolutionary Mexico: The Coming and Process of the Mexican Revolution
The Life and Times of Pancho Villa-Friedrich Katz
Centaur of the North: Francisco Villa, the Mexican Revolution, and Northern Mexico
Emiliano Zapata: Revolution and Betrayal in Mexico-Samuel Brunk
Zapata and the Mexican Revolution-John Womack, Jr.
Ranchero Revolt: The Mexican Revolution in Guerrero-Ian Jacobs
Orozco: The Life and Death of a Mexican Revolutionary-Raymond Caballero
Venustaino Carranza's Nationalist Struggle, 1893-1920-Douglas W. Richmond
Alvaro Obregon: Power and Revolution in Mexico, 1911-1920-Linda B. Hall
The Last Caudillo: Alvar Obregon and the Mexican Revolution-Jurgen Buchenau

Image Credit:
Dec 6 1914 General Tomás Urbina, General Pancho Villa and General Emiliano Zapata, Creator: Casasola, Agustín Víctor, 1874-1938, Elmer and Diane Powell collection on Mexico and the Mexican Revolution, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University, Wikimedia Commons