Villa & Zapata: Civil War summary

Villa & Zapata: Civil War summary January 1915 – Villa v. Carranza, Zapata fades out, Obregón fade in. O only picked C because he had no alternative. C and O plotted against each other. V left Mexico, O moved in. Mexico City not happy with O. O was suck in Veracruz … why didn’t V go to Veracruz?! Z is only interested in his own pueblo – no support for V The civil war was completely undefined → one culture and locality in conflict with another locality and culture. Only 3 issues clearly divided Villa and Carranza 1. the role of central government 2. the land reform 3. attitudes towards the USA (C was anti-American, V was pro American.) V was only partly committed to land reform. V wanted to give land to troops C wanted to give land to original owners C lacked V’s personal appeal and magnetism; O’s primary loyalty was to himself. V was losing it, both personally and in the propaganda war. He failed to capitalize on C’s anticlericalism. Benefits from being pro-American did not materialize party because of the outbreak of war in Europe. Villa was being screwed by his people and, he felt, by the US – he lost faith in Wilson. The prices of oil and hemp (which C was in charge of) went up, while the prices of cattle and cotton went down (which V was in charge of). Ángeles started off well in the north-east, but the fog on Jan 8, 1915 made the battle chaos. Fierro and Contreras lost in an engagement in Guadalajara. Fierro was piiiiiiissed. V won the battle of Sayula – last victory on the battlefield. Villa was seriously defective in two areas: 1. Dispersed his superior strength in too many places at the same time 2. He has thus broken the principle of the concentration of force Ángeles kept giving Villa good advice, Villa kept rejecting it. (April 5 – 7: Celaya, April 13 – 15: Celaya again, April 29 – June 5: Trinidad) A shell tore off Obregón’s right arm, he tried to shoot himself, but his gun was empty. He was taken to a hospital and survived. Villa fell to Carranza & Obregón. O was the most important man in Mexico. Villa began to expropriate funds from previously friendly landowners, foreign capitalists and Americans. Villa and men ran away into the mountains. “In three years he had gone from guerrilla fighter to the pinnacle of power and back again. Nobody could have guessed that he was about to launch an endeavor that would make him front-page news across the world.” Oooh ominous…