Zapata, Emiliano

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Emiliano Zapata

Zapata, 1912
Archivo Casasola

born Aug. 8, 1879, Anenecuilco, Mex.

died April 10, 1919, Morelos

Mexican revolutionary and champion of the rural poor.

A mestizo peasant, he was orphaned at age 17 and took responsibility for his brothers and sisters. He led his neighbours in protests against the hacienda that had appropriated their land and eventually led them in taking the land by force. He organized a small force to help Francisco Madero unseat Porfirio Díaz. Dissatisfied with the pace of land reform under Madero, Zapata led a guerrilla campaign that took land back from the haciendas and returned it to the communal Indian ejidos. He was instrumental in the defeat of Gen. Victoriano Huerta after Huerta deposed and assassinated Madero. With Pancho Villa he occupied Mexico City and began to implement land reform, but he was tricked, ambushed, and killed by the forces of Venustiano Carranza, whom the U.S. had recognized as president.

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Zapata, Emiliano: broadside advertising his premature death

More on "Emiliano Zapata" from Britannica Concise:

Morelos - State (pop., 2000: 1,555,296), central Mexico.

Madero, Francisco (Indalecio) - Mexican revolutionary and president (1911-13).

Carranza, Venustiano - First president of the post-Porfirio Diaz Mexican Republic (1917-20).

Mexican Revolution - (1910-20) Lengthy struggle that began with the overthrow of Porfirio Diaz, whose elitist and oligarchic policies had caused widespread dissatisfaction.

Villa, Pancho - Mexican guerrilla leader.

More on "Emiliano Zapata" from the 32 Volume Encyclopædia Britannica:

Zapata, Emiliano - Mexican revolutionary, champion of agrarianism, who fought in guerrilla actions during and after the Mexican Revolution (1910-20).

Lopez y Fuentes, Gregorio - novelist who was one of the most important chroniclers of the Mexican Revolution and its effects.

Huerta, Victoriano - dictatorial president of Mexico (Feb. 18, 1913-July 15, 1914), whose regime united disparate revolutionary forces in common opposition to him.

Mexico - On Feb. 14, 1911, Madero crossed into Mexico near Ciudad Juarez to head his forces. In the next few months the rebels learned how debilitated the Diaz army had become; led by aged generals, the Federalist troops lacked discipline, cohesion, unity of command, and effectiveness. Under these circumstances the revolution gained ground and momentum. The surrender of the Federal commander at Juarez at ...

Zapata, Emiliano - Zapata created agrarian commissions to distribute the land; he spent much time supervising their work to be sure they showed no favouritism and that the landowners did not corrupt its members. He established a Rural Loan Bank, the country's first agricultural credit organization; he also tried to reorganize the sugar industry of Morelos into cooperatives. In April 1915 U.S. President Woodrow ...

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