Cardenismo Flashcards
PRIísta view of Cárdenas administration
(1) Accommodates Cárdenas within the teleological progress of the Mexican Revolution
(2) Places emphasis on continuity in line with the belief in the democratic and popular character of Cardenismo and the Revolution in general
Alan Knight: “more jalopy than juggernaut”
(1) Cardenismo was a genuinely radical movement in terms of its objectives, promised considerable change, and embodied popular support
(2) faced severe resistance due to its radicalism that curtailed the administration’s freedom of manoeuvre and led it to compromise and retreat on several issues
(3) consequently its practical accomplishments were limited
Stephanie Mitchell: “Cardenista myth”
(1) most enduring legacy of Cárdenas’ administration
(2) frequently disparaged for lack of substance
(3) refers to the vague but pervasive set of associations that linked Cárdenas with the unfulfilled promises of the Revolution
John W Sherman
(1) challenges dominant belief that Cárdenas was a widely popular president
(2) illuminates the importance of the non-institutional political right that battled Cardenismo with considerable success
When was Josephus Daniels Ambassador to Mexico?
1933-41
When was Shirt-sleeve Diplomat written
1947
Daniels in letter to State Department: “A wise man once said, ‘All oil stinks…
…He must have been referring to the devious ways, violating laws as well as morals, by which big companies have obtained a near monopoly of the oil”
Daniels’ view of Mexican oil expropriation
“little as we might like it - President Cárdenas was acting under clear and well-understood Mexican laws”
What is Cardenismo?
(1) radical nationalist project or ideological movement implemented during presidency of Cárdenas (1934-40)
How much of the workforce was rural in 1930?
3.6m peasants or rural labour out of 5.1m workforce
70% still landless
Adrian Bantjes: goals of agrarian reform
(1) further revolutionary cause of social justice
(2) revitalise the rural economy
(3) create body of loyal armed ejidatorios
(4) mobilise a new electorate for the revolutionary part
Alan Knight on Cardenista agrarian reform
“sweeping, rapid, and, in some respects, structurally innovative”
Success of Cardenista agrarian reform?
(1) distributed more land than all revolutionary predecessors combined, 400% increase
(2) brought relative social peace to countryside
(3) invested enormous effort in dismantling the hacienda system and redistributing land
Muralist Artists
Diego Rivera
David Siqueiros
When was the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) established?
1921
What was the aim of the “socialist school”?
(1) advance economic and cultural integration
(2) foster collective solidarity in the pursuit of independent economic development
Reform to Article 2 of the Constitution
exclusion of “all religious doctrine … to combat fanaticism and prejudices in the schools by organising instruction and activities in a way that shall permit the creation in youth of an exact and rational concept of the universe”
When and why was the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) established?
(1) 1939
(2) encourage shift from liberal professions to technical and vocational training
Increase in number of federal primary schools?
1935 18,000
1940 22,000
Archbishop of Mexico Pastoral Letter (1935)
(1) parents to withdraw their children from schools
(2) priests obliged to instruct parents to do so or that they would face excommunication
(3) teachers reminded that following any part of the syllabus implied heresy and automatic excommunication
When was the Acción Cívica Nacional (ACN) established?
1936
Mexican petroleum industry in 1934
16 foreign companies controlled 98% of industry
Impact of world depression
(1) weakened structural constraints that had previously limited state autonomy
(2) dominant capitalist countries engrossed with internal problems and thus less likely to intervene directly
When was the STPRM formed?
1935
What did the report on oil companies produced by the Labour Board list?
(1) 40 areas where policies of petroleum companies contradicted needs and interests of Mexico
(2) included: fiscal and political irregularities, sale of refund product to internal consumers at price above world level, failure to repair rundown equipment, decrease in real wages by 20% since 1934
Article 27
declared that all mineral and oil reserves found within Mexico belong to “the nation”, i.e. the federal government
Patriotic Demonstrations Spring 1938
(1) March CTM organised demonstration in Mexico City with over 200,000 people across all realms of Mexican society
(2) banners read, “They Shall Not Scoff at Mexican Laws”
Decrease in income from petroleum
1936 153.5m pesos
1938 79m pesos
Impact of cancelled silver purchase agreement
50% decrease in exports of silver 1937-8
Agrarian Measures
(1) recognition of rights of resident peons
(2) creation of autonomous Agrarian Department with jurisdiction over all aspects of land distribution and communal organisation
(3) ejido peasants would work collaboratively to maximise revenue for the entire community
Failures of agrarian measures
(1) failed to bring prosperity to countryside
(2) ejidos unproductive and bad for national agricultural development
Revisionist critique of agrarian reform
(1) Cardenista state manipulated peasantry in order to pursue an essentially bourgeoise and capitalist agenda
(2) HOWEVER no indication Cárdenas sought manipulate peasants in order to undermine their power
Paul Gillingham
(1) analyses impact of educational reforms in Guerrero
(2) significant number of parents obeyed Archbishop’s call
(3) literacy levels in strongly Catholic areas of La Montaña and Tierra Caliente decreased during period
(4) number of students decreased in state 3000 1934-5
Oil operators pre-Cárdenas
(1) arrogance of oil companies during Porfiriato carried over into the revolutionary epoch
(2) obstructed workers efforts to organise independent unions through the creation of company unions and the dismissal of troublesome workers
Ending the Maximato
(1) Daniels: “loyal soldier” guided by orders from the “supreme authority”
(2) designed strategy to break free of Callista hold on national power
(3) gave rise to conservative nominal Cardenistas (Manuel Ávila Camacho in Puebla)
(4) conditional loyalties purchased at the cost of future material and ideological successes of the Cardenista projecat
Who headed the Agrarian Department?
(1) Gabino Vazquez
(2) previously worked with Cárdenas in Michoácan
Article 27 Constitution
created agrarian collectives or ejidos
expropriated large commercial haciendos
Areas that experienced significant agrarian reform
La Laguna, Baja California, Michoácan, Sonora, Yucátan
Initial description of Cárdenas by Daniels
“loyal soldier” guided by order from a “supreme authority”
Impact of Cardenismo
(1) channeled and promoted what became an unprecedented level of popular mobilisation as a means to achieve social and economic change
Nora Hamilton
(1) realised the ideal of the autonomous state implicit in the Mexican Constitution to a greater extent than any previous government
Significance of Revolution for Cardenismo
(1) history written so that Revolution was fought to accomplish two principal goals: adherence to rule of law, and social justice for poor
Cultural Revolution
(1) marked by continuity than by change
(2) revolutionary elite believed cultural revolution necessary to bring Mexico out of “backwards” past and into “modern” future
“defanatisation” campaign
(1) attempt to realise next generation from what revolutionary elites considered to be fidelity to irrational superstition
(2) organised collective work and achievement to replace fanaticism and superstition generated by clerical influence
Third World Nationalism (oil expropriation)
(1) framed expropriation as ne necessary national response to injustices of operations of foreign companies operating on Mexican soil
(2) well-orchestrated demonstrations carried out through spring 1938
(3) Mitchell: united broad sectors of society in “a struggle of the nation, of all the people of Mexico, against imperialism”
