|
The Ten Tragic Days ("''La Decena Trágica''") was a series of events that took place in Mexico City between February 9 and February 19, 1913, during the Mexican Revolution. This lead up to a coup d'état and the assassination of President Francisco I. Madero, and his Vice President, José María Pino Suárez. Much of what happened these days followed from the crumbling of the Porfiriato's system of repressive order giving way to chaos, but it also resulted from the blatant meddling of foreign powers, especially the U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson. What came down upon the city's population was swift and raw. And as such, these days' events have been among the most influential of the Revolution's history. Madero's martyr's death shocked a critical portion of the population, and the unwelcome foreign intervention prepared the way for the growing nationalism and anti-imperialism of the Revolution. In many ways, then, it set the tone for the Revolution's most violent and sorrowful moments, but it also prepared the way for an agenda of profound political and social change. == Beginning of the tragedy == Following uprisings in Mexico in the wake of the fraudulent presidential election of 1910, Porfirio Díaz resigned and went into exile in May 1911. A brief interim government under Francisco León de la Barra allowed for elections in October 1911, and Francisco I. Madero was elected President of Mexico. Madero, a member of one of Mexico's richest families, had never held elected office before. Within a few months, Madero began to lose support and came under criticism. Though Madero came from a wealthy background, the conservatives never forgave him for driving Porfirio Díaz out of office. Madero’s supporters became disillusioned when he refused to implement their plans, such as the breakup of the large estates. Madero, at the end of his first year in the presidency, faced serious difficulties. The country was to a considerable extent unsettled, the treasury was depleted, and Madero’s staff and supporters were only slightly less audacious than the hated ''Científicos'' of the Porfirio Díaz’s rule. During the first year of Madero’s term, four revolts occurred. The Zapata revolt in Morelos, which began in November 1911, was contained by Gen. Felipe Ángeles, but was not suppressed. The Pascual Orozco revolt in Chihuahua, begun in March 1912, and was handled by Gen. Victoriano Huerta, but Orozco and his ''Colorados'' remained at large. The revolts of Gen. Bernardo Reyes in Nuevo León, in December 1912 and Gen. Félix Díaz in Veracruz, in November 1912, were crushed, and the two generals were imprisoned in Mexico City. Rumors of a pending overthrow of Madero were passed around openly in the capital, with only moderate enthusiasm. One vocal proponent of the removal of Madero was Gen. Manuel Mondragón, who had accumulated finances under the Porfirio Díaz regime as an artillery expert, and was under suspicion of theft and corruption. He had been entrusted with many purchases of arms, and had a scheme of putting his name on “inventions” and collecting royalties. Gathering the support of his officers and staff, he persuaded the cadets of the ''Escuela Militar de'' ''Aspirantes'' Military School located at Tlalpan to join him. The cadets appear to have acted under the direct orders of their instructors and senior commanders who were largely drawn from the conservative upper-class families of Mexican society, who supported a counter-revolution. They were joined by infantry and cavalry units of the regular army from the Tlalpan garrison. On the night of February 8, 1913, the cadets entered the city in trolley cars. In the early morning, they gathered before the civilian penitentiary, where they demanded the release of Gen. Félix Díaz. After a brief parley (the commander was killed), Díaz was freed.〔Heribert von Feilitzsch, ''In Plain Sight: Felix A. Sommerfeld, Spymaster in Mexico, 1908 to 1914'', Henselstone Verlag LLC, Virginia, 2012, ISBN 9780985031701, p. 234〕 The cadets and soldiers under the leadership of their officers, proceeded to the Santiago Tlatelolco military prison, where they demanded and secured the release of General Reyes. When released, Gen. Reyes mounted a horse and led part of the cadets and a column of soldiers to the National Palace, arriving there at 7:30 am.〔Heribert von Feilitzsch, ''In Plain Sight: Felix A. Sommerfeld, Spymaster in Mexico, 1908 to 1914'', Henselstone Verlag LLC, Virginia, 2012, ISBN 9780985031701, p. 235〕 Reyes had full confidence that he would be welcomed and that the Palace would be delivered over to him and rode to its gate "as if on parade". The assault on the Palace failed because Gen. Lauro Villar, the Commandant of the Palace Guard, walking in civilian clothes to his office in the early morning, observed a detachment of the cadets, dragging a machine gun with them, and thus was able to give the alarm and have his men in readiness. Reyes was fired on, and fell mortally wounded from his horse; the men behind him scattered, and many spectators were killed in the confused shooting that followed. When the firing ceased 400 lay dead and over 1,000 were wounded; among them Gen. Villar, the military commander. A bullet had cut through his collarbone. The Mexican Secretary of War Pena was shot through the arm.〔Stanley Ross, Francisco I. Madero, ''Apostle of Democracy'', Columbia University Press, New York 1955, p. 284〕 Pres. Madero received word in his residence at Chapultepec Castle, three miles away, at about 8am. He mounted a horse and, with a small escort including the Secretaries of Finance and Treasury, rode into the city. Arriving at the end of the broad Avenida Juárez and finding the narrower streets thronged, he dismounted and went into a photographer's studio opposite the unfinished Teatro Nacional (National Theater), to telephone for later news. There he was joined by a few citizens and army officers, among them Victoriano Huerta, then on inactive duty due to an eye condition. Huerta had been considered in disfavor and was known to be resentful at not having been made Madero’s Minister of War. Madero, on his part, had reservations about Huerta, an efficient but brutal officer with serious drinking problems. Huerta offered his services to Madero, and, since Gen. Villar and Secretary of War Pena were injured, his services were accepted.〔 Huerta was appointed Commander of the Army of the Capital. The commission was made formal on the following day. (Note that Huerta was appointed the commander of the Army of the Capital, not the supreme commander of the Armies of Mexico, as is often reported.) The President stepped out on a balcony and made a speech to the crowd, Huerta standing by his side. He then went down, remounted his horse, and rode off, bowing to the cheering crowds, alone, far ahead of his escort, to the National Palace. Gen. Felix Díaz had been more successful than General Reyes. As a result of the resistance at the Presidential Palace, Diaz had retreated to the city arsenal, the Ciudadela, a few blocks from the Presidential Palace. He took control of the armory without much opposition, and found himself in possession of a defensible fort, with the government’s reserve of arms and ammunition. That evening, Madero went to Cuernavaca, capital of the neighboring state of Morelos, where he conferred with Gen. Felipe Ángeles, then engaged against the forces of Zapata. He returned that night with Gen. Ángeles and a train-load of arms, ammunition and some men, and with the understanding that General Ángeles would be placed in command of the capital army. By Monday morning, Madero had a force of one thousand men.〔Confidential report to Pres. Woodrow Wilson by William Bayard Hale published in the book ''Blood Below the Border'', edited by Gene Hanrahan 1982〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ten Tragic Days」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|