MEXICO 213 MEXICO firmed on the part of France, and con- eequently the French troops retained oc- cupation of Mexican territory after the Spaniards and English had declined to join in further hostile demonstrations. In April, 1862, Emperor Napoleon for- mally declared war against Mexico; but the French never met with the wel- come they expected from the people and finally had to withdraw, without perma- nent success, in 1867, largely because of the attitude of the United States, Maxi- milian (q. v.), who had become Em- peror of Mexico under French support, was executed in the same year, and Juarez returned to practically absolute power, ^ On the death of Juarez in 1872, the chief justice, Lerdo de Tejada, as- sumed the presidency, in which, after a revolution, he was succeeded in 1876 by Gen._ Porfirio Diaz, one of the ablest of Mexican soldiers and administrators, who was re-elected in 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896, 1900, and 1904. Diaz remained president and practi- cally dictator of Mexico until 1910. Dis- satisfaction with his rule, however, had been steadily accumulating, and. when plans were made by his supporters in 1910 to re-elect him for another term of six years, opposition became pronounced. This was headed by Francisco I. Madero, a wealthy landowner of liberal ideas. He became a candidate against Diaz, but was arrested by the government on the eve of the election and was thus elimi- nated. Diaz was re-elected for his eighth term in July 26, 1910. His rule, how- ever, was brief. Madero. on his release from prison, began an active propaganda aijd in November headed an outbreak at Chihuahua. The movement spread rap- idly, and Diaz realized that his career as ruler of Mexico was over. Following a number of successes Madero entered the City of Mexico on June 7, 1911. Diaz in the meantime had signed a treaty pro- i^iding for his resignation. Madero was chosen president and inaugu^ted on Nov. 6. His rule, however, was short- lived. Revolutions broke out in vari- ous parts of the country. The most serious of these was headed by Felix Diaz, a nephew of the former president. On Feb. 29, 19 13, following a sharp strug- gle in the City of Mexico, having been deserted by his military commander, Victoriano Huerta, Madero was arrested and forced to resign. Four days later he was killed while being transferred from one prison to another. Huerta then be- came provisional president. No sooner had he taken office, when a counter- revolution, headed by Venustiano Car- ranza, governor of Coahuila, broke out. The revolt spread rapidly and Huerta's position was made more difficult by the fact that the United States Government refused to recognize him as president on account of charges that he had been responsible for the death of Madero, Huerta was elected president in October, 1916. President Wilson protested against the election and demanded the elimina- tion of Huerta on the condition of re- suming friendly relations with Mexico. His demand was ignored and Huerta's election was declared valid. The revolu- tion of Carranza continued to spread, Francisco Villa assisted Carranza and captured Juarez and other large cities. At the beginning of 1914, the Constitu- tionalists, a name adopted by the Car- ranza party, held nearly all the north- ern States. The chief military leaders were Villa, Alvaro Obregon, and Pablo Gonzales. Their military successes con- tinued. The situation of Huerta was made still more dangerous by the so- called Tampico incident. American ma- rines at Tampico were arrested while landing from a launch flying the Amer- ican flag. President Wilson demaiided an apology which was refused. This resulted in the sending of American war ships to Vera Cruz, followed by a bom- bardment of the city, which was cap- tured on April 21, 1914, War was averted only by the action of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, who offered their ser- vices as mediators. Delegates met at Niagara Falls on May 20 and remained in session until June 24. A provisional arrangement was drawn up, but this pro- vided no practical solution for the dif- ficulties. Huerta resigned the presidency in the face of continued successes of the revolutionists, on July 15. After a brief interval, Carranza became provisional supreme ruler. Villa now turned upon Carranza, whom he denounced as a traitor and in the course of months Villa became the chief power in the country. Carranza had resigned and Villa was in virtual control. Various persons acted as nominal heads of the government, al- though Villa was the chief power. The Constitutionalist forces under General Obregon, however, were able to success- fully oppose him and a decisive defeat was administered to Villa's army at Celaya, in April, 1915. Within a short time Villa had lost control of all except the extreme northern districts of Mex- ico. By the end of the year Carranza was again in supreme power and was recognized by the United States as head of the government. On March 9, 1916, Villa, without warn- ing, raided the town of Columbus in New Mexico, killing 18 persons, some of whom were United States soldiers who were
