Mexican Federal Army

The armed forces of Mexico’s federal government under Porfirio Díaz and his successors, opposed by revolutionary armies during the Mexican Revolution.

Porfirian military reform: The modernization and centralization of Mexico’s armed forces under Porfirio Díaz. Díaz’s reforms built the army’s institutions and expanded federal control before the revolution.
Porfiriato: The period of Porfirio Díaz’s rule in Mexico, from 1876 to 1911, with a brief interruption. The army served as an instrument of the centralized state Díaz built.
Porfirio Díaz: A Mexican military officer and politician who ruled Mexico for most of the period from 1876 to 1911. Díaz centralized the armed forces and relied on them to maintain his regime.
Battle of Ciudad Juárez (1911): The May 1911 battle in which revolutionary forces captured Ciudad Juárez from Díaz’s government. The federal defeat helped force Díaz to resign and exposed the regime’s military weakness.
Constitutionalist Army: The revolutionary military coalition led by Venustiano Carranza that defeated Huerta’s government. Its victory replaced federal authority with a rival army and political project.
Rurales: A mounted rural police force that enforced order under Mexico’s federal government. The Rurales supported federal authority alongside the army, especially in the countryside.
Mexican Revolution: A prolonged armed and political conflict in Mexico that began in 1910 and transformed the country’s government and society. The revolution turned the federal army into a principal target and combatant.
Victoriano Huerta: A Mexican general who became president after the 1913 coup against Francisco I. Madero. Huerta used his command of the army to seize power and intensify the revolution.
Battle of Rellano: A 1912 battle in which federal forces defeated Pascual Orozco’s rebellion in northern Mexico. The victory showed the army could still suppress a major revolt under Madero.
Mexican Army: The armed forces of Mexico’s post-revolutionary state, reorganized after the old federal army was dissolved. The post-revolutionary army emerged from a different political settlement and institutional structure.

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