Mexico, the Huerta Presidency and Civil War: 1913 to 1914

Madero had made mistakes, and now it was Huerta's turn to make mistakes. It would be difficult to put back into the tube the sense of freedom that had been released with the rise of Madero's rebellion. Huerta had the obedience of Mexico's federal army, but Huerta was foolish in believing that the strength of his army would be enough to control Mexico as a dictator.

Huerta sent a message to all state governors demanding their allegiance. Governor Venustiano Carranza of the state of Coahuila defied Huerta, and his army joined those of Villa and Zapata against Huerta. Carranza and Villa recruited greater armies from among the poor, the poor believing that they were fighting for food and for land. And elsewhere across Mexico, guerrilla bands arose that harassed Huerta's forces.

European powers gave quick recognition to the Huerta regime, and from Europe Huerta acquired loans. The United States reacted differently to Huerta. A new president, Woodrow Wilson, had taken office on March 4, 1913, just eleven days after Madero's murder, and he was appalled by Huerta's usurpation of power and Huerta's political executions. He saw Huerta as a scoundrel and a drunkard. He recalled the ambassador, Henry Lane Wilson, from Mexico. He sympathized with Mexicans opposed to Huerta. And from the United States, arms began to flow to Carranza, which Carranza paid for with cattle.

In February, 1914, after months of civil war, the Huerta regime made prisoners of some unarmed U.S. sailors at the port of Tampico, and this inspired President Wilson to send the U.S. fleet to Mexico's eastern coast. Also, Wilson hoped to hasten Huerta's fall by cutting off the arms shipments to Huerta from Germany to the port of Veracruz. In April, the U.S. moved to seize Veracruz, bombarding the city as it landed Marines. In the fighting between the Marines and Huerta's forces, nineteen Americans died and seventy were wounded. Mexican deaths were 193 and an estimated 600 were wounded. And to the surprise of Wilson, the invasion by the U.S. outraged many in Mexico and elevated Huerta, who was perceived as fighting against "the gringos." Carranza denounced the American invasion. Mobs in Mexico City were assaulting American businesses. Only Pancho Villa held back from criticizing the United States.

Huerta tried to enhance his status as a hero by vowing to invade Texas. But Huerta's days as "president" were numbered. The U.S. Marines continued to hold ground in Veracruz as a minor sideshow while the armies of Carranza, Villa and Zapata were converging on Mexico City. On July 14, 1914, Huerta resigned and went into exile on a German ship that took him to Spain.

The armies of Villa, Carranza and Zapata occupied Mexico City, and to the surprise of its citizens, Zapata's soldiers, reputed to be barbarous, conducted themselves with gentility, humbly begging for food at the homes of the well-to-do. Villa's troops were another matter. Villa did not smoke or drink, but he did not control the drinking of his troops. They made a poor impression on the good people of Mexico City with their unrestrained drinking and their wild and merry gunfire.

The Huerta Presidency