Week of 2/24 - The Revolution and the Rest of World History

As we have been talking about the Mexican Revolution, we have talked a little bit about what was happening in America at the time. This was extremely interesting to me, as I have learned much about American and world history in the 1910s. When talking about what happened in that decade, many things come to mind. America was in the middle of a progressive shift led by President Woodrow Wilson. The automotive industry was just taking hold. Russia was beginning to spread its Communist ideals. Most notably, World War I held the attention of most of the world. And in the middle of all that, Mexico was undergoing a chaotic and bloody revolution. It is very easy to consider the Revolution as its own event that remained distinct from the rest of world politics, but it is fascinating to know what else was taking place at the time. This raises the question: Why is the Mexican Revolution so obscure, when it only happened 100 years ago? Is it because it had no obvious influence on the rest of the world? I tend to think that is the case. When considering historical events, however, we need to interpret them in light of the "big picture", because the Revolution, although subtly, has helped shape world history.

Comments

  1. Professor StarkMarch 3, 2022 at 8:13 AM

    Thank you, Seth, for the blog. I appreciate your interest in history; perhaps you should consider this as a major or minor. You are right about the events occurring at the time of the Mexican Revolution and how perhaps it is overlooked. One reason might be because when we think of 20th century revolutions we tend to associate them with the spread of communism i.e., the Russian Revolution, the Cuban and Nicaraguan Revolutions, the Chinese Revolution etc. Because the Mexican Revolution was different and not even remotely connected to communism is why it is overlooked. I believe this was one of the points Steinbeck wanted to make in the film. He leaned to the left politically but he wasn't a communist and we see this in the film - how the Zapatistas wanted their lands returned to them and not for redistribution of all lands.

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