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Ten Tragic Days

The Ten Tragic Days (Spanish: La Decena Trágica) during the Mexican Revolution is the name given to the multi-day coup d'état in Mexico City by opponents of Francisco I. Madero, the democratically elected president of Mexico, between 9–19 February 1913. It instigated a second phase of the Mexican Revolution, after dictator Porfirio Díaz had been ousted and replaced in elections by Francisco I. Madero. The coup was carried out by general Victoriano Huerta and supporters of the old regime, with support from the United States.

Main article: Mexican Revolution

In the ten days of violence, the aim was to "create the illusion of chaos necessary to induce Madero to step down" from the presidency.[2] Rebels led by General Félix Díaz, nephew of ex-president Porfirio Díaz, and General Bernardo Reyes escaped from jail and rallied forces to overthrow President Francisco I. Madero. The coup was strongly supported by U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Henry Lane Wilson, who was implacably opposed to Madero. Madero had retained the Mexican Federal Army after rebels had forced the resignation of President Porfirio Díaz. The head of the Mexican Federal Army, General Victoriano Huerta, ostensibly the defender of the Madero government, defected to the rebels, who sought the return of the old political order. On 18 February the sitting president and vice president were captured by rebel General Aureliano Blanquet, effectively ending the Madero's presidency. On 19 February, a dispute between General Díaz and General Huerta about who should head the provisional government was resolved by Ambassador Wilson mediating between the two in an in-person meeting at the U.S. embassy. They formalized an agreement known as the Pact of the Embassy.


For ordinary citizens of Mexico City, the ten days of bombardment and displacement were horrific. While most fighting occurred between opposing military factions, assaulting or defending Madero's presidency, artillery and rifle fire inflicted substantial losses among uninvolved civilians and major damage to property in the capital's downtown. The February 19 pact between the two rebel generals put an end to the violence in Mexico City, and marks the end of the 10 days.[3] But the political drama continued. While in custody, Madero and his vice president resigned, expecting that they would be allowed to go into exile, but they were subsequently murdered on 22 February 1913. General Huerta became President of Mexico, with the support of the U.S. and German ambassadors and most Mexican state governors.


After the coup came a third phase of the Mexican Revolution: civil war between Huerta's central government and the many revolutionary armies in northern and southern Mexico, who fought to take Huerta out of power and against one another. The newly inaugurated U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, in a change of mind of American foreign policy, refused to recognize Huerta's government.

Ouster of Díaz and Madero presidency 1911-13[edit]

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, but had broad support of many sectors of Mexico. He was committed to constitutional democracy, rule of law, and separation of powers.[4]


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 era.


During the first year of Madero's term, four revolts occurred. The Zapata revolt in Morelos, which began in November 1911, was contained by General 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 General Bernardo Reyes in Nuevo León, in December 1912 and General Félix Díaz in Veracruz, in November 1912, were crushed, and the two generals were imprisoned in Mexico City.


The two generals began plotting together to overthrow Madero and sought to bring in General Huerta, but they did not offer him enough incentives to join. Once the rebel uprising began, Huerta secretly joined the plot. U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, the representative of President William Howard Taft's administration took an active role in undermining Madero's administration.[5]

Legacy[edit]

The Ten Tragic Days is the formal designation of a specific set of events in the historiography of Mexico, indicating its importance in the Mexican Revolution and the shaping of historical memory. Madero's assassination during the 10-day coup immediately turned him into a martyr. "Madero the martyr meant more to the soul of Mexico than Madero the apostle [of democracy].[32]


Huerta was recognized by most Mexican state governors, but Venustiano Carranza, governor of Coahuila refused and rose in rebellion against Huerta, bringing together a northern coalition to overthrow the regime brought to power by usurpation. The coup in Mexico City touched off uprisings that coalesced into the Constitutionalist Army, the ultimate winner in the Mexican Revolution. The Ten Tragic Days was the last successful coup to overthrow a Mexican president.

Banwell, Julia. "Death and Disruption in the Photography of the Decena Trágica." Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Winter 2014), pp. 104–121

Campos Chavéz, Carolina. "Temporada de zopilotes: Una historia narrativa de la Decena Trágica." Tzintzun 52 (2010): 202–211.

del Castillo Troncoso, Alberto, et al. La imagen cruenta: Centenario de la Decena Trágica. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2018.

Franco, Rafael Olea, ed. Los hados de febrero: visiones artísticas de la Decena Trágica. El Colegio de Mexico AC, 2015.

Gilly, Adolfo. Cada quien morirá por su lado: una historia militar de la decena trágica. Ediciones Era, 2014.

Hidalgo, Dennis R. "The Evolution of History and the Informal Empire: La Decena Trágica in the British Press." Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos v. 32, no. 2 2007. pp. 317–354

. The Secret War in Mexico: Europe, the United States, and the Mexican Revolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1981.

Katz, Friedrich

. The Mexican Revolution. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1986.

Knight, Alan

. Madero Vivo. Mexico City: Clio 1993.

Krauze, Enrique

Miquel, Ángel. "Documentales de la Decena Trágica." Boletín del Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas 16.1-2 (2012).

Mosqueda, Socorro Olguín. La decena trágica vista por dos embajadores. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, 1965.

Mraz, John. Photographing the Mexican Revolution: Commitments, Testimonies, Icons. Austin: University of Texas Press 2012,

Ortega, Juan A. "La Decena Trágica: una versión periodística alemana." Estudios de Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de México 9.09.

Siller, Pedro. "La decena trágica; muertos sin sepultura." Cuadernos Fronterizos 25 (2013).

Valero Silva, José. "La decena trágica." Estudios de Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de México 3.03 (1970): 89–116.

This is an album of the Mexican Revolution by Manuel Ramos (1874–1945), which contains forty-three photographic prints illustrating damage in Mexico City during the February 1913 uprising against President Francisco I. Madero (1873–1913) also called La Decena Tragica.

Album, Mexican Revolution

Fotografos de la Decena Trágica