PORFIRIO DIAZ BIOGRAPHY

The Mexican whose name was Porfirio Díaz Mori (September 15, 1830–July 2,
1915,) was a general, president, politician, and dictator. He ruled Mexico with
an iron fist for 35 years, from 1876 to 1911. His period of rule, referred to as
the Porfiriato, was marked by great progress and modernization, that made
Mexican economy boomed.

He lost power in 1910–1911 after rigging an election against Francisco Madero,

which brought about the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920).

Porfirio Díaz was born a mestizo, or of mixed Indigenous-European heritage, in

the state of Oaxaca on September 15, 1830. He, who were born into extreme
poverty never even reached complete literacy. He dabbled in law, but in 1855
he joined a band of liberal guerrillas who were fighting a resurgent Antonio
Lopez de Santa Anna. He soon found that the military was his true vocation
and he stayed in the army, fighting against the French and in the civil wars that
wracked Mexico in the mid-to-late 19th century.
On May 5, 1862, Mexican forces under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a
much larger and better-equipped force of invading French which were outside
the city of Puebla. One of the key players in the battle was young general
Porfirio Díaz, who led a cavalry unit. Although the Battle of Puebla only delayed
the inevitable French march into Mexico City, it did make Díaz famous and
cemented his reputation as one of the best military minds serving under Juarez.
With the support of the United States and the Catholic Church, he brought an
army into Mexico City in 1876, that removed President Sebastian Lerdo de
Tejada and seizing power in a dubious “election.”
Cracks began appearing in the Porfiriato in the first years of the 20th century.
In 1910, Díaz announced that he would allow fair and free elections. Isolated
from reality, he believed he would win any fair contest. Díaz had Madero his
unique contender arrested and stole the election when it became apparent that
Madero would win. Madero was freed, fled to the United States, declared
himself the winner, and called for an armed revolution.
Many heeded Madero's call. In Morelos, Emiliano Zapata had been fighting the
powerful landowners for a year or so already and quickly backed Madero. In the
north, bandit leaders-turned-warlords Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco took
that field with their powerful armies. The Mexican army had decent officers,
thanks to Díaz who had paid them well, but the foot soldiers were underpaid,
sickly, and poorly trained. Villa and Orozco routed the Federals on several
occasions, growing ever closer to Mexico City with Madero in tow. In May 1911,
Díaz knew that he had been defeated.
Diaz, who were exiled died just four years later, on July 2, 1915, in Paris,
France.