Cristero War

Cristero War

Map of Mexico showing regions in which Cristero outbreaks occurred
  Large-scale outbreaks
  Moderate outbreaks
  Sporadic outbreaks
Date3 August 1926 – 21 June 1929
(2 years, 10 months, 2 weeks and 4 days)
Location
Mexico
Result

Ceasefire

Belligerents

Mexico Mexican Government

Support:
 United States

Cristeros

Support:
Knights of Columbus
Commanders and leaders
Mexico Plutarco Elías Calles
Mexico Emilio Portes Gil
Mexico Joaquín Amaro Domínguez
Mexico Saturnino Cedillo
Mexico Heliodoro Charis
Mexico Marcelino García Barragán
Mexico Jaime Carrillo
Mexico Genovevo Rivas Guillén
Mexico Álvaro Obregón †		 Enrique Gorostieta Velarde †
José Reyes Vega †
Alberto B. Gutiérrez
Aristeo Pedroza
Andrés Salazar
Carlos Carranza Bouquet †
Dionisio Eduardo Ochoa †
Barraza Damaso
Domingo Anaya †
Jesús Degollado Guízar
Luis Navarro Origel †
Lauro Rocha
Lucas Cuevas †
Matías Villa Michel
Miguel Márquez Anguiano
Manuel Michel
Victoriano Ramírez †
Victorino Bárcenas †
Strength
Mexico ~100,000 men (1929) ~50,000 men and women (1929)
Casualties and losses
Mexico 56,882 dead 30,000–50,000 dead
Estimated 250,000 dead
250,000 fled to the United States (mostly non-combatants)

The Cristero War (Spanish: La guerra cristera), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or La cristiada [la kɾisˈtjaða], was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularist and anticlerical articles of the 1917 Constitution.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The rebellion was instigated as a response to an executive decree by Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles to strictly enforce Article 130 of the Constitution, a decision[clarification needed] known as the Calles Law.[9][10][11] Calles sought to limit the power of the Catholic Church in Mexico, its affiliated organizations and to suppress popular religiosity.[12][13][11][14]

The rural uprising in north-central Mexico was tacitly supported by the Church hierarchy, and was aided by urban Catholic supporters.[15] The Mexican Army received support from the United States. American Ambassador Dwight Morrow brokered negotiations between the Calles government and the Church. The government made some concessions, the Church withdrew its support for the Cristero fighters, and the conflict ended in 1929.[16][17][18][19][20][21] The rebellion has been variously interpreted as a major event in the struggle between church and state that dates back to the 19th century with the War of Reform and as the last major peasant uprising in Mexico after the end of the military phase of the Mexican Revolution in 1920.[22][23][24][25]

  1. ^ Young, Julia G. (2 September 2020), Beezley, William (ed.), "Revolution and the Cristeros", The Oxford Handbook of Mexican History (1 ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190699192.013.29, ISBN 978-0-19-069919-2, retrieved 6 March 2024
  2. ^ Fallaw, Ben (13 January 2021), Beezley, William (ed.), "Religion and Revolution, Mexico: 1910–1940", The Oxford Handbook of Mexican History (1 ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190699192.013.25, ISBN 978-0-19-069919-2, retrieved 16 April 2024
  3. ^ González, Fernando Manuel (1 January 2001). Matar y morir por Cristo Rey: aspectos de la cristiada (in Spanish). Plaza y Valdes. pp. 21–74. ISBN 978-968-856-906-1.
  4. ^ Piña, Ulices (22 February 2017). "The Different Roads to Rebellion: Socialist Education and the Second Cristero Rebellion in Jalisco, 1934-1939". Letras Históricas. 16: 165–192. doi:10.31836/lh.16.6562.
  5. ^ Fallaw, Ben (21 January 2013). Religion and State Formation in Postrevolutionary Mexico. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-5337-9.
  6. ^ Fallaw, Ben (2013). "The Seduction of Revolution: Anticlerical Campaigns against Confession in Mexico, 1914–1935". Journal of Latin American Studies. 45 (1): 91–120. doi:10.1017/S0022216X12001216. JSTOR 23352898.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Reich, Peter L. (1995). Mexico's hidden revolution: the Catholic Church in law and politics since 1929. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN 978-0-585-31304-7. OCLC 45730461.
  9. ^ Buchenau, Jürgen (2015). "The Mexican Revolution, 1910–1946". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.21. ISBN 978-0-19-936643-9.
  10. ^ Meyer, Jean A. (1973). La Cristiada: por Jean Meyer ; traducción de Aurelio Garzón del Camino. OCLC 2406696.[page needed]
  11. ^ a b De Bonfil, Alicia Olivera. "Aspectos del conflicto religioso de 1926 a 1929". Mediateca – Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Butler, Matthew (2007). "Trouble Afoot? Pilgrimage in Cristero Mexico City". Faith and Impiety in Revolutionary Mexico. pp. 149–166. doi:10.1057/9780230608801_8. ISBN 978-1-349-53926-0.
  14. ^ Kloppe-Santamaría, Gema (April 2022). "Martyrs, Fanatics, and Pious Militants: Religious Violence and the Secular State in 1930s Mexico". The Americas. 79 (2): 197–227. doi:10.1017/tam.2021.149. S2CID 247409376.
  15. ^ Curley, Robert (2018). Citizens and Believers: Religion and Politics in Revolutionary Jalisco, 1900–1930. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 978-0-8263-5537-9.
  16. ^ Olimón Nolasco, Manuel (2008). Diplomacia insólita: el conflicto religioso en México y las negociaciones cupulares (1926–1929). Colección Historia de la iglesia en México; 1. México: IMDOSOC. ISBN 978-968-6839-99-9.[page needed]
  17. ^ Fernández, José Luis Soberanes; Barney, Oscar Cruz (2015). Los arreglos del presidente Portes Gil con la jerarquía católica y el fin de la guerra cristera: aspectos jurídicos e históricos. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas. ISBN 978-607-02-6651-5.[page needed]
  18. ^ Valvo, Paolo (2020). La libertà religiosa in Messico: dalla rivoluzione alle sfide dell'attualità. Studium edizioni. ISBN 978-88-382-4842-9.[page needed]
  19. ^ Serafini, Chiara; Valvo, Paolo (2 February 2023). La Cristiada. Fe, guerra y diplomacia en México (1926-1929). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas. ISBN 978-607-30-7247-2.[page needed]
  20. ^ Olimón Nolasco, Manuel (2008). Confrontación extrema: el quebranto del modus vivendi (1931-1933). Colección Historia de la iglesia en México; 4. México: IMDOSOC. ISBN 978-968-9074-28-1.
  21. ^ Olimón Nolasco, Manuel (2008). Paz a medias: el modus vivendi entre la Iglesia y el Estado y su crisis (1929–1931). Colección Hstoria de la iglesia en México; 3. México: IMDOSOC. ISBN 978-968-9074-21-2.
  22. ^ Meyer, Jean A.; Pérez-Rincón, Héctor (2004). La revolución mexicana (in Spanish). Tusquets Editores. ISBN 978-970-699-084-6.[page needed]
  23. ^ Knight, Alan (2007). "The Mentality and Modus Operandi of Revolutionary Anticlericalism". Faith and Impiety in Revolutionary Mexico. pp. 21–56. doi:10.1057/9780230608801_2. ISBN 978-1-349-53926-0.
  24. ^ Schwaller, John Frederick (2011). The History of the Catholic Church in Latin America: From Conquest to Revolution and Beyond. NYU Press. pp. 189–213. ISBN 978-0-8147-8360-3.
  25. ^ Osten, Sarah (22 February 2018). The Mexican Revolution's Wake: The Making of a Political System, 1920–1929. Cambridge University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-108-24680-4.