Myths of Demilitarization in Postrevolutionary Mexico, 1920-1960 - by Thomas Rath (Paperback)

About the Book

Myths of Demilitarization in Postrevolutionary Mexico, 1920-1960

Book Synopsis

At the end of the Mexican Revolution in 1920, Mexico's large, rebellious army dominated national politics. By the 1940s, Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was led by a civilian president and claimed to have depoliticized the army and achieved the bloodless pacification of the Mexican countryside through land reform, schooling, and indigenismo. However, historian Thomas Rath argues, Mexico's celebrated demilitarization was more protracted, conflict-ridden, and incomplete than most accounts assume. Civilian governments deployed troops as a police force, often aimed at political suppression, while officers meddled in provincial politics, engaged in corruption, and crafted official history, all against a backdrop of sustained popular protest and debate.
Using newly available materials from military, intelligence, and diplomatic archives, Rath weaves together an analysis of national and regional politics, military education, conscription, veteran policy, and popular protest. In doing so, he challenges dominant interpretations of successful, top-down demilitarization and questions the image of the post-1940 PRI regime as strong, stable, and legitimate. Rath also shows how the army's suppression of students and guerrillas in the 1960s and 1970s and the more recent militarization of policing have long roots in Mexican history.

Review Quotes

"A much needed account of Mexico's postrevolutionary journey." -- Review of Politics

"A very nice study of state-building in the aftermath of revolution." -- Journal of Military History

"Deeply researched, well-crafted and lucidly written. . . . Rath provides throughout an impressive array of detail. . . [that] significantly reshapes our understanding of the nature of civil-military relations in post-revolutionary Mexico." -- International Affairs

"In the context of the army's role in Mexico's current and remarkably violent drug war, more young scholars will likely be drawn to the topic of military-state relations after 1920. They will find in Rath's book an extremely capable foundational text." -- American Historical Review

"Introduces fresh insights. . . . Will be of great interest to historians." -- Hispanic American Historical Review

"Rath is to be commended for adding numerous valuable insights about the armed forces, including recruitment, veterans' benefits, women and national service, and desertion. His conclusions . . . will be of great interest to historians and must be incorporated or addressed in future evaluations of the postrevolutionary evolution of Mexico's political model." -- Hispanic American Historical Review

"Rath's meticulously researched monograph will appeal to Latin Americanists interested in the process of nation building and the region's military forces." -- The Americas

"Recommended. All levels/libraries." -- CHOICE

"This book is written with Mexican and Latin American scholars in mind, but deserves a larger audience among policy-makers and scholars. It is a very nice study of state-building in the aftermath of revolution." -- Journal of Military History

"This is a strong contribution to our literature and I recommend it for any Latin Americanist library." -- Journal of Latin American Studies

About the Author

Thomas Rath is lecturer in the history of Latin America, University College London.