Diaz Seizes Power and Begins the Porfiriato
A hero of the war against the French takes the presidency by revolt and holds it for 34 of the next 35 years
Quick facts
- Born
- Oaxaca City, 1830
- Took power
- 23 November 1876 (Plan of Tuxtepec)
- Years in office
- 1876-1880, 1884-1911
- Resigned
- 25 May 1911
What happened
Porfirio Diaz, born in Oaxaca in 1830 and a decorated general from the war against the French intervention, launched an unsuccessful revolt against Juarez's reelection in 1871 and, after Juarez's death and the presidency of Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, launched a second revolt under the Plan of Tuxtepec in January 1876, calling for no reelection. This one succeeded, and Diaz became president on 23 November 1876. Aside from one four-year term (1880-1884) when an ally, Manuel Gonzalez, held the office while Diaz served in his cabinet and as governor of Oaxaca, Diaz held the presidency continuously from 1884 until 1911, using electoral fraud, a rural police force called the Rurales, and periodic repression of critics to stay in power despite having run on an anti-reelection platform.
Why it matters
The Porfiriato's economic modernization, discussed in the following event, came paired with the very political stagnation Diaz had once campaigned against, a contradiction his own advisers, the cientificos, defended as necessary for stability but which built the resentment that exploded in the 1910 revolution.
How we know
Diaz's military and political career, from the Revolt of La Noria in 1871 through the successful Plan of Tuxtepec, is documented in the Library of Congress's exhibition on Mexico under Diaz, drawing on period photographs and government records.
Sources
- The Mexican Revolution and the United States exhibit, Library of Congress. President Porfirio Diaz at Age 80 · Primary sourceloc.gov · The domain "loc.gov" is on our Primary source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Library of Congress Country Studies. Mexico - The Restoration · General sourcecountrystudies.us · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.
Part of a timelineHistory of Mexico34 events · From the Olmec's colossal stone heads to a modern republic, told through the conquest that ended one empire and the revolution that remade the nation twiceView all →