Madero Challenges Diaz and Sparks the Mexican Revolution
A wealthy reformer's call for democracy, prompted by Diaz's own words to a foreign journalist, ends 34 years of one-man rule
Quick facts
- Creelman interview
- March 1908, Pearson's Magazine
- Madero's revolt begins
- 20 November 1910
- Treaty of Ciudad Juarez
- 21 May 1911
- Diaz resigns
- 25 May 1911
What happened
In March 1908, Diaz told American journalist James Creelman that Mexico was ready for democracy and that he might not seek reelection in 1910, remarks meant for a foreign audience but soon translated and published inside Mexico, where they encouraged Francisco Madero and other reformers to organize openly. When Diaz reversed course and ran again in 1910, having Madero jailed during the campaign, Madero called for revolt from exile in the United States, and fighting broke out on 20 November 1910. Diaz's forces lost ground steadily over the following months, and after guerrilla resistance in the south and battlefield defeats in the north, Diaz's representatives signed the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez with Madero on 21 May 1911; Diaz resigned four days later, on 25 May, and left for exile in Paris, where he died in 1915.
Why it matters
The 1910 revolt is the formal start of the Mexican Revolution, a decade of civil war that killed an estimated one to two million people and ended with an entirely new constitutional order in 1917. Madero's own limited ambitions, restoring democratic elections rather than redistributing land, quickly put him at odds with more radical allies like Zapata, setting up the movement's next phase.
How we know
The Creelman interview survives in its original March 1908 Pearson's Magazine publication, held at the Library of Congress, and the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez and Diaz's resignation date are documented in Mexican government records from May 1911.
Sources
- The Mexican Revolution and the United States exhibit, Library of Congress. The Creelman Interview / 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)
- The Mexican Revolution and the United States exhibit, Library of Congress. The Rise of Francisco Madero · 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)
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