Williamson and Womack
In the article "Mexico: Revolution and Stability" (by Williamson) there's a sense of the forthcoming of the Mexican Revolution. There are disagreements within the government and the mentioning of two parties: the caudillos and the cientificos. The presence of these two groups is important because they represent (and speak for) the people. In our second article, "Diaz Elects a governor," the mentioning of the caudillos and the cientificos is further elaborated, as well as what might have led to the Mexican Revolution. Your task for this assignment is twofold. One. Based on the article, "Mexico: Revolution and Stability", provide your understanding of caudillos and cientificos and come up with an analogy (comparison) of these two groups. If you wish, you may want to look at your native country to come up with this analogy. Two. In "Diaz Elects a governor" the mentioning of the caudillos and the cientificos is further elaborated, as well as what might have led to the Mexican Revolution. For this assignment, respond to the following comment made by Womack: "The Mexican Revolution happened because the high politicians of the country openly failed to agree on who should rule when President Porfirio Diaz died. These politicians, nicknamed the cientificos, believed in a natural law that the nation could progress only through their control and for their benefit" (page 10). Based on our first two readings, including our syllabus, what do you think of Womack's remarks?
Mexican culture is very strong and their past political system is similar to my home country's. The Dominican Republic was also ruled by a dictator named Rafael Leonida Trujillo".
i. Art and its place within the Twentieth Century: Europe, North America and Mexico
The twentieth century (1900) was to be the "Modern Century," for great developments occurring so rapidly in every sphere -science, technology, medicine, psychology, architecture, invention- would transform the human condition. The century quickly delivered its wonders (the internal combustion engine, X-rays, powered flight), having an impact on the arts: former ideas of reality and representation were questioned. Paris was the laboratory of ideas in the arts; it was the city where manifestos, wild exhibitions and public outrages could only occur. The modern century, however, would later experience the collapse of European empires, Revolutions and World Wars .
Barbara Haskell has observed the following about the United States:
[The country] entered the twentieth century with a youthful confidence about its place in the world. American technological ingenuity and manufacturing efficiency had made the country the world's largest industrial power and showcase of electricity and steel production. In no other nation were cities so dazzling illuminated or so assertively vertical; nowhere else was the revolution in communications and transportation so pervasive. Unparalleled economic prosperity among the wealthy elite had given a handful of Americans the highest standard of living in the world. At the same time, the nation assumed a more global and imperialist outlook with its victory in the Spanish-American War (1898) and the acquisition of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii, and the Philippines.
North American artists certainly reflected this prosperous reality; the nation was indeed in the age of confidence.
Some Latin American countries at the beginning of the twentieth century looked forward to comfortable futures based on continuing primary exporting. But this "prosperous future" would not last long; in the capitals of some of the most prosperous countries (Argentina, Mexico, Chile) a labor organization soon emerged, creating a class conflict. Thus, Latin America experienced its first social revolution: the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920).
Attachment:- Assignment.rar