Agrarian Land Reform in Mexico - Land Reform From 1910 To 1934

Land Reform From 1910 To 1934

During the Álvaro Obregón presidency, Mexico began to concentrate on land reform. Agrarian reform was a revolutionary goal for land redistribution as part of a process of nationalization and "Mexicanization". Land distribution began almost immediately, and affected both foreign and large domestic land owners (Hacendados) however, this process was very slow. In 1914 Obregón and Pancho Villa called upon Venustiano Carranza to form a policy of land distribution. This resulted in the Agrarian Decree of January 1, 1915, which promised to provide land for those in need of it. Between the years of 1915-1928, 53,000 square kilometres was distributed to over 500,000 recipients in some 1500 communities. By 1930, though, ejidal (communal land holdings) constituted only 6.3% of national agricultural property (by area) or 9.4% by value.

The revolution reversed the Porfirian trend towards land concentration and, no less important, set in motion a long process of agrarian mobilization. The power and legitimacy of the landlord class, which had underpinned Porfirian rule, never recovered. The radical and egalitarian sentiments produced by the revolution had made landlord rule of the old kind impossible.