This collection is made up of political and military papers of Porfirio Díaz, who held numerous ranks and positions in the 19th and early 20th century Mexico. He was, for example, a Juárista liberal and general in the second Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867) and later Mexican President of the Porfiriato dictatorship (1877-1880, 1884-1911). These papers include information related to the states of Oaxaca, Puebla, and Vera Cruz, though the significant bulk pertains to the events of 1867. Withing these materials is content on Díaz' activities at the end of the war, the southern campaign of the French Army of the Orient (which culminated in occupation of Mexico City), the roles played by states and municipalities in overthrowing the empire, and more.
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was born in September 1830, to parents José Faustino Díaz and María Petrona Mori. One of seven children in a poor Mestizo family, Porfirio Díaz was a student first at a parish school and then Tridentino Seminary at Oaxaca. He entered the Institute of Sciences and Arts of Oaxaca, and, mentored by Marcos Pérez, he pursued law with Benito Juárez as a teacher in the early 1850s. He aligned himself against Santa Anna and received a military officer's appointment for his anti-conservative efforts. He increased in rank and aligned himself with Juárista liberals at the outbreak of war with France, becoming a leading general after the French defeat at Puebla in 1862. When Napoleon III, with conservative Mexican support, succeeded in making Maximilian emperor of Mexico, Díaz worked closely with Juárez, leading the republican guerrilla resistance. With increasing interest from the United States and Prussia, Juárista forces advanced to the capital and drove the French from Mexico in January 1867. Maximilian was besieged at Querétaro, captured, and executed in May.
Following the war, Díaz pursued and lost the 1867 presidential election to Benito Juárez. The same political defeat in 1871 prompted Díaz to garner public support against his former teacher and revolutionary. The ensuing La Noria Revolution against the president concluded after the death of Benito Juárez on July 18, 1872. Díaz lost the subsequent presidential election to Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada. During the 1876 contest, President Lerdo attempted to squash political demonstrations against him and relied on persuasion by secret police. Porfirio Díaz led in the civil war between supporters of Lerdo and revolutionaries. Ultimately, the Tuxtepec Revolution succeeded and Díaz received an appointment as President of Mexico on May 5, 1877. He focused his efforts on 'peace and progress', including developing international ties to the United States. Partly on account of violent conflict at Veracruz by returned Lerdistas and on account of competitor Manuel González's support from the U.S., Spain, and Great Britain, Díaz lost the presidency. He renounced his support of the liberal Constitution, allowing him to return to the Catholic Church.
After several years of securing political positions and social connections, he won the election of 1884. Again, pursuing 'peace and order', Díaz's policies and his cabinet led increased economic expansion, international cooperation, and governmental support of science and the arts. Increased Nationalism notwithstanding, political dissenters and small rebellions were often violently repressed through the use of plainclothes rural police and the Mexican Army. By 1888, the Mexican government changed the Constitution to establish perpetual and immediate re-election of the president, effectively making Porfirio Díaz dictator. Economic and social stability were instrumental in continued support for the president.
Global recession at the turn of the century, rising costs of everyday goods, dramatic foreign investment, financial panic, and more led to a collapse in governmental and popular support. Ultimately, dissenters entered armed conflict with the Porfiriato in 1910, beginning the Mexican Revolution. As the conflict reached its sixth month, in 1911, Porfirio Díaz resigned at the age of 80. Don Porfirio went into exile in France, dying in Paris on July 2, 1915.
