12 Surprising Facts About Emiliano Zapata, Mexico's Reluctant Revolutionary

Emiliano Zapata was born August 8, 1879 in Morelos, a state just south of Mexico City in south-central Mexico. His family lived for several generations in the tiny pueblo of Anenecuilco, where they raised and trained horses. The Zapatas weren't wealthy, but neither were they peons, the indentured peasant farmers who were virtually slaves. Zapata's father died when Emiliano was 17, making him the breadwinner of the family. At age thirty, he was named leader of the town council of his village, and resolved to do something about his townspeople's economic oppression. When his discussions with governmental officials went nowhere, he and 80 fellow townspeople armed themselves and began to take back expropriated property, or land taken from the people. Under the leadership of dictator Porfirio Diaz, large landowners known as Hacendados frequently expropriated land from the peasant community, ignoring laws and property rights. Zapata's peasant army, which grew exponentially as he continued reclaiming stolen land, was one of the many factors prompting Diaz to flee the country, setting off the Mexican Revolution.

Land reform was the main component of Zapata's political beliefs, as exemplified by his movement's slogan, Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty). His followers were known as Zapatistas, peasants who were determined to redistribute land taken over by wealthy landowners who ran huge tracts known as haciendas. As Zapata himself famously said, "The land belongs to those who work it with their hands." These words have been evoked as recently as the 1990s by Mexican writers and radicals seeking rights for workers and indigenous people throughout the country. The fight for land ownership expanded from Zapata's village to consume all of Mexico; the cause of ownership and guerilla practice of seizing land was one of the main catalysts for the Revolution in 1910.

From May of 1911 until May 1920, Mexico had nine presidents, most of whom served for very brief periods. Zapata's lifetime was an era rife with generals raising their own armies, military coups, fleeing dictators, foreign intervention, multiple fronts of sectarian violence, and political chaos. However, unlike most power players of the time, Zapata had no political ambitions. His army was relatively disorganized, and he saw himself as nothing more than a local village leader trying to create a dialogue that might lead to political reform. He was a reluctant national figure in an era of ridiculous political hubris. That said, as you'll learn as you read on, Zapata was also stubborn as a goddamn mule, and refused to budge on land reform.

The quote "I'd rather die on my feet, than live on my knees" has been attributed to several high profile 20th century revolutionaries, including Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Spain's La Pasonaria (Dolores Ibarruri). Aeschylus wrote something sort of similar in Prometheus Bound ("For it would be better to die once and for all than to suffer pain for all one's life.") and French socialist François-Noël Babeuf famously said "Ne vaut-il pas mieux emporter la gloire de n'avoir pas survecu a la servitude?" (roughly: "Would it not be better to take the glory of not having survived a bondage?"), which have similar sentiments to the famous quote, despite the different wording. So where does this quote really come from? Look no further than Emiliano Zapata, who said "Prefiero morir de pie que vivir de rodillas," which translates quite literally to "I prefer to die on my feet than live on my knees." A nice summation on Zapata's views of his revolutionary activity, and staunch refusal to live a life of servitude to wealthy landowners.

During the early years of his uprising, Zapata allied himself with Francisco Madero, an opponent of Porfirio Diaz, hoping to push for the enactment of land reform through political channels. Madero didn't follow through on promises, so Zapata broke with him, regrouped in the mountains of southern Mexico, and announced the Plan de Ayala, in 1911. The plan, basically a political platform, called for all stolen land to be returned to the people, and for one third of large haciendas to be nationalized. Those landowners who refused to comply would have all their land seized and nationalized. Zapata intended to impose his plan on Madero by force. However, as fate would have it, Madero was deposed and executed by another strongman, Victoriano Huerta. Huerta was so despised, he united the revolutionary armies of Mexico against him. Previous to the drafting of Plan de Ayala, Zapata had no written mission statement. Thus, the plan served as something of a manifesto, concretely declaring the beliefs at the heart of the Zapatista movement, which continue to affect Mexican politics and social life into the 21st century.

Zapata dressed like a traditional Mexican charro, or horseman, with tight black pants, silver buttons, a large brimmed circular sombrero, a linen shirt and jacket, a colorful scarf around his neck, polished boots and spurs, and, most importantly of all, a pistol tucked into his belt. He did so, he said, because he wanted to wear his best clothes, like the chief of any village. With a long handlebar mustache, Zapata had the appearance of the quintessential Mexican Revolutionary.

When Victoriano Huerta, who seized control of Mexico in a counter-revolutionary coup, was defeated and fled in June 1914, the country was in the position to create a new constitution and government. At first, Zapata, Villa, Venustiano Carranza, and others revolutionary leaders worked toegether. However, as Carranza maneuvered his way toward the presidency, and Zapata suspected his Plan de Ayala would become a matter of little importance to the central government, things began to fall apart. Both Zapata and Villa broke away from the new government, which was supported by the United States. Zapata's rationale was his steadfast refusal to accept anything other than the complete implementation of his plan, and his belief that the new government had little concern for agrarian issues. Villa and Zapata were wary of one another, yet suspected they would need one another's support to stand up to Carranza. They met at the Presidential Palace in Mexico City on December 7, 1914, forming tentative agreement to unite that never amounted to anything. In the wake of the agreement, Zapata returned to Morelos, which he had been granted control of after Huerta fled, and focused on implementing land reform. Meanwhile, Villa suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Carranza at the Battle of Celaya in April 1915, ending his aura of invincibility. The defeat placed pressure on Zapata; with Villa neutralized, Carranza turned attention to Zapata, sending troops into Morelos, attempting to capture or kill Zapata and his rebels.

In 1916, Carranza sent General Pablo Garza to Morelos in an attempt to destroy the Zapatista movement. Supporters of Zapata were to be massacred or shipped out of the state to serve elsewhere as slave labor. Zapata lost control of the state, but the brutality of the occupying Federal troops allowed for a gradual counterattack and a reestablishment of the Zapatistas by the end of 1916. Outside Morelos, the revolution was dissipating, as many grew tired of constant violence, chaos and death. For two years, Zapata survived, fighting the Carrancistas to a stalemate. In early 1919, as a harsh winter and influenza epidemic wiped 25% of the population of Morelos, Zapata's situation grew tenuous. He began to negotiate with a potential Federal turncoat, Colonel Jesus Guajardo, in response to Guajardo's offer to defect with men and weapons. Zapata put Guajardo through an elaborate test to determine whether was sincere, then decided to meet him. Zapata was greeted with a hail of bullets.

Some associate Zapata with Marxist intellectuals and revolutionaries like Vladimir Lenin or even Che Guevara, though in reality, he was was a farmer and entrepreneur. He took up arms to right the perceived mistreatment of his neighbors and the unfair confiscation of land, not to herald the dawn of a political revolution. Zapata disliked the tyranny of a brutal central government that favored the wealthy over the peasantry; an anarchist, possibly, but Zapata was no Marxist. One famous attributed quote: "One of the happiest days of my life was when I made five or six hundred pesos from a crop of watermelons I raised all on my own." Zapata was, at his heart, a socialist, who believed in fair access for all to the means of production, which he believed would lead to prosperity for the community.

Known as Soldaderas and/or Adelitas, women served many functions during the Mexican Revolution, ranging from camp followers who provided companionship and domestic help to combatants (although female combatants were rare). Zapatistas were not known for their sensitivity in acquiring female followers. If a village filled with women resisted joining the movement, they used threats and intimidation. Even soldaderas who joined with their husbands led a difficult life. It's said horses were treated better than women in Zapatista camps, because they were worth more.

Viva Zapata! is a 1951 film produced by 20th Century Fox and starring Marlon Brando as Zapata. Highly fictionalized, the film examines a relatively short period of the Mexican Revolution and omitted many events and individuals. The screenplay was written by John Steinbeck, who was nominated for an Oscar. The movie garnered four other nominations, including Best Supporting Actor for Anthony Quinn, who won for his portrayal of Eufemio, Zapata's brother. Quinn, born in Chihuahua, Mexico, was the first Mexican to win an Oscar. Fun fact: Alan Reed, who voiced Fred Flintstone, played Pancho Villa in Viva Zapata!.

On January 1, 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional, the EZLN) issued its first proclamation, declaring it was at war with the Mexican State. This announcement coincided with the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), an agreement the EZLN felt would expand the gap of inequality in the group's home state of Chiapas, in the far south of Mexico, along the border with Guatemala. The announcement was followed by armed attacks in Chiapas, which necessitated the intervention of the central government. The EZLN has adopted many philosophies rooted in the beliefs of Zapata, including cultural and political autonomy for indigenous people and fundamental human rights. By the early 2000s, the EZLN succeeded in setting up five small, local government centers in Chiapas, which exist outside the purview of the federal government, and developed health, education, and collective development platforms. The centers, known as juntas, operate with total transparency - any visitor can look at their financial books.