Essay On Cristeros Rebellion

The federal troops were regulated to major cities; thus the Cristeros fought mainly agraristas. Cristeros were supported by the locals and managed to defeat the federal cavalry in several battles. Despite these wins, the Cristeros struggled to find leadership. There were chiefs that commanded different groups of men; but not one main single leader. One notable feature of the Cristero Rebellion was how it split the social classes. The middle-class members fought in Mexico City, while the lower classes were near Jalisco in the north. Calles angry over the initial defeats struck back. He had the federal troops take back villages. The villages were emptied and ransacked by soldiers. Soldiers killed anyone found inside. Calles also took aim at the clergy. He exiled over half by May of 1927 and executed any priests caught in the rural areas. However, his execution of Father Miguel Pro on November 13, 1927 on trumped up charges as a giant miscalculation. News pictures of Father Pro’s death inspired the Cristeros to martyrdom. Calles in 1929 with an election looming finally decided to try to reach an accord with the Church. On June 21, 1929, the Calles administration reached an …show more content…
Despite anticlerical policy being stymied, the cost in bloodshed was horrendous. The Church’s silence along with its suspension of mass, gave the Cristeros the will to combat Calles and his regime. Martyrs such as Father Miguel Pro gave strength to both church and rebel. As shown through the martyrology of Father Pro, Father Pro’s arrest, lack of trial, and demonstrative support gained eminence during the Cristero war. Father Pro and his fellow martyrs gave Mexico and the rest of the world an example of what it means to follow Christ the King against anticlerical governments. However, the church remained determined to avoid violence, thus a new organization was needed to help future threats against the