Images of the Mexican Revolution presented for the first time in Canada at the Canadian War Museum

Ottawa, Ontario, June 6, 2012 — The Mexican Revolution was one of the longest and deadliest conflicts of the twentieth century. Images of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), a new exhibition presented at the Canadian War Museum in partnership with the Embassy of Mexico in Canada features 28 rare, powerful and compelling period photographs from the armed struggle that helped define modern Mexico.

Images of the Mexican Revolution features dramatic depictions of the conditions that led to the conflict, its major events and the people involved in and affected by the fighting. Like other captured moments of social violence and change, the photographs offer a searing glimpse of the scale and severity of war’s impact on those who lived it.

“Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa are familiar names to many, yet most Canadians know little about the Mexican Revolution that turned these men into national icons,” said James Whitham, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. “As Canadians commemorate the bicentennial of our own nation-defining War of 1812, we are proud to work with the Government of Mexico in building knowledge of another seminal conflict in North American history.”

The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 with a political revolt led by Francisco Madero against long-time authoritarian ruler Porfirio Díaz. The uprising, ignited by low wages and terrible working conditions for many Mexicans, soon turned into a multi-sided civil war that raged for more than a decade. The conflict contributed to widespread banditry, famine, disease, and deadly epidemics and led to the deaths of more than one million people.

“The Federal Government of Mexico is pleased to collaborate with the Canadian War Museum for this exhibition devoted to one of the most transformative events in my country’s past,” said Mexican Ambassador to Canada Francisco J. Barrio-Terrazas. “The Mexican Revolution left a profound legacy, including the creation of our Constitution in 1917.  We welcome the opportunity to share these rare historical photographs with Canadians.”

Among the exhibition’s indelible images are those of workers and peasants labouring under atrocious conditions; a diminutive child soldier, public executions, female revolutionaries in arms and street fighting. Other photographs include military rulers and charismatic revolutionaries such as Francisco “Pancho” Villa and Carmen Robles, a female colonel in Emiliano Zapata’s army. The images also show evidence of the changing nature of contemporary conflict, from cavalry and poorly armed conscripts to the railways and machine guns of modern warfare.

Images of the Mexican Revolution is on display from June 7 to October 28, 2012 in the War Museum’s North Corridor. An exhibition of these photographs had originally been created by the National Museum of Anthropology and History (INAH), through the National System of Photographic Archives in Mexico (SINAFO). This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Embassy of Mexico in Canada.

The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada’s military history in its personal, national, and international dimensions.

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