World One War: Viva Pancho Villa!
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Viva Revolution!
The legend of Jose Doroteo Arango Arambula, better known to history and Legend as Pancho Villa, was and is the most celebrated Mexican Revolution General.
As the commander of Division del Norte (Division of the North), Villa was the unreputed leader of Northern Mexico for the duration of the early 20th Century. Despite not being celebrated as a national hero shortly after his death, today, his memory is remembered by Mexicans, Americans and supporters of his beliefs worldwide
During the Mexican Revolution, his forces seized haciendas and land for distribution to the common people and soldiers. Over the course of his brutal and arduous campaign, his forces robbed and commandeered trains, and, as other revolutionary generals, printed money for his cause.
In the early part of the revolution, there is debated evidence as to whether Villa co-operated with or accepted help from Imperial Germany.
Villa was supplied from whatever source could provide guns and the tools needed to wage a revolutionary war. His army also employed international mercenaries who were portrayed as heroes in several countries media.
This revolutionary general opposed American armed participation, but did not object to the United States occupation of Veracruz which allowed him to maintain ‘connections’ in the states in order to buy supplies and guns.
Incidentally, the German Consul at Torreon did attempt to make deals with Villa, offering him arms and money to occupy the port and Oil Fields at Tampico which in turn would enable German ships to dock there. Despite the German overtures, Villa rejected the offer.
The offer to Villa was not the only interference of Germany in the Mexican Revolution. German agents attempted to ferment a plot with Victoriano Huerta, the former President of Mexico. The Germans also proposed an alliance to the government of Venustiano Carranza in the form of the infamous Zimmermann Telegram.
There are documented contacts between Villa and German agents. Following Villa’s split with the Constitutionalists, Villa met with Felix A. Sommerfeld who allegedly, in 1915, transferred $340,000 of German money to the Western Cartridge Company to purchase munitions.
Despite following the actions and progress of Villa, the United States, following the example of President Woodrow Wilson, believed that the best and quickest way for Mexico to become stable was to support Carranza.
Believing to be betrayed, Villas forces attacked a train on the Mexico North Western Railway in 1916. The attack claimed the lives of eighteen Americans, of which fifteen worked for the American Smelting and Refining Company.
In the spring of 1916, Villa ordered a large force of his army to make a cross-border attack against Columbus in New Mexico. The raid was organised due to the United States official recognition of the Carranza regime and the loss of Mexican lives due to the inefficiency of munitions purchased for the United States.
The Villaists attacked a detachment of the United States 13th Cavalry and seized over 100 horses and set the town ablaze. In May 1916, Villa attacked Glenn Spring in Texas killing one civilian and wounding three American soldiers.
Villa’s military power had waned by the time of his attack on Columbus, New Mexico. His force was repulsed by a smaller American unit, but only after he had caused severe damage to the town.
One possible reason for Villa-German contact following 1915 would be that Germany was, in a despairing situation, attempting to fuel disruption in the Americas in order to keep the United States tied down.
It is key to note that around the period of 1916, it was in both President Wilson’s and Carranza’s interests to portray Villa as conspiring with Germans.
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