Discuss the achievements and failures of Carranza.

Candidates will offer a considered and balanced review of the achievements and failures of Venustiano Carranza, who ruled Mexico between 1914 and 1920. Although candidates may vary in the amount of weight given to achievements and failures in their responses, there should be at least some discussion of each. Achievements that may be applied include Carranza’s military defeat of Huerta, Villa and Zapata, his gaining the support of the trade unions, and the passage of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 with its land redistribution, labour reform, and restrictions on the Catholic Church. It may also be argued that avoidance of war with the US, despite the Pershing invasion, was an achievement. For failures, candidates may argue that Carranza failed in the attempt to impose his successor, Bonillas, and that he “betrayed” the revolution by turning against Villa and Zapata after Huerta’s overthrow.