Examine the challenges faced by Obregón and Calles between 1920 and 1940.

The question requires that candidates consider the interrelationship between the challenges faced by Obregón and Calles between 1920 and 1940. Candidates may refer to the challenges faced by Obregón during his presidency like his challenging relationship with the Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers (CROM) and his secretary Morones Negrete, or the conflict with the Catholic Church that did not approve a number of articles from the constitution and therefore limited its action. Another serious challenge was the rebellion of Obregón’s former finance minister, Adolfo de la Huerta. Regarding the presidency of Calles, candidates may refer to the menace of military coups that forced the president to reduce the influence of the army in Mexico’s political life. Calles’s anticlerical policies were more severe than those taken by Obregón since Calles was determined to remove the influence of the Catholic Church in politics and education. This renewed the old conflict with the church provoking the Cristero War. Calles also approved legislation restricting alien ownership of land and regulating the petroleum industry. Both actions, together with the rejection of the Bucareli treaty and Mexico’s support to liberals in Nicaragua, aggravated relations with the US. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

The question required that candidates consider the interrelationship between the challenges faced by Obregón and Calles between 1920 and 1940. There were a few responses and surprisingly, several responses did not distinguish between the challenges faced by each leader, describing challenges as a whole, without much depth or breadth. Some candidates resorted to the usual narrative on the course of the Mexican Revolution, and incidentally addressed the required leaders.