Pancho Villa

Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa on horseback c. 1908–1919
Governor of Chihuahua
In office 1913–1914
Preceded by	Salvador R. Mercado
Succeeded by	Manuel Chao
Personal details
Born	José Doroteo Arango Arámbula (1878-06-05)5 June 1878 La Coyotada, San Juan del Río, Durango, Mexico
Died	20 July 1923(1923-07-20) (aged 45) Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico
Manner of death	Assassination
Resting place	Monument to the Revolution, Mexico City
Spouse	María Luz Corral ​ (m. 1911)​ [1][2]
Signature
Nickname(s)	Pancho Villa El Centauro del Norte (The Centaur of the North), The Mexican Napoleon, The Lion of the North The Mexican Robin Hood
Military service
Allegiance	Mexico (antireeleccionista revolutionary forces)
Rank	General
Commands	División del Norte
Battles/wars	Mexican Revolution First Battle of Agua Prieta First Battle of Ciudad Juárez First Battle of Nogales First Battle of Torreón Battle of Ojinaga Battle of Zacatecas Battle of Celaya Second Battle of Agua Prieta Battle of Columbus Battle of Guerrero Third Battle of Ciudad Juárez

Francisco "Pancho" Villa (/ˈviːə/ VEE-ə,^[3] also US: /ˈviːjɑː/ VEE-yah;^[3] Spanish: [ˈbiʎa];^[3] born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula, 5 June 1878 – 20 July 1923) was a Mexican revolutionary and general in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary movement that forced out President Porfirio Díaz and brought Francisco I. Madero to power in 1911. When Madero was ousted by a coup led by General Victoriano Huerta in February 1913, Villa joined the anti-Huerta forces in the Constitutionalist Army led by Venustiano Carranza. After the defeat and exile of Huerta in July 1914, Villa broke with Carranza. Villa dominated the meeting of revolutionary generals that excluded Carranza and helped create a coalition government. Emiliano Zapata and Villa became formal allies in this period. Like Zapata, Villa was strongly in favor of land reform, but did not implement it when he had power.^[4] At the height of his power and popularity in late 1914 and early 1915, the U.S. considered recognizing Villa as Mexico's legitimate authority.^[5]

Civil war broke out when Carranza challenged Villa. Villa was decisively defeated by Constitutionalist general Álvaro Obregón in summer 1915, and the U.S. aided Carranza directly against Villa in the Second Battle of Agua Prieta in November 1915.^[6] Much of Villa's army left after his defeat on the battlefield and because of his lack of resources to buy arms and pay soldiers' salaries. Angered at the U.S. aid to Carranza, Villa conducted a raid on the border town of Columbus, New Mexico to goad the U.S. into invading Mexico in 1916. Despite a major contingent of soldiers and superior military technology, the U.S. failed to capture Villa. When Carranza was ousted from power in 1920, Villa negotiated an amnesty with interim President Adolfo de la Huerta and was given a landed estate, on the condition he retire from politics. Villa was assassinated in 1923. Although his faction did not prevail in the Revolution, he was one of its most charismatic and prominent figures.

In life, Villa helped fashion his own image as an internationally known revolutionary hero, starring as himself in Hollywood films and giving interviews to foreign journalists, most notably John Reed.^[7] After his death he was excluded from the pantheon of revolutionary heroes until the Sonoran generals Obregón and Calles, whom he battled during the Revolution, were gone from the political stage. Villa's exclusion from the official narrative of the Revolution might have contributed to his continued posthumous popular acclaim. He was celebrated during the Revolution and long afterward by corridos, films about his life and novels by prominent writers. In 1976, his remains were reburied in the Monument to the Revolution in Mexico City in a huge public ceremony.^[8][9]