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143 Conclusion . /The 1879–1884 Huastecan peasant war claimed the lives of thousands of Huastecan Indians, hundreds of government troops, and dozens of estate owners and their families. The destruction of property, Indian villages, and infrastructure set the region back for years. While the long-term origins of the agrarian violence lay in the Spanish invasion of the sixteenth century, the more immediate cause of the rebellion was the marginalization of subsistence-oriented pueblo land production in the face of a demand to develop a commodity- based export agriculture. The imposition of Liberal nation-state building and the centralization of the state’s coercive powers that accompanied the development of modern infrastructure such as railroads and telegraphs further shifted the balance of political and economic power to that of the larger commercially oriented agricultural estates. The increasing severity of labor exploitation and abuses exacerbated the already desperate conditions of the largely indigenous peasantry, who now found themselves in a rapidly deteriorating situation. The Huastecan peasant war also originated from a half century of political and military struggles that witnessed the formation of regional and national alliances forged between various national actors and factions. The manifestation of subaltern nationalist and class consciousness challenges elite versions of Mexican history as well as the hegemonic discourse proclaimed by various triumphant elites. Over the course of the nineteenth century , a nationalist sentiment emerged that was not static but a living and evolving discourse that permeated the long century’s political, economic, and social transformation. By synthesizing nationalist empowerment with agrarian socialism, Huastecos forged an alternative nationalism, a more inclusive social and cultural order than what emerged during the years of the Porfirian dictatorship, that stands in contrast to Liberal state-building nationalist visions. 144 conclusion In addition to nationalist sentiment, the proselytizing efforts of Padre Mauricio Zavala, his clerical aides, and the socialist activists from Mexico City also served to radicalize the Huastecan peasantry. The role of anarchist and socialist revolutionaries from the national capital calls into question traditional Western interpretations of regionally focused peasant ideologies, those that deny rural citizens a national intimacy. In addition, the presence of coordinated political activity between indigenous “organic intellectuals” and socialist and anarchist leadership at the national level testifies to the political sophistication of indigenous rural leaders in constructing a national vision for their country’s future. The Huastecan revolution incorporated a vast range of ideas that provide insight into the origins of Mexican nationalism , agrarian socialism, and religious consciousness. The Huastecos’ ideas and actions provide an alternative way of understanding the historical forces that shaped the making of modern Mexico. ...

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