Revolution Day sees hundreds of student and sports groups perform choreographed athletic routines, and motorized floats depicting historical scenes, with youngsters dressed up as tiny revolutionaries and renowned personalities of the era.
Absent on this day will be any sign of Mexico’s armed forces. This is because the decade-long Mexican Revolution was the major catalyst that reduced the military to occupying a role outside political life. The depoliticization of the armed forces was started by President Alvaro Obregon, who came to power in 1920, and continued by his successor Plutarco Elias Calles, the founder of the Partido Nacional Revolucionario, which later became the PRI. Since the end of the Revolution, Mexico has developed a different concept of its commitment to national security. Most important was the complete rejection of any expansionist aims. Confrontation with the United States was unthinkable and a strong professional force was deemed unnecessary to deal with its other sovereign neighbors, Guatemala and Belize. Nowadays, the vast majority of Mexico’s servicemen come from lower-middle class homes. This also includes the officer elite, who enter the service to train as engineers or doctors, without harboring any political ambitions.