Editing Emiliano Zapata (section)

== Life and career ==
=== 1879–1909: Early life ===
[[File:Casa natal de Emiliano Zapata 1.JPG|thumb|left|Birthplace of Emiliano Zapata in Anenecuilco, today a house museum]]

Emiliano Zapata was born to Gabriel Zapata and Cleofas Jertrudiz Salazar of [[Anenecuilco]], [[Morelos]], the ninth of ten children.{{efn|Three brothers: Pedro, [[Eufemio Zapata|Eufemio]] and Loreto, and six sisters: Celsa, Ramona, María de Jesús, María de la Luz, Jovita and Matilde.}} Contrary to popular legend, the Zapatas were a well-known local family and reasonably well-off.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/quien-fue-emiliano-zapata-conoce-su-biografia.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731000947/https://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/quien-fue-emiliano-zapata-conoce-su-biografia.html|url-status=dead|title=¿Quién fue Emiliano Zapata? Conoce su biografía|first=Stefany|last=Cisneros|date=9 October 2018|archivedate=31 July 2020|website=México Desconocido}}</ref> Emiliano's maternal grandfather, José Salazar, had served in the army of José María Morelos y Pavón during the siege of Cuautla, while his paternal uncles Cristino and José Zapata fought in the [[Reform War]] and the [[Second French intervention in Mexico|French Intervention]]. Emiliano's godfather was the manager of a large local [[hacienda]] and his godmother was the manager's wife.{{sfn|Knight|1986|p=190}} The Zapata family were descended from the Zapata of Mapaztlán and were likely [[mestizo]]s, Mexicans of both Spanish and [[Nahuas|Nahua]] heritage.<ref>[http://www.historicas.unam.mx/publicaciones/publicadigital/libros/manifiestos_zapata/081a_04_04_ExpedicionManifiestos.pdf ZAPATA ANTE LOS INDIOS: LA EXPEDICIÓN DE LOS MANIFIESTOS EN NÁHUATL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129195828/http://www.historicas.unam.mx/publicaciones/publicadigital/libros/manifiestos_zapata/081a_04_04_ExpedicionManifiestos.pdf |date=29 January 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Indian in Latin American History: Resistance, Resilience, and Acculturation |first=John E. |last=Kicza |publisher=Scholarly Resources |page=[https://archive.org/details/indianinlatiname0000unse/page/203 203] |year=1993 |isbn=978-0842024211 |url=https://archive.org/details/indianinlatiname0000unse/page/203 }}</ref> Although it is not known conclusively whether Zapata himself spoke [[Nahuatl]], historian Miguel León-Portilla has cited later Zapatista proclamations and eyewitness accounts to argue that he was fluent in the language.<ref name="Newell">{{cite book |last1=Newell |first1=Peter |title=Zapata of Mexico |date=1979 |publisher=Cienfuegos Press |location=Sanday, Orkney, England |page=176}}</ref><ref name="Portilla">{{cite book |last1=León-Portilla |first1=Miguel |title=Los manifiestos en Náhuatl de Emiliano Zapata |date=1978 |publisher=UNAM |location=Mexico City |page=112}}</ref>

[[File:Euphemio y Emiliano Zapata.jpg|thumb|Undated photo of Emiliano Zapata (right) and his older brother [[Eufemio Zapata|Eufemio]] (left), dressed in the ''[[charro]]'' fashion of the countryside. Some posthumous artistic renderings of Zapata show him dressed as an ordinary peasant]]

Gabriel Zapata was a farmer and horse trainer, and Emiliano's upbringing on the farm gave him an intimate familiarity with the difficulties of the countryside and his village's long struggle to regain the land taken by expanding haciendas.<ref>{{cite book |title=Diccionario Porrúa de Historia, Biografía y Geografía de México |publisher= [[Librería Hermanos Porrúa (Porrúa Brothers Bookstore)|Editorial Porrúa]]}}</ref> He received a limited education from his teacher, Emilio Vara, but it included "the rudiments of bookkeeping".{{sfn|Krauze|1997|p=278}} Gabriel died when Emiliano was about 16 or 17, leaving the latter to care for his family. Emiliano was entrepreneurial and bought a team of mules to haul [[maize]] from farms to town and bricks to the Hacienda of Chinameca; he was also a successful farmer, growing watermelons as a cash crop. He was a skilled horseman and competed in rodeos and races, as well as bullfighting from horseback.{{sfn|Krauze|1997|p=279}} These skills as a horseman brought him work as a horse trainer for Porfirio Díaz's son-in-law, [[Ignacio de la Torre y Mier]] who had a large sugar hacienda nearby. Emiliano had a striking appearance, with a large mustache in which he took pride, and good quality clothing described by his loyal secretary: "General Zapata's dress until his death was a [[Charro outfit|''charro'' outfit]]: tight-fitting black cashmere pants with silver buttons, a broad charro hat, a fine linen shirt or jacket, a scarf around his neck, boots of a single piece, Amozoqueña-style spurs, and a pistol at his belt."{{sfn|Krauze|1997|p=279}} In an undated studio photo, Zapata is dressed in a standard business suit and tie, projecting an image of a man of means.

Around the turn of the 20th century, Anenecuilco was a mixed Spanish-speaking mestizo and indigenous [[Nahuatl]]-speaking town. It had a long history of protesting the local haciendas taking community members' land, and its leaders gathered colonial-era documentation of their land titles to prove their claims.{{sfn|Krauze|1997|pp=275–276}} Some of the colonial documentation was in Nahuatl, with contemporary translations to Spanish for use in legal cases in the Spanish courts.{{sfn|Krauze|1997|p=277}} As referenced above, one eyewitness account by [[Luz Jiménez]] of [[Milpa Alta]] states that Emiliano Zapata spoke Nahuatl fluently when his forces arrived in her community.<ref>{{cite book |last=Miguel Leon-Portilla |first= Earl Shorris |year=2002 |title= In the Language of Kings: An Anthology of Mesoamerican Literature, Pre-Columbian to the Present |publisher= W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0393324075 |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=QF5VgTGrTGEC&pg=PA374 p. 374]}} (Testimony of Doña [[Luz Jiménez]] originally published in Horcasitas, 1968).</ref>

Community members in Anenecuilco, including Zapata, sought redress against land seizures. In 1892, a delegation had an audience with Díaz, who with the intervention of a lawyer, agreed to hear them. Although promising them to deal favorably with their petition, Díaz had them arrested and Zapata was conscripted into the [[Federal Army]].<ref>{{cite book |first=John Mason |last= Hart |year=1987 |title=Revolutionary Mexico |location= Berkeley and Los Angeles|publisher= University of California Press|page= 44|isbn=978-0520059955}}</ref> Under Díaz, conscription into the Federal Army was much feared by ordinary Mexican men and their families. Zapata was one of many rebel leaders who were conscripted at some point.{{sfn|Knight|1986|p=19}}

=== 1909–1910: First political forays ===
In 1909, an important meeting was called by the elders of Anenecuilco, whose chief elder was José Merino. He announced "my intention to resign from my position due to my old age and limited abilities to continue the fight for the land rights of the village." The meeting was used as a time for discussion and nomination of individuals as a replacement for Merino as the president of the village council. The elders on the council were so well respected by the village men that no one would dare to override their nominations or vote for an individual against the advice of the current council at that time. The nominations made were Modesto González, Bartolo Parral, and Emiliano Zapata. After the nominations were closed, a vote was taken and Zapata became the new council president without contest.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=?}}

Although Zapata had turned 30 only a month before, voters knew that it was necessary to elect someone respected by the community who would be responsible for the village. Even though he was relatively young, Anenecuilco was ready to hand over the leadership to him without any worry of failure. Before he was elected he had shown the village his nature by helping to lead a campaign in opposition to the candidate Díaz had chosen governor. Even though Zapata's efforts failed, he was able to create and cultivate relationships with political authority figures that would prove useful for him.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=?}}

Zapata became a leading figure in the village of Anenecuilco, where his family had lived for many generations, though he did not take the title of Don, as was custom for someone of his status. Instead, the Anenecuilcans referred to Zapata affectionately as "Miliano" and later as ''pobrecito'' (poor little thing) after his death.{{Sfn|Meade|2016|p=172}}

=== Mexican Revolution ===
{{Main|Mexican Revolution}}

==== 1910–1912: Maderista revolution and plan of Ayala ====
[[File:Zapatistas and Nacional de Mexico, No. 739 (5655532688).jpg|thumb|left|Zapatistas in Cuernavaca, 1911. [[Hugo Brehme]], photographer<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/mex/id/508 |title= DeGolyer Library |publisher= Southern Methodist University |access-date=9 March 2020 |archive-date= 4 March 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213036/http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/mex/id/508 |url-status= live }}</ref>]]

The flawed 1910 elections were a major reason for the outbreak of the [[Mexican Revolution]] in 1910. [[Porfirio Díaz]] was being threatened by the candidacy of [[Francisco I. Madero]]. Zapata, seeing an opportunity to promote land reform in Mexico,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/themexicanrevolution/a/08zapataprerev.htm |title=Emiliano Zapata: Life Before the Mexican Revolution |publisher=Latinamericanhistory.about.com |access-date=18 December 2011 |archive-date=28 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228231550/http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/themexicanrevolution/a/08zapataprerev.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> joined with Madero and his Constitutionalists, who included [[Pascual Orozco]] and [[Pancho Villa]],{{Sfn|Meade|2016|p=166}} whom he perceived to be the best chance for genuine change in the country. Although he was wary of Madero, Zapata cooperated with him when Madero made vague promises about land reform in his [[Plan of San Luis Potosí]]. Land reform was the central feature of Zapata's political vision.<ref name=opqz />

Zapata joined Madero's campaign against President Díaz.<ref name=kpkap>{{cite web |url=http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/themexicanrevolution/p/08zapatabio.htm |title=Biography of Emiliano Zapata |publisher=Latinamericanhistory.about.com |date=10 April 1919 |access-date=18 December 2011 |archive-date=13 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113002859/http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/themexicanrevolution/p/08zapatabio.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The first military campaign of Zapata was the capture of the Hacienda of Chinameca. When Zapata's army [[Battle of Cuautla (1911)|captured Cuautla after a six-day battle]] on 19 May 1911,<ref name=opqz>{{cite web |url=http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/themexicanrevolution/a/08zapatamad.htm |title=The Mexican Revolution: Zapata, Diaz and Madero |publisher=Latinamericanhistory.about.com |date=13 May 1911 |access-date=18 December 2011 |archive-date=30 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230220622/http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/themexicanrevolution/a/08zapatamad.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> it became clear that Díaz would not hold on to power for long.<ref name=kpkap />

[[File:Emiliano Zapata - LOC.jpg|thumb|right|Emiliano Zapata, posing in [[Cuernavaca]] in 1911, with a rifle and sword, and a ceremonial sash across his chest. (Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico City. Archivo Fotográfico Díaz, Delgado y García)]]
[[File:The pistol of Emiliano Zapata captured by Emil Holmdahl. Zapatas name is scratched on the ivory handle..jpg|300px|thumb|right|Zapata's .44 caliber, single action, top-break "Russian" model Smith & Wesson revolver recovered after the [[Battle of Cuernavaca (1912)|ambush in Cuernavaca]] by [[Emil Holmdahl]]. On the handle is scratched "EMILIO[sic.] ZAPATA GENERAL EN CUARVACA[sic.] MORALES MEX MARZO 4 1911".]]
During his interim presidency, [[Francisco León de la Barra]] tasked General [[Victoriano Huerta]] to suppress revolutionaries in Morelos. Huerta was to disarm revolutionaries peacefully if possible, but could use force. In August 1911, Huerta led 1,000 Federal troops to Cuernavaca, which Madero saw as provocative. Writing the Minister of the Interior, Zapata demanded the Federal troops withdraw from Morelos, saying "I won't be responsible for the blood that is going to flow if the Federal forces remain."<ref>quoted in Michael C. Meyer, ''Huerta: A Political Portrait''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press 1972, p. 22.</ref>

Although Madero's Plan of San Luis Potosí specified the return of village land and won the support of peasants seeking land reform, he was not ready to implement radical change.  Madero simply demanded that "Public servants act 'morally' in enforcing the law&nbsp;...". Upon seeing the response by villagers, Madero offered formal justice in courts to individuals who had been wronged by others with regard to [[agrarianism|agrarian]] politics. Zapata decided that on the surface it seemed as though Madero was doing good things for the people of Mexico, but Zapata did not know the level of sincerity in Madero's actions and thus did not know if he should support him completely.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=71}}

Compromises between the Madero and Zapata failed in November 1911, days after Madero was elected president. Zapata believed that Madero was abandoning the principles of the revolution, prioritizing his own political ambitions, and repressing those who demanded land reform.Zapata declared Madero illegitimate, calling for his removal and proposing Pascual Orozco, and later Zapata himself, as the rightful revolutionary leader.
Zapata vowed that his forces would continue fighting until the original revolutionary goals were met, refusing compromises with the existing government. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Womack Jr. |first1=John |title=Zapata and the Mexican Revolution |date=1968 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=New York |isbn=9780394708539 |edition=1st}}</ref>Zapata and [[Otilio Montaño Sánchez]], a former school teacher, fled to the mountains of southwest [[Puebla]]. There they promulgated the most radical reform plan in Mexico, the [[Plan de Ayala]] (Plan of Ayala). The plan declared Madero a traitor, named as head of the revolution [[Pascual Orozco]], the victorious general who captured Ciudad Juárez in 1911 forcing the resignation of Díaz. He outlined a plan for true land reform.<ref name=kpkap />

Zapata had supported the ouster of Díaz and had the expectation that Madero would fulfill the promises made in the Plan of San Luis Potosí to return village lands.  He did not share Madero's vision of democracy built on particular freedoms and guarantees that were meaningless to peasants:

<blockquote> Freedom of the press for those who cannot read; free elections for those who do not know the candidates; proper legal for those who have anything to do with an attorney.  All those democratic principles, all those great words that gave such joy to our fathers and grandfathers have lost their magic for the people&nbsp;... With or without elections, with or without an effective law, with the Porfirian dictatorship or with Madero's democracy with a controlled or free press, its fate remains the same.<ref>quoted in Katz, Friedrich, ''The Secret War in Mexico'', 260</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Caricatura de Zapata 14.jpg|200px|thumb|Caricature of Zapata as a naked savage embracing death, both with vultures resting on them, with Francisco Madero riding an olive branch of peace under the "arch of triumph"<ref>El Hijo de Ahuizote, 31 de agosto de 1911, año 1, número 16, página 3,</ref>]]

The 1911 Plan of Ayala called for all lands stolen under Díaz to be immediately returned; there had been considerable land fraud under the old dictator, so a great deal of territory was involved. It also stated that large plantations owned by a single person or family should have one-third of their land nationalized, which would then be required to be given to poor farmers. It also argued that if any large plantation owner resisted this action, they should have the other two-thirds confiscated as well. The Plan of Ayala also invoked the name of President [[Benito Juárez]], one of Mexico's great liberal leaders, and compared the taking of land from the wealthy to Juarez's actions when land was expropriated  from the Catholic church during [[La Reforma|the Liberal Reform]].<ref name=kpkapza>{{cite web |url=http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/thehistoryofmexico/p/planofayala.htm |title=Emiliano Zapata and the Plan of Ayala |publisher=Latinamericanhistory.about.com |date=10 April 1919 |access-date=18 December 2011 |archive-date=17 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017020347/http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/thehistoryofmexico/p/planofayala.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Another part of the plan stated that rural cooperatives and other measurements should be put in place to prevent the land from being seized or stolen in the future.{{Sfn|Meade|2016|p=167}}

In the following weeks, the development of military operations "betray(ed) good evidence of clear and intelligent planning."{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=76}} During Orozco's rebellion, Zapata fought Mexican troops in the south near [[Mexico City]].<ref name=kpkap /> In the original design of the armed force, Zapata was a mere colonel among several others; however, the true plan that came about through this organization lent itself to Zapata. Zapata believed that the best route of attack would be to center the fighting and action in [[Cuautla, Morelos|Cuautla]]. If this political location could be overthrown, the army would have enough power to "veto anyone else's control of the state, negotiate for [[Cuernavaca]] or attack it directly, and maintain independent access to Mexico City as well as escape routes to the southern hills."{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=76}} However, in order to gain this great success, Zapata realized that his men needed to be better armed and trained.

The first line of action demanded that Zapata and his men "control the area behind and below a line from [[Jojutla]] to [[Yecapixtla]]."{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=76}} When this was accomplished it gave the army the ability to complete raids as well as wait. As the opposition of the Federal Army and police detachments slowly dissipated, the army would be able to eventually gain powerful control over key locations on the [[Interoceanic Railway]] from [[Puebla City]] to Cuautla. If these feats could be completed, it would gain access to Cuautla directly and the city would fall.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=}}

The plan of action was carried out successfully in Jojutla. However, [[Pablo Torres Burgos]], the commander of the operation, was disappointed that the army disobeyed his orders against [[looting]] and ransacking. The army took complete control of the area, and it seemed as though Torres Burgos had lost control over his forces prior to this event. Shortly after, Torres Burgos called a meeting and resigned from his position. Upon leaving Jojutla with his two sons, he was surprised by a federal police patrol who subsequently shot all three of the men on the spot.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=}} This seemed to some to be an ending blow to the movement, because Torres Burgos had not selected a successor for his position; however, Zapata was ready to take up where Torres Burgos had left off.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=}}

Shortly after Torres Burgos's death, a party of rebels elected Zapata as "Supreme Chief of the Revolutionary Movement of the South".{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=78}} This seemed to be the fix to all of the problems that had just arisen, but other individuals wanted to replace Zapata as well. Due to this new conflict, the individual who would come out on top would have to do so by "convincing his peers he deserved their backing."{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=79}}

Zapata finally gained the support necessary by his peers and was considered a "singularly qualified candidate".{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=79}} This decision to make Zapata the leader of the revolution in Morelos did not occur all at once, nor did it ever reach a true definitive level of recognition. In order to succeed, Zapata needed a strong financial backing for the battles to come. This came in the form of 10,000 pesos delivered by Rodolfo from the [[Tacubaya]]ns.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=80}} Due to this amount of money Zapata's group of rebels became one of the strongest in the state financially.

After a period Zapata became the leader of his "strategic zone", which gave him power and control over the actions of many more individual rebel groups and thus greatly increased his margin of success. "Among revolutionaries in other districts of the state, however, Zapata's authority was more tenuous."{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=82}} After a meeting between Zapata and [[Ambrosio Figueroa]] in [[Jolalpan]], it was decided that Zapata would have joint power with Figueroa with regard to operations in Morelos. This was a turning point in the level of authority and influence that Zapata had gained and proved useful in the direct overthrow of Morelos.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=}}

==== 1913–1914: opposition to Victoriano Huerta ====
If there was anyone that Zapata hated more than Díaz and Madero, it was Victoriano Huerta, the bitter, violent [[alcoholic]] who had been responsible for many atrocities in southern Mexico while trying to end the rebellion. Zapata was not alone: in the north, [[Pancho Villa]], who had supported Madero, immediately took to the field against Huerta.<ref name=kpkap /> Zapata revised the Plan of Ayala and named himself the leader of his revolution.<ref name=kpkapza /> He was joined by two newcomers to the Revolution, [[Venustiano Carranza]] and [[Alvaro Obregón]], who raised large armies in [[Coahuila]] and [[Sonora]] respectively. Together they made short work of Huerta, who resigned and fled in June 1914 after repeated military losses.<ref name=kpkap />

==== 1914–1919: The conventionist government ====
On 21 April 1914, U.S. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] sent a contingent of troops to occupy the port city of [[Veracruz]]. This sudden threat caused Huerta to withdraw his troops from Morelos and Puebla, leaving only Jojutla and Cuernavaca under federal control. Zapatistas quickly assumed control of eastern Morelos, taking Cuautla and [[Jonacatepec]] with no resistance. In spite of being faced with a possible foreign invasion, Zapata refused to unite with Huerta in defense of the nation. He stated that if need be he would defend Mexico alone as chief of the Ayalan forces.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=186}} In May the Zapatistas took Jojutla from the Federal Army, many of whom joined the rebels, and captured guns and ammunition. They also laid siege to Cuernavaca where a small contingent of federal troops were holed up.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=187}} By the summer of 1915, Zapata's forces had taken the southern edge of the [[Mexican Federal District|Federal District]], occupying [[Milpa Alta]] and [[Xochimilco]], and were poised to move into the capital. In mid July, Huerta was forced to flee as a Constitutionalist force under Carranza, Obregón, and Villa took the Federal District.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=188}} The Constitutionalists established a peace treaty, inserting Carranza as First Authority of the nation. Carranza, an aristocrat with politically relevant connections, then gained the backing of the US, which passed over Villa and Zapata due to their lower-status backgrounds and more progressive ideologies.{{Sfn|Meade|2016|p=168}} In spite of having contributed decisively to the fall of Huerta, the Zapatistas were left out of the peace treaties, probably because of Carranza's intense dislike for the Zapatistas, whom he saw as uncultured savages.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=190}} Through 1915 there was a tentative peace in Morelos and the rest of the country.

[[File:Pancho Villa, el presidente provisional Eulalio Gutiérrez y Emiliano Zapata.jpg|left|thumb|[[Francisco Villa]] (left), [[Eulalio Gutiérrez]] (center), and Emiliano Zapata (right) at the Mexican National Palace (1914)<ref>Attributed to [[Agustín Casasola]], Mexico City, 6 December 1914. Gelatin dry-plate negative, 5x7 inches. Casasola Archive No. 5706.</ref>]]

As the Constitutionalist forces began to split, with  Villa creating a popular front against Carranza's Constitutionalists, Carranza worked diplomatically to get the Zapatistas to recognize his rule, sending [[Dr. Atl]] as an envoy to propose a compromise with Zapata. For Carranza, an agreement with Zapata would mean that he did not need to worry about his force's southern flank and could concentrate on defeating Villa. Zapata demanded veto power over Carranza's decisions, which Carranza rejected, and negotiations broke off.{{sfn|Katz|1981|p=259}} Zapata issued a statement, perhaps drafted by his advisor, [[Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama]].

<blockquote>The country wishes to destroy feudalism once and for all [while Carranza offers] administrative reform&nbsp;... complete honesty in the handling of public monies&nbsp;... freedom of the press for those who cannot read; free elections for those who do not know the candidates; proper legal proceedings for those who have never had anything to do with an attorney. All those beautiful democratic principles, all those great words that give such joy to our fathers and grandfathers have lost their magic&nbsp;... The people continue to suffer from poverty and endless disappointments.{{sfn|Katz|1981|p=260}}</blockquote>

Unable to reach an agreement, the Constitutionalists divided along ideological lines, with Zapata and Villa leading a progressive rebellion, and Carranza and Obregón leading the conservative faction of the remaining Constitutionalists.{{Sfn|Meade|2016|p=168}} Villa and the other anti-Carrancista leaders of the North established the [[Convention of Aguascalientes]] against Carranza. Zapata and his envoys got the convention to adopt some of the agrarian principles of the Plan de Ayala.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=214–219}} Zapata and Villa met in Xochimilco to negotiate an alliance and divide the responsibility for ridding Mexico of the remaining Carrancistas. The meeting was awkward but amiable, and was widely publicized. It was decided that Zapata should work on securing the area east of Morelos from Puebla towards Veracruz. Nonetheless, during the ensuing campaign in Puebla, Zapata was disappointed by Villa's lack of support. Villa did not initially provide the Zapatistas with the weaponry they had agreed on and, when he did, he did not provide adequate transportation. There were also a series of abuses by Villistas against Zapatista soldiers and chiefs. These experiences led Zapata to grow unsatisfied with the alliance, turning instead his efforts to reorganizing the state of Morelos that had been left in shambles by the onslaught of Huerta and Robles. Having taken Puebla, Zapata left a couple of garrisons there but did not support Villa further against Obregón and Carranza. The Carrancistas saw that the rebel alliance was divided and decided to concentrate on beating Villa, which left the Zapatistas to their own devices for a while.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=220–223}}

Through 1915, Zapata began reshaping Morelos after the Plan de Ayala, redistributing ''hacienda'' lands to the peasants, and largely letting village councils run their own local affairs. Most peasants did not turn to [[cash crop]]s, instead growing [[subsistence crops]] such as corn, beans, and vegetables. The result was that as the capital was starving, while the peasants had more to eat than they had had in 1910 and at lower prices. The only official event in Morelos during this entire year was a [[bullfight]] in which Zapata himself and his nephew Amador Salazar participated. 1915 was a short period of peace and prosperity for the farmers of Morelos, in between the massacres of the Huerta era and the civil war of the winners to come.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=240–241}}

Even when Villa was retreating, having lost the [[Battle of Celaya]] in 1915, and Obregón took the capital from the Conventionists, who retreated to [[Toluca]], Zapata did not open a second front.

When Carranza's forces were poised to move into Morelos, Zapata took action. He attacked Carrancista positions with large forces, trying to harry the Carrancistas in the rear as they were occupied with routing Villa throughout the Northwest. Though Zapata managed to take many important sites such as the [[Necaxa River|Necaxa]] power plant that supplied Mexico City, he was unable to hold them. The Convention was finally routed from Toluca, and Carranza was recognized by US President [[Woodrow Wilson]] as the head of state of Mexico in October.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=245–246}}

Through 1916, Zapata attacked federal forces from [[Hidalgo (state)|Hidalgo]] to Oaxaca, and [[Genovevo de la O]] fought the Carrancistas in [[Guerrero]]. The Zapatistas attempted to amass support for their cause by promulgating new manifestos against the ''hacendados'', but this had little effect since the ''hacendados'' had already lost power throughout the country.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=250–255}}

Having been put in charge of the efforts to root out Zapatismo in Morelos, [[Pablo González Garza]] was humiliated by Zapata's counterattacks and enforced increasingly draconian measures against the locals. He received no reinforcements, as Obregón, the Minister of War, needed all his forces against Villa in the north and against Felix Díaz in Oaxaca. Through low-scale attacks on Gonzalez's positions, Zapata drove Gonzalez out of Morelos by the end of 1916.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=269–271}}

Nonetheless, outside of Morelos, the revolutionary forces started disbanding. Some rebels (such as [[Domingo Arenas]]) joined the constitutionalists,while others lapsed into banditry. In Morelos, Zapata once more reorganized the Zapatista state, continuing with democratic reforms and legislation meant to keep the civil population safe from abuses by soldiers. Though his advisers urged him to mount a concerted campaign against the Carrancistas across southern Mexico, again he concentrated entirely on stabilizing Morelos and making life tolerable for the peasants.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=281–282}} Meanwhile, Carranza mounted national elections in all state capitals except [[Cuernavaca]], and promulgated the 1917 Constitution which incorporated elements of the Plan de Ayala.

Meanwhile, the disintegration of the revolution outside of Morelos put pressure on the Zapatistas. When Arenas went over to the constitutionalists, he secured peace for his region and remained in control there. This suggested to many revolutionaries that perhaps the time had come to seek a peaceful conclusion to the struggle. A faction within the Zapatista ranks, led by former General Vazquez and Zapata's erstwhile adviser and inspiration Otilio Montaño, moved against the Tlaltizapan headquarters, demanding surrender to the Carrancistas. Reluctantly, Zapata had Montaño tried for [[treason]] and executed.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=1983–1986}}

Zapata began looking for allies among the northern revolutionaries and the southern Felicistas, followers of the Liberalist Felix Díaz. He sent Gildardo Magaña as an envoy to communicate with the Americans and other possible sources of support. In the fall of 1917 a force led by Gonzalez and ex-Zapatista Sidronio Camacho, who had killed Zapata's brother Eufemio, moved into the eastern part of Morelos, taking Cuautla, Zacualpan, and Jonacatepec.

Zapata continued to try to unite the national anti-Carrancista movement through the next year, and the constitutionalists did not make further advances. In the winter of 1918,  severe cold weather and the onset of the [[Spanish flu]] caused the loss of a quarter of the total population of the state, almost as many as had been lost to Huerta in 1914.{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=311}} Furthermore, Zapata began to worry that with the end of [[World War I]], the US would turn its attention to Mexico, forcing the Zapatistas either to join the Carrancistas in a national defense or acquiesce to foreign domination of Mexico.

In December 1918, Carrancistas under Gonzalez undertook an offensive campaign, taking most of the state of Morelos, and pushing Zapata to retreat. The main Zapatista headquarters was moved to Tochimilco, Puebla, although Tlaltizapan also remained under Zapatista control. Through Castro, Carranza issued offers to the main Zapatista generals to join the nationalist cause, with pardon. But apart from Manuel Palafox, who having fallen in disgrace among the Zapatistas had joined the Arenistas, none of the major generals did.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=313–314}}

Zapata released statements accusing Carranza of being secretly sympathetic to [[German Empire|Germany]].{{sfn|Womack|1968|p=315}} In March, Zapata finally sent an open letter to Carranza, urging him for the good of the fatherland to resign his leadership to Vazquez Gómez, by now the rallying point of the anti-constitutionalist movement.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=319–320}} Having issued this formidable moral challenge to Carranza prior to the upcoming 1920 presidential elections, Zapata was urged by Zapatista generals at Tochimilco, Magaña, and Ayaquica not to take any risks and lie low. But Zapata declined, considering that the respect of his troops depended on his active presence at the front.{{sfn|Womack|1968|pp=320–322}}