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Item A Hero of the Mexican Revolution: An Examination of the Character of Pancho Villa (1878-1923) Until 1914(2022-05-03) Herbert, GreysenThe 1910 Presidential Election in Mexico kept the incumbent President, Porfirio Díaz, in power, and sparked a revolution that lasted for roughly ten years (1910-1920). His policies were largely unpopular, and he was disliked by a growing number of Mexicans. His opponent, Francisco Madero, lost through election fraud, and subsequently started the Mexican Revolution. He attracted thousands of revolutionaries to his cause. Among the most notable revolutionaries was a man named Pancho Villa, a gunslinger who wanted to use his talents for fighting to further Madero’s revolution. Villa’s personality changed over the years, especially after he became a commander in Madero’s army. However, this change in character may have been fashioned by Villa himself, in order to differentiate his life as a commander from his life as an outlaw, as well as to define himself as an outlaw rather than a bandit. The distinction between a bandit and an outlaw is thin. Bandits are generally looked down upon by the entire community, roam the countryside, and work only for their benefit. An outlaw is a criminal only to the government and works for the benefit of their community. Villa sought to become an outlaw through his actions. The goal of this paper is to explore Pancho Villa as a character that he created, and to view his actions as performative for this character. This character is defined by three key components: gunslinging, being an outlaw, and defending his honor.Item Political Freedom and Revolution: A Look Into the Space of Freedom Opened and Closed in Petrograd, 1917(2022-04-21) Smith, BrysonThe February Revolution of 1917 toppled the regime of Tsar Nicholas II which resulted in his abdication. Subsequently, a power vacuum was created and this newly emptied political space, once filled by the Tsar and now bereft of power or authority, opened up a potentially new opportunity of freedom. This freedom, defined differently from the mainstream interpretation of the word, allowed individuals and groups alike to act in a way that was outside of restrictions that governance creates. Upon the abdication by Nicholas II, a Provisional Government was immediately established that looked to maintain the authority that the Tsar once held. The political void was filled over the span of a few days as the Provisional Government established themselves as the legal governing body over the Russian Empire. However, throughout the course of 1917, their authority was contested by the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies. This Soviet, represented by deputies who were elected by the workers and soldiers of Petrograd, eventually seized total authority for itself in October. At this moment, the freedom that Russia had momentarily seen in February was reinstated. Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik majority within the Soviet at the time of the October Revolution, closed off this space of freedom once again, and this time for good, when he shut down the democratically elected Constituent Assembly in November and seized complete power and authority for himself and his Bolshevik party.