ABSTRACT
The processes of interpretation and appropriation of martyrs from the global context are of key concern to this chapter. Throughout the Revolution, Mexican workers went beyond the mere reception of global events and used elements from the discourse of the global labor movement to construct their own identity. Especially influential in this process were labor martyrs, like the Chicago Martyrs, who had been executed after the 1886 Haymarket Riot, and the connected celebration of May Day, the Catalan pedagogue Francisco Ferrer Guardia, and the US-Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. This chapter examines the introduction and discussion of these martyrs and the influence they held over the development of the Mexican labor movement. Martyrs provided inspiration and therefore possibilities for the mobilization of rank-and-file workers, especially since many of them were connected to specific holidays and political practices. However, the interpretation and utilization of the life and death of these personalities varied heavily, depending on the local actor and his current political aspirations in the revolutionary power struggle.
