domestic support base had shrunk almost to nothing. Hence the revolution that broke out that year was at once broad-based--drawing support from almost all sectors of Mexican society--and deeply divided, since these sectors had widely variant objectives. All could agree that the pie had to be redivided, but there was no consensus on how to divide it (Brenner and Leighton 27-29).
Thus, for example, the initial military success of the Revolution was due largely to the support of ranchers and other landowners, particularly in the north and south, who were able to take the field with their own armies of tenants and ranch hands--in effect, quasi-feudal retainers. The most famous of these leaders (though both themselves of humble origin) were Emiliano Zapata in the south and Pancho Villa in the north (Brenner and Leighton 42); the latter is long established as a stereotype "bandit" in norteamericano popular culture,
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