February 9 in Military History — On This Day

Decena Trágica (Ten Tragic Days)

From February 9–18, 1913, Mexico City became a battleground as rebel generals Félix Díaz and Bernardo Reyes attempted a coup against President Madero. Madero appointed General Victoriano Huerta to suppress the revolt. Instead, Huerta secretly negotiated with the rebels — brokering the Pact of the Embassy in the U.S. Ambassador's residence — and turned his guns on Madero. Artillery exchanges in the city center killed thousands of civilians. Madero was arrested, forced to resign, and then shot by Huerta's men on February 22. The cynical deal became known as the 'Pacto de la Embajada,' forever tainting U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson.

The coup destroyed the only government since Díaz that had a popular democratic mandate and radicalized all revolutionary factions against Huerta. Madero's murder made compromise impossible and ensured a far bloodier second phase of the Revolution.

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⚔️📍 Iwo Jima, Pacific Ocean1945

Final Naval Bombardment of Iwo Jima Begins

U.S. Navy warships began their final preparatory bombardment of Iwo Jima before the amphibious assault scheduled for February 19. Despite massive naval and air bombardment, Japanese defenders in tunneled fortifications survived largely intact.

The failure of pre-invasion bombardment to suppress Iwo Jima's defenses led to one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history.

Outcome

Japanese defenses survive; battle to begin February 19

Battle of Faw Peninsula

In one of the war's most audacious operations, 30,000 Iranian troops cross the Shatt al-Arab waterway in darkness during a storm and capture the entire Faw Peninsula — giving Iran access to the Persian Gulf and surrounding Basra on three sides. Iraqi counterattacks backed by chemical weapons fail to dislodge them. Iran holds Faw for two years.

The capture of Faw represented Iran's high-water mark in the war. Iran now controlled Iraqi territory and had a potential path to Basra. The threat caused Iraq to dramatically escalate its use of chemical weapons and the US to increase its support for Iraq. Faw was also the operation that proved Human Wave tactics could be replaced by more sophisticated combined-arms approaches.

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