It was initiated due to a movment called "Reforma", which started after the success of the "Plan de Ayutla"
Several liberalist measures were implemented, such as, Ley Lerdo, Ley Juarez and Ley Iglesias which made the conservative side angry
Before the war started, the constitution of 1857 was made
After the implementation of these reforms, a decade of civil war (1857-1867) ensued
The demands of the conservatives were impossible to fulfill, if took the oath towards the constitution you were excommunicated
From 1858 to 1860 there was another civil war which made the liberal government retreat to Veracruz and annulled the constitution as well as the "Leyes de Reforma"
In 1867 the French imposed the archduke Maximilian and this gave the liberals the chance to implement their ideas but only partially the achieved the theory but no the practice
They took away the lands of the church and gave them away to small farmers in hopes of encouraging a rural democracy but this failed because outsiders came and privatized the agricultural industry
They wrote about individual guarantees but in reality they did little to protect citizens of the lower clas
The "Guerra de Reforma" encouraged a sense of nationalism across all of the country which paved the way for the authoritarian government of the "Porfiriato"