Does history have a border? That is the question at the heart of Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, a holiday that symbolizes Mexico’s fight for autonomy, even as it’s come to be associated with sales and cervezas and margaritas in the U.S. Cinco de Mayo is part of a much deeper story of two nations — Mexico and the U.S. — trying to define themselves at a time when old empires were crumbling and borders were in flux. A story that culminated in a revolution in Mexico that was at the forefront of a worldwide movement against predatory capitalism and foreign domination. So in this episode, we’re going back to the first Cinco de Mayo and exploring how it helped shape the future on both sides of the border.
50 entertaining and informative minutes–more than a podcast.
1862. The US was in the middle of a Civil War and French forces invaded Mexico.
Not being a podcast listener, could you summarize the point(s) being made?
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Cinco De Mayo celebrates Mexico’s victory over the French at the Battle del Puebla.
Why were the French invading? The French sent their military to collect on a debt that Mexico owed to the French government but refused to pay. Cinco De Mayo is basically a celebration of Mexico successfully skipping out on that debt.
Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Battle of Puebla, (May 5, 1862)
Mexico won the battle but lost the war and the French installed Maximilian of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria, as Emperor of Mexico.
Cinco De Mayo celebrates Mexico’s victory over the French at the Battle del Puebla.
Why were the French invading? The French sent their military to collect on a debt that Mexico owed to the French government but refused to pay. Cinco De Mayo is basically a celebration of Mexico successfully skipping out on that debt.
Well, it’s a bit more than that. France set up a government in Mexico as a colony of France. The battle of the Puebla was a minor part of the on-going war. The French were not removed until 1867.
After the administration of Mexican President Benito Juárez placed a moratorium on foreign debt payments in 1861, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain agreed to the Convention of London, a joint effort to ensure that debt repayments from Mexico would be forthcoming. On 8 December 1861, the three navies disembarked their troops at the port city of Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico. However, when the British discovered that France had an ulterior motive and unilaterally planned to seize Mexico, Britain separately negotiated an agreement with Mexico to settle the debt issues and withdrew from the country; Spain subsequently left as well. The resulting French invasion established the Second Mexican Empire (1862–1867). Many European nations acknowledged the political legitimacy of the newly created nation state, while the United States refused to recognize it.[14]
The US was involved with some petty internal dispute at the time, but when that was over the US turned it attention to its southern neighbor and by 1865 the US was providing arms to the Mexican nationalists, who eventually kicked the French out.
Why were the French invading? The French sent their military to collect on a debt that Mexico owed to the French government but refused to pay. Cinco De Mayo is basically a celebration of Mexico successfully skipping out on that debt.
So basically the same as when the US refused to pay its debt to France and the Netherlands (and domestic creditors) following the Revolutionary War. We instituted the Articles of Confederation which ignored the debt. And never paid it.
Well, we sort of paid it with lend-lease. Mostly Britain and Russia, but other nations benefited also. And most of them (not all) never paid it back. And we weren’t in the colonizing business at that point, unlike France in the late 1800s (and really all the way up to Dien Bien Phu in the mid 20th century).
