donbosco
Legend of ZZL
- Messages
- 7,851
PSA: On May 5, 1862 a small, ill-equipped, and inexperienced Mexican army defeated a well-armed and powerful force of French invaders near the city of Puebla. The Mexicans held the high ground in the form of two forts, named Loreto and Guadalupe. The invaders attempted to fight uphill but were repelled by the patriotic troops fighting for their homeland and self-determination.
France’s rationale for this blunt violation of Mexico’s sovereignty was stalled debt payments. Spain and Great Britain had also sent troops to threaten Mexico over monies owed. Imperialism was afoot, especially among the French planners. The USA, then embroiled in the Civil War to end Slavery was preoccupied.
In their greed for power Mexican conservatives had backed the foreign forces in their own hopes of ousting from power the liberal government of Benito Juarez. Conservatives colluding with foreign forces in betrayal of their nation -- Never? Right?
The Mexicans were victorious on that day and the win boosted morale and helped the people maintain the fight as the French and their conservative Mexican allies took Mexico City and installed an Austrian Duke, naming him Emperor Maximillian The First. The repulsion of the foreign monarchists was a long hard fight and it was not until 1867 that the Mexicans fully regained control of their country. Maximillian was executed and the Juarez government returned to power.
Image is by Francisco P. Miranda. Oil on canvas, 1872.
France’s rationale for this blunt violation of Mexico’s sovereignty was stalled debt payments. Spain and Great Britain had also sent troops to threaten Mexico over monies owed. Imperialism was afoot, especially among the French planners. The USA, then embroiled in the Civil War to end Slavery was preoccupied.
In their greed for power Mexican conservatives had backed the foreign forces in their own hopes of ousting from power the liberal government of Benito Juarez. Conservatives colluding with foreign forces in betrayal of their nation -- Never? Right?
The Mexicans were victorious on that day and the win boosted morale and helped the people maintain the fight as the French and their conservative Mexican allies took Mexico City and installed an Austrian Duke, naming him Emperor Maximillian The First. The repulsion of the foreign monarchists was a long hard fight and it was not until 1867 that the Mexicans fully regained control of their country. Maximillian was executed and the Juarez government returned to power.
Image is by Francisco P. Miranda. Oil on canvas, 1872.
