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Mexico After The Independence: Agustín de Iturbide

After gaining independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico struggled with political instability, economic challenges, and conflict between liberals and conservatives over the country's future. This period of turmoil lasted over 30 years and included 50 governments, most the result of military coups. It culminated in the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, in which Mexico lost over half its territory to the U.S. The French intervention of the 1860s saw Napoleon III impose Maximilian as the monarch of Mexico. The liberal forces under Benito Juarez eventually defeated the French and restored the republic. Porfirio Diaz then ruled as a dictator from 1877 to 1911, bringing economic growth but also inequality. This led to the Mexican

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74 views

Mexico After The Independence: Agustín de Iturbide

After gaining independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico struggled with political instability, economic challenges, and conflict between liberals and conservatives over the country's future. This period of turmoil lasted over 30 years and included 50 governments, most the result of military coups. It culminated in the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, in which Mexico lost over half its territory to the U.S. The French intervention of the 1860s saw Napoleon III impose Maximilian as the monarch of Mexico. The liberal forces under Benito Juarez eventually defeated the French and restored the republic. Porfirio Diaz then ruled as a dictator from 1877 to 1911, bringing economic growth but also inequality. This led to the Mexican

Uploaded by

Carlos RJ
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Mexico after the Independence

The War of Independence cost Mexico a great deal. After gaining


independence in 1821, the country was left in a poor state.
Agricultural, mining and industrial production had fallen during the
war, and over half a million Mexicans had died. 

As a new country, Mexico was


struggling internally to achieve
nationhood. The transformation
from a colony to a self-
governing country was slow and
sometimes difficult. 

During the next 30 years,


Mexico had 50 governments,
almost all the result of military
coups and eleven of them
presided over by General
Santa Anna. This was a
century of strife and great change. Politically, Mexico was deeply
divided between two groups: the Liberals and the Conservatives,
each wanting to rule Mexico in a different way.

The Conservatives proposed to use the old Spanish model to govern


Mexico, but the Liberals wanted a system similar to the United
States. Conservatives and Liberals disagreed over education, work,
system of government, the influence of the Church, the army; in fact
over almost everything!

Agustín de Iturbide

Agustín de Iturbide was the first Emperor of


independent Mexico. He had fought during
the War of Independence, leading Mexicans
to victory and independence from Spain.
The Conservatives wanted Mexico to
become an Empire after independence, and
Iturbide was crowned Emperor in 1822.

Iturbide ruled for less than one year. He


was removed from power by Santa Anna,
and was exiled to Britain. In 1824, Iturbide
returned to Mexico but was arrested and shot. After a lot of turmoil,
 

General Antonio López de Santa Anna was elected President of


Mexico.

General Antonio López de Santa Anna

During General Santa Anna's time as President, war broke out with
Mexico's neighbour to the north, the United States. After the
Independence, Mexico became the
largest country in Spanish America.
Meanwhile, the United States was
looking to expand its own territory
and become more powerful. To
achieve this aim, some American
families who had settled in Texas
were encouraged by the United
States government to claim Texas
as an independent state from
Mexico, which happened in 1836.

The Mexican government, far away


in Mexico City, could not extend its
rule effectively to the furthest
corners of Mexico. In 1845, the USA admitted the independent state
of Texas into the Union, despite warnings from the Mexican
government that to do so would mean war. The conflict began in
1846, when the US army began its march south toward Mexico City.

Once in the capital, the U.S. won a series of battles. The final battle
was fought in Chapultepec
Castle, where some young
cadets defended the military
academy. They carried on
fighting bravely until they were
all killed, and are still
commemorated today as the
"Niños Héroes".

The United States flag was


raised over the National Palace
and the defeated Mexican
government established itself in
Queretaro. In 1848, Santa Anna was forced to sign a treaty, selling
for $15 million dollars more than half of the Mexican territory —
including part or all of present day Arizona, Colorado, Nevada,
Utah, Texas, New Mexico and California states. Santa Anna
became very unpopular and lost power. Eventually he was forced into
exile.
 

Benito Juárez

In 1857, a new Constitution was written,


establishing a Federal Republic, just as the
Liberals wanted. In 1858, Benito Juárez, the
bright son of Zapotec descendants from
Oaxaca and a lawyer, became President. In the
same year, a civil war called the War of
Reform broke out between the Liberals and
the Conservatives. 

Juárez had passed a set of laws called the


Reform Laws, which made all Church land
and buildings the property of the State. This
cut the power and influence of the Church,
which had been very powerful until then. The civil war lasted 3 years.
Juárez later had to leave the country but returned for a further 10
year term as President.

The French Intervention

The war against the United States and the three years of civil war
(War of Reform) left Mexico very weak. By 1861, Benito Juárez
decided that Mexico was too poor to pay back its debts to Spain,
England and France. When Mexico stopped paying, the European
countries sent a joint army to
Mexico to get their payment back.

After some negotiations Spain and


England decided to leave, but
France decided to stay and seize
the opportunity to impose a
monarchy in Mexico. The timing
was perfect, because the United
States was in the middle of its
Civil War, and they could not help
the Liberals. The French troops
landed in Veracruz between
December 1861 and January 1862 and continued to the capital. On
May 5th, 1862, the majority of the Mexican people united against
the French and defeated them in the Battalla de Puebla.

However, the Liberal army was later destroyed and the French took
possession of the capital. Benito Juárez had no choice but to leave
the city and establish his government in the north of Mexico, a step
away from the United States border.
 

Emperor Maximilian

Two years after the army invasion, Archduke


Maximilian of Habsburg was proclaimed
Emperor of Mexico, with Napoleon’s support. At
the end of the Civil War, the French army
returned to France, leaving the new Emperor
alone.

Maximilian could not


hold out against the
Liberals and he
surrendered in 1867
and was executed
after just three years as Emperor.

Benito Juárez restored the Republic and


governed until his death in 1872.

El Porfiriato

Porfirio Díaz was one of the generals on the Liberal army, who
fought against Maximilian. He was President from 1877 until 1911, a
30 year long period known as the Porfiriato, because the figure of
Porfirio Díaz dominated it. During this period, the economy grew; new
railways and telephone networks were built; new banks opened;
industry, mining, agriculture and
commerce expanded. 

Although President Díaz brought


many benefits to Mexico, he was a
dictator - a President who abused his
power. Under Díaz, a few land owners
became very wealthy, but the
majority of Mexicans remained poor.

During the first years of the 20th


century, a new generation of educated, young Mexicans that did not
belong to Díaz' group demanded a change. For the first time in thirty-
three years other political parties were formed. In 1910, Diaz's
promised them free elections but at the end of the day, he was
declared the winner of yet another election.

The Revolution

Francisco I. Madero was one of those who had organised a political


 

party. After the election he led the revolt against Diaz ,who
eventually resigned and was exiled to France.

Elections were then held, and


Madero won the Presidency,
but the people were
impatient and Madero was
incapable of bringing order to
the country. After a coup, he
was executed and another
general, Victoriano Huerta
took over as President.

The revolutionaries, including


Francisco Villa in the north and Emiliano Zapata in the south,
began a struggle to overthrow President Huerta. After a few years of
turmoil, Venustiano Carranza assumed power.

The Constitution of 1917

Under Carranza's presidency a new Constitution was adopted in 1917.


The new Constitution took into account individual and social rights,
particularly to protect the workers and the peasants, and was very
nationalistic. This is the Constitution by which Mexico is
governed today.

Nationalisation of Oil

A most significant political development in Mexico since the


Revolution came with the election of General Lázaro Cardenas as
president in 1934. His government carried out considerable land
reform, he reorganized labour, and, most significant of all, he
nationalized the oil industry. 

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