How Mexico Became Ripe For French Invasion

If you've taken basic history, you're probably aware of the big events in Mexico: the fall of the Aztec empire, the revolutionary war for freedom, and the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century. But one of the most amazing historical events is often forgotten: France's invasion of Mexico in the 1800s.

Mexicans were basically reduced to slavery in their own nation, after Spain colonized the region in the 1520s. They endured three centuries of it: no education, no administrative rights, and no access to the crops they grew. It's no wonder that they eventually revolted. An 1810 peasant uprising escalated into a decade-long War for Independence; at the end of it all, Mexico was free from Spain, but divided internally into two factions: the pro-monarchy conservatives and the democracy-favoring liberals. Due to infighting, an attempt at Mexican monarchy collapsed after eight months.

After the liberals took over and declared Mexico a Republic, the country found itself at war with the United States. The conflict resulted in the eventual loss of several northern states (what is now Texas and California). The second liberal government, established in 1846, tried to decrease the power of the Catholic Church and spread governance more fairly across the people. The conflict erupted into a set of civil wars, further ripping Mexico apart.

At all times one could say that Mexico was experiencing a turbulent period. The conservatives had been hacienda owners during the colonial New Spain era, and were generally the wealthy class. They were religious Catholics with ties to the mighty Church, which had also enjoyed an obscene amount of power during the colonial era. The conservatives were enraged at the loss of their power, and had the resources to get what they wanted. The liberals, on the other hand, were the passionate freedom fighters, adept at rousing the poor and disenfranchised into action. They lacked political experience and tended to fight among themselves, even though their goal was equality and justice for the people of Mexico.

Things seemed to be looking up in 1861, when Benito Juarez was elected President of Mexico. He was a man of modest origins, who had educated himself and worked up the ranks by being a moderate, reasonable man of the people. But Mexico was in trouble; its infrastructure was broken and the economy was bust. Great Britain, Spain, and France, all asked Mexico to repay its many debts. The local conservatives wanted a European influence in the Americas, and in their view force would have been okay to achieve this.


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