American Minute with Bill Federer
Spain's Dos de Mayo and Mexico's Cinco de Mayo
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Napoleon
made an alliance with the
Muslim Ottoman Empire
in 1806 and
Persia
in 1807.
In 1807,
Napoleon
invaded
Spain.
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When Spaniards revolted in Madrid,
Napoleon
brought in the
Muslim Mameluke cavalry
to subdue them.
On
"DOS DE MAYO,"
1808, the
Muslim cavalry
charged into the crowd, hacking with scimitar swords, and crushing the Spanish resistance.
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Napoleon
then installed his brother
Joseph Bonaparte
as King of Spain.
Spanish America questioned being loyal to the Spanish throne with the
French brother of Napoleon
sitting on it.
In addition to this,
New Spain
was predominantly Catholic and
Napoleon
had been excommunicated by the Pope.
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Beginning in 1810,
Spanish America
began to declare independence from French-controlled Spain.
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Simon Bolivar
led
Venezuela, Colombia
(which included
Panama), Ecuador, Peru
(with the help of
Don José de San Martín),
and
Bolivia
(named after him) to become independent from Spain.
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A Constitution was written similar to that of the United States to create a
"Gran Columbia"
of former Spanish States.
It fell apart when
Simon Bolivar
insisted on being president for life.
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U.S. President William Henry Harrison
referred to
Simon Bolivar
in his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1841:
"This is the old trick of those who would usurp the government of their country.
In the name of democracy they speak, warning the people against the influence of wealth and the danger of aristocracy. History, ancient and modern, is full of such examples ...
Bolivar possessed himself of unlimited power
with the title of his country's liberator."
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North America's experience was different.
For a
century and a half prior to independence
citizens had been
schooled by pastors and church leaders in self-government.
Simon Bolivar
accused Spain of having kept the people of
New Spain
for centuries under a
"triple yoke of ignorance, tyranny, and vice"
and therefore any new government
"will require an infinitely firm hand."
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In
Mexico,
September 16, 1810, a priest named
Miguel Hidalgo,
gave a speech,
"The Cry of Dolores,"
calling people to revolt against the Napoleon-controlled Spanish elites.
Hidalgo
gathered nearly 90,000 poor farmers, but they were defeated at the
Battle of Calderon Bridge
in 1811.
Hidalgo
was executed.
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The Revolution continued until
Mexico
gained its independence in 1821.
Rather than setting up a constitutional republic, like the United States,
Agustín de Iturbide
set up a
Mexican Empire
where he ruled as
Emperor.
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In the next 36 years,
Mexico
struggled through
50 different governments.
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Santa Anna
finally laid aside
Mexico's Constitution
and made himself
despotic
dictator,
as he had told the U.S. minister to Mexico Joel R. Poinsett:
"A hundred years to come my people will not be fit for liberty ... A
despotism
is the proper government for them, but there is no reason why it should not be a wise and virtuous one."
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In 1853,
Santa Anna
exiled a young leader who challenged his power --
Benito Juárez.
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The next year,
Benito Juárez
returned to lead the
Revolution of Ayutla
ousting
Santa Anna.
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Originally, the
Church
saw its political responsibility as being a conscience to the elites, reminding them to treat the poor fairly as someday they too will face judgement.
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Gradually, political revolutionaries began to accuse the
Church
as being somehow complicit in maintaining the status quo.
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In 1856, backed by freemason leaders,
Benito Juárez
and others led a
War of Reform
against the
Church.
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Religious orders were suppressed, church property was confiscated and religious clergy were denied rights.
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Once he became President,
Benito Juárez
stopped paying interest on
Mexico's debt
to Spain, Great Britain and France in 1861.
This resulted in those countries planning an invasion of
Mexico.
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With the United States occupied in a Civil War,
French troops
landed in
Mexico
in 1862, being supported by various indigenous communities, financial leaders and church leaders.
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On MAY 5, 1862 -
"CINCO DE MAYO"
- the French Army suffered a minor setback at the
Battle of Puebla.
The
French
went on to capture:
- Mexico City,
- Guadalajara,
- Zacatecas.
- Acapulco.
- Durango,
- Sinaloa and
- Jalisco.
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It is speculated that had the
French
not experienced the set-back of the
Battle of Puebla,
they would have more quickly taken
Mexico
and been in a position to alter the outcome of the
America Civil War
by
supplying arms to the Confederacy.
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Numerous
Mexican
leaders traveled to
Europe
to plead with
Maximillian I
to come to
Mexico
and restore order, to which he agreed in 1863.
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Maximillian
was the younger brother of
Emperor Franz Joseph I,
one of the world's most powerful leaders.
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Franz Joseph
ruled the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
-- which, after Russia, was the largest empire in Europe, consisting of:
- Austria,
- Hungary,
- Bohemia (Czech),
- Croatia,
- Poland,
- Slovenia,
- Slovakia,
- Bosnia,
- Herzegovina, and
- parts of Serbia, Romania, Italy, Montenegro, and Ukraine.
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Emperor Franz Joseph
ruled for almost 68 years, making him one of the longest reigning monarchs in history.
In 1910, he met
Theodore Roosevelt.
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In 1914, Emperor Franz Joseph's nephew,
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
, was assassinated, starting
World War I.
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In 1864,
Maximillian, brother of Franz Joseph,
was known for being a forward thinker with liberal ideas, advocating progressive reforms in favor of common people.
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Maximillian
spoke six languages and was commander of the Austrian Navy, sending out the first Austrian ship to circumnavigate the globe.
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Maximillian
was supported in coming to Mexico by notable Mexican leaders, led by
José Pablo Martínez del Río.
Maximillian
had the blessing of
Pope Pius IX,
and the backing of
England's Queen Victoria
and
France's Napoleon III.
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Maximillian
arrived at Veracruz on May 21, 1864, to enthusiastic crowds.
He created an avenue through the center of Mexico City, known now as the famous boulevard
Paseo de la Reforma.
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Maximillian's wife, Carlota,
was shocked by the living conditions of the lower classes, so she raised money from wealthy Mexicans to help poor houses.
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Maximilian
immediately abolished child labor and reduced working hour for laborers.
He canceled all debts for peasants over 10 pesos, restored communal property and broke the monopoly of Hacienda stores.
He forbade all forms of corporal punishment and decreed that poor people could no longer be bought and sold for the price of their debt.
To the dismay of wealthy,
Maximilian
upheld liberal policies of land reforms, religious freedom, and extended the right to vote beyond the landholding class.
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The United States Government,
after the Civil War, did not want European powers in the western hemisphere, as stated in the
Monroe Doctrine,
so it put diplomatic pressure on
Napoleon III
to abandon support of
Maximillian
and withdraw French troops from Mexico.
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The
U.S.
then began
secretly supplying guns to Mexican gangs,
conveniently "losing" arms and ammunition at
El Paso del Norte near the Mexican border.
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With the threat of a U.S. invasion backing
Benito Juárez,
Maximilian's
supporters began to abandon him.
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Maximillian's wife,
Carlota,
went to Europe desperate for help but was denied everywhere and suffered an emotional collapse.
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Napoleon III
urged
Maximillian
to flee Mexico, but he refused to desert his followers, knowing the fate they would suffer.
Maximillian
let his followers decide whether or not he should abdicate.
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Faithful Mexican generals
Miguel Miramon, Leonardo Márquez,
and
Tomás Mejía
fought with an army of 8,000 Mexican loyalists.
In 1867, they withdrew to
Santiago de Querétaro,
but Colonel Miguel López was bribed to open a gate to let a raiding party in.
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Maximilian
was captured.
Leaders around the world begged for
Maximillian
to be spared, including eminent liberals
Victor Hugo
of France and
Giuseppe Garibaldi
of Italy, who sent telegrams and letters to
Benito Juárez
pleading for his life.
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Benito Juárez r
efused and had
Maximillian
shot to death on June 19, 1867, even photographing him in a coffin.
Maximillian's
last words were:
"I forgive everyone, and I ask everyone to forgive me.
May my blood which is about to be shed, be for the good of the country.
Viva Mexico, viva la independencia!"
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Benito Juárez
died of a heart attack just five years later, after putting down a revolt by a young leader who challenged his power named
Porfirio Diaz.
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Porfirio Diaz
was President till there was another revolt led by a young leader who challenged his power named
Francisco Madero.
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Madero
was murdered in a coup d'Etat in 1913 by
Victoriano Huerta,
which started another civil war.
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A reflective quote contrasting the stability of the United States was made by 13th
President Millard Fillmore,
December 6, 1852:
"Our grateful thanks are due to an all-merciful Providence ...
Our own free institutions were not the offspring of our Revolution. They existed before.
They were planted in the
free charters of self-government
under which the English colonies grew up ...
(Other) nations have had no such
training for self-government,
and every effort to establish it by
bloody revolutions
has been, and must without that preparation continue to be, a failure.
Liberty unregulated by law degenerates into anarchy,
which soon becomes the most horrid of all
despotisms
...
We owe these blessings,
under Heaven,
to the happy Constitution and Government which were bequeathed to us by our fathers, and which it is our sacred duty to transmit in all their integrity to our children."
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American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.
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