In continuing the series on the foreign impact of the American Civil War, I thought it worthwhile to talk about one of the most popular Mexican holidays and its connection with the American Civil War. Yesterday we talked about Spanish imperialism and its relationship with the distracted state of the Union [1], and so today let us talk about Cinco de Mayo and its part of Civil War history.

By 1861, Mexico was bankrupt, owing large amounts of money to European nations like France and Spain. Benito Juarez, president of Mexico, acted as most nations do in such circumstances did and suspended payment on its debts. France had already once attempted to invade Mexico because of its sovereign debts in 1838, in the so-called Pastry War, where the most famous outcome was Mexican general Antonio Lopez y Santa Anna losing his leg [2]. Later on, of course, he would lose half of Mexico to the United States. Even after he was gone, though, the Mexican Republic was shaky and debt-ridden.

It was the distraction of the American Civil War that emboldened France in its efforts to turn Mexico into a colony. Without a strong American army to oppose French efforts, a substantial portion of the French army invaded Mexico through Veracruz. There, to the general astonishment of everyone, the 8,000 French troops were defeated by a poorly armed 4,000 strong patriotic Mexican force under the command of General Zaragosa on May 5, 1862, and Mexico’s most glorious victory over a foreign invader (one of its only such victories in that nation’s troubled history) was sealed into Mexican history [3]. Unfortunately, Mexico’s army was unable to hold off the French for long, and within a year, after France sent 30,000 more troops to invade Mexico, Mexico City had fallen.

Nonetheless, indirect French rule over Mexico (through a puppet Hapsburg Archduke named Maximilian) was short-lived as well. Once the Union won the Civil War, the Union (which was supportive of the Mexican Republic under Benito Juarez), sent a 50,000 man army under the command of Philip Sheridan [4] to the Rio Grande area, a subtle hint that the United States was prepared to enter Mexico in force to support Mexico’s republic. Sheridan, like the Department of Justice under Obama, provided arms that made their way into Mexican hands to be used for Mexico’s internal fighting. France took the hint and withdrew its troops, and the Mexicans quickly captured and executed the hapless Archduke Maximilian, and Mexico’s republic was secure at least for a few years, until it fell from within.

Again, as was the case with the imperialistic ambitions of Spain in the Dominican Republic and the Chincha Islands, France’s imperialistic ambitions in the Americas were essentially opportunistic, depending on a weakened and distracted United States. Once the Union defeated the Confederacy, it was able to put an end to the imperialistic ambitions of France as well as Spain, without having to use direct force, merely by threatening to do so and showing its capacity to do so. France, like Spain, was unwilling to expend so much blood and treasure in another continent with dangerous conflicts closer to home, and so the French withdrew.

So, when you raise your glass of your beverage of choice on May 5th to celebrate the Cinco de Mayo, recognize that one is celebrating the bravery of the Mexican people in standing up against imperialistic bullies, as well as the freedom that Mexico was able to regain once America’s own new birth of freedom had been achieved. The freedom and unity of the United States is not only a blessing that has been enjoyed by our nation, but it is also a blessing that has given aid and comfort to other nations, including Mexico. Let us not forget that as we a raise a glass in honor of General Zaragosa and his brave men, who faced down the most fearsome army of their day that May 5th in Puebla.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/spain-and-the-american-civil-war/

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastry_War

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Sheridan