Maximilian accepted the offer and arrived in Mexico in In response to these actions, Secretary of State Seward issued statements of disapproval, but the U. Government was unable to intervene directly because of the American Civil War. Moreover, both Seward and U. The U. Government also rejected overtures from other Latin American countries for a pan-American solution to the conflict. Maximilian, ill-informed on Mexican affairs prior to his arrival, alienated his Conservative allies by attempting to adopt more Liberal policies, while he failed to win over Liberals, who saw him as a tool of French interests and Mexican Conservatives.
Meanwhile, U. Generals Ulysses S. By then, the intervention in Mexico had grown unpopular with the French public, and was an increasing drain on the French treasury. This time around, under a new commander, they were able to overrun Puebla and easily conquer Mexico City. Back in France, Napoleon III was growing increasingly concerned that Prussia, fresh off victories against Denmark and Austria, would next try to reclaim the perpetually disputed territories of Alsace and Lorraine.
Meanwhile, the Civil War had wrapped up, and U. On June 19, , he and his top generals were executed by a firing squad. Over the next few years he won battles at Oaxaca and elsewhere. He later launched a couple of coup attempts, finally seizing power in Except for one four-year break, his reign lasted until , when he was finally deposed by the Mexican Revolution. In the United States, on the other hand, Cinco de Mayo gained traction during the s, when Chicano activists began looking for a way to honor their history and culture.
Today, the biggest Cinco de Mayo celebrations are held in U. In April the most famous French action of the war took place, when a patrol of 65 men of the French Foreign Legion was attacked and besieged by a force of Mexicans in a hacienda, where the one-handed Captain Danjou fought with his men to the last, culminating in a suicidal bayonet charge. By the end of the Spring, the tide of the war had swung in their favour, with a force sent to relieve Puebla defeated at San Lorenzo, and both the besieged cities falling into French hands.
Alarmed, Juarez and his cabinet fled north to Chihuahua, where they would remain a government-in-exile until With their armies defeated and their government fled, the citizens of Mexico City had little choice but to surrender when the victorious French troops arrived in June. A Mexican puppet — General Almonte — was installed as President, but Napoleon clearly decided that this in itself was not enough, for the following month the country was declared to be a Catholic Empire. Maximilian was actually something of a liberal and deeply unsure about the whole business, but under pressure from Napoleon he had little choice but to accept the crown in October.
The following year, however, things began to unravel for the French. The American Civil War, meanwhile, was drawing to a close, and the victorious President Lincoln was not happy about the idea of a French puppet monarchy on his doorstep. With his support for the Republicans — by force if necessary — now clear, Napoleon began to consider the wisdom of pouring more troops into Mexico.
By Europe was in crisis with Prussia fighting a major war against the Hapsburg Empire, and the French Emperor faced a stark choice between war with the resurgent United States or withdrawing his troops from Mexico.
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