feliz cinco de mayo

The Fifth of May commemorates the victory of Mexicans over French colonialists at the Battle of Puebla. Few are aware of this fact, but once upon a time, France tried to rule Mexico! Bizarre, right? It was the age of Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had become the first (and only) President of the French Second Republic (following the end of the restored Bourbon Monarchy that was established by foreign powers after the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815). Napoleon III, originally Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, won the popular election to become President, but quickly maneuvered himself, with the support of the army and Bonapartists (guess who they supported?) to seize dictatorial powers and (re)established his uncle's Imperial government as the Second French Empire.

So where does Cinco de Mayo come in? Well, the nascent Mexican Republic had won its independence from Spain after a civil war (1810-1821), which was caused by, surprise, Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon had usurped the Spanish throne, replacing King Charles IV with the Emperor's own brother, Joseph Bonaparte. As an insurgent resistance tied up Joseph's ability to rule French colonies, "New Spain" became more and more distant from its colonial masters, and eventually decided they had enough of this nonsense and declared independence in 1810 (thus, Mexican Independence day is not Cinco de Mayo, as commonly mistaken, but actually Sept. 16, 1810, the day on which the Roman Catholic priest Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla declared war on the colonial government and encouraged the congregation in his small town of Dolores to revolt). Anyway, back to the main story, Mexico had a ton of foreign debt from its civil war, which was apparently enough of an excuse for Napoleon III to attempt to annex the country. Napoleon III, supported by Mexican conservatives and clergy, established a Second Mexican Empire (the First being a constitutional monarchy for a few years following independence from Spain) as a puppet state of France. The Hapsburg Prince (and suspected secret grandson of Napoleon Bonaparte, via Napoleon II) Maximilian was installed as Emperor of Mexico, pushing President Benito Juarez and his Republican (as in, supporters of the Mexican Republic, not the G.O.P.) troops into the countryside.

The war was a long five years, lasting from 1862 to 1867. The combined French and Mexican conservative forces were overwhelming, but in 1865 the U.S. Civil War had ended, and the U.S. was able to support the Mexican liberal and Republican forces by giving them supplies and blockading Mexican ports against French resupply efforts. French troops were withdrawn in 1866 by Napoleon III, facing an increasing Prussian threat following Prussia's victory over Austria in the Prussian-Austrian War (1866). Emperor Maximilian was pretty much doomed at this point, but loyally remained around to support the Mexican conservatives, leading to his defeat and execution in June of 1867.

Okay, so back to Cinco de Mayo. The victory of the Mexican liberal forces over the French at the Battle of Puebla took place on May 5, 1862, at the very beginning of the war. In fact, the victory was only a temporary one in France's invasion and occupation; things went downhill from there for the Mexicans over the next three years. So why celebrate Cinco de Mayo at all?

Well, here's the trick: Cinco de Mayo is not a Mexican holiday; rather, it is a Californian holiday! California broke away from Mexico in 1848, but still had strong affinities for the nation; thus, when the French occupied Mexico in 1862, Californians were outraged. In a show of solidarity, they began celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla starting in 1863, and have ever since.

The end.

So enjoy your Californian holiday with appropriately Californian-ized Mexican food and blended margaritas.