Cinco de Mayo

El Cinco de Mayo ("The Fifth of May" in Spanish) is a national celebration in Mexico. It commemorates the victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza over the French expeditionary forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

Under the pretext of forcing payment for Mexico's outstanding and crippling debt, Britain, Spain and France sent troops to Mexico. The democratically elected government of President Benito Juárez made agreements with the British and the Spanish, who promptly recalled their armies, but the French stayed, thus beginning the period of the French intervention in Mexico. Emperor Napoleon III wanted to secure French dominance in the former Spanish colony, including installing one of his relatives, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, as ruler of Mexico.

United States Role

Although Abraham Lincoln roundly condemned Napoleon's imperialist ambitions in a neighboring country, he was unable to provide ground forces to assist Mexico as the United States was embroiled in the American Civil War at the time; however, he did provide other notable military assistance, including two elements believed to have been key to eventual Mexican victory:

• First, the President sent a large contingent of US warships to blockade the port of Veracruz, thus preventing thousands of French reinforcements from consolidating the victories they had already achieved, and preventing more cities from capitulating as had the capital, in what might have been the single most important strategic factor in ensuring ultimate Mexican victory.

• Second, Lincoln also supplied vital logistics, guns, and artillery, including many arms that were at the time the world's most technologically advanced, such as repeating rifles. This also helped ensure the defeat of numerically superior French forces during the guerrilla campaigns that eventually drove Napoleon's forces out.

Apart from Lincoln's stated disdain for the French intervention, there were other more pragmatic reasons to aid Mexico, stemming directly from the Civil War itself. The Confederacy had sent numerous diplomatic missions south of the border, seeking international recognition. Although they failed to enter into negotiations with the Mexican federal government, they did obtain the support of several northern Mexican state and territorial governors, including permission to use their territories as logistical bases for the Confederacy. This was possible because federal authority was difficult to enforce in the northern part of the country, and the lawless region fell largely under the direct rule of governors who were also regional strongmen. The Confederacy even considered taking advantage of Mexico's problems to annex large portions of northern territory into the Confederacy, an idea that was very popular with high ranking military officials, but was ultimately rejected by Jefferson Davis.

The War

Confident of a quick victory, 6,500 French soldiers marched on Mexico City to seize the capital before the Mexicans could muster a viable defense. Along their march, the French already encountered stiff resistance before Zaragoza struck out to intercept the invaders.

The battle between the French and Mexican armies occurred on May 5 when Zaragoza's ill-equipped militia of 4,500 men encountered the better armed French force. However, Zaragoza's small and nimble cavalry units were able to prevent French dragoons from taking the field and overwhelming the Mexican infantry. With the dragoons removed from the main attack, the Mexicans routed the remaining French soldiers with a combination of their tenacity, inhospitable terrain, and a stampede of cattle set off by local peasants. The invasion was stopped and crushed.

Zaragoza won the battle but lost the war. The French Emperor, upon learning of the failed invasion, immediately dispatched another force, this time numbering 30,000 soldiers. By 1864, they succeeded in defeating the Mexican army and occupying Mexico City. Archduke Maximillian became Emperor of Mexico.

Maximilian's rule was short-lived. Mexican rebels opposed to his rule resisted, seeking the aid of the United States. Once the American Civil War was over, the U.S. military began supplying Mexicans with weapons and ammunition, and by 1867, the rebels finally defeated the French and deposed their puppet Emperor. The Mexican people then reelected Juárez as president.

Contrary to popular belief in the United States, Cinco de Mayo does not mark Mexican independence day. That distinction is reserved for el Dieciséis de septiembre ("September 16"), which is celebrated at all offices belonging to the executive branch of government, from the president down to the municipal governments, on the night of September 15 through to the early morning hours of September 16 with a re-enactment of the Grito de Dolores; the formal call for an end to Spanish rule in 1810.

Also on 5 May 1901, Ignacio Bravo telegraphed the news of the end of the Caste War of Yucatan with the Mexican victory against the self-proclaimed state of Chan Santa Cruz.

The rise in Cinco de Mayo's popularity in the United States can be attributed to the Chicano student movement of the late 1960s. Inspired by activists nationwide, members of the MEChA student organization in California sought to find a day of celebration that highlighted their largely Mexican ancestry. El Dieciséis de Septiembre would have seemed like the obvious choice. However the simple truth is that this day was just too early in the school year for college students to organize effective rallies and celebrations. Hence, Cinco de Mayo became the de facto alternative for these hispanic commemorations, and still is today. Incidently, Cinco de Mayo's greatest hero, General Zaragoza, was born in Texas. Over the years this holiday has grown outside university circles and its activist roots, and has been absorbed by the mainstream culture in the Southwest United States and beyond. For many Mexican-American communities Cinco de Mayo is an important way to proudly honor Mexican heritage, overshadowing Mexico's Independence Day in popularity. And today non-Mexican Americans also participate in the celebrations, much in the same manner that the non-Irish observe St. Patrick's Day, with holiday-themed parties marked by the consumption of Mexican food, tequila and Mexican beer.

Although honored today as a national holiday in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is more of a regional celebration, particularly in the state of Puebla where the famous battle took place.

The largest Cinco De Mayo celebration in the United States takes place in Denver's Civic Center area with an annual attendance of 450,000-500,000 [1].

May 5, 1808 also marks the date on which Spain's Bourbon dynasty, specifically King Charles IV, was dethroned by the Napoleonic army. Napoleon Bonaparte's brother was then crowned King Joseph I. As the King of Spain was imprisoned and Joseph I was an usurper, that May 5 sparked independence movements thoughout Spain's colonies in Latin America.