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History The area occupied by today's Mexico was settled as early as 10000 BC, remains of ancient settlers (one of the most famous, the [Man of Tepexpan]?) have been found and dated to that time. |
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Several important cultures developed, amongst others are worth mentioning the Mayan?, Olmec?, Toltec? and Aztec? cultures. The prevalent cultures were invaded and conquered by Spain, in 1521. The conquerors were led initialy by [Hernan Cortes]?, who entered the country in 1517 from the port known back then as Puerto de la Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz 9today's Veracruz?). The Aztecs, dominant native people in the country back then, believed (according to ancient myths) that the Spanish conquerors were people sent by the gods, so they offered little resistence initialy to the advances of the conquerors but eventualy they opossed them. After several battles the conquerors defeated the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan, then capital of the Aztec Empire. With the conquest a new race was born: the mestizo? race as a result of conquerors taking native women and begining the mixing of both cultures. During the colonial period, that lasted from 1521 to 1821, Mexico was known as "[Nueva Espaņa]?" or "New Spain" whose territories included today's Mexico and about half the actual territory of the United States of America. The war for independence started in 1810 and was spearheaded by [Miguel Hidalgo]?, a priest of Spanish descent and of progressive ideas. The war lasted 11 years until the troops of the liberating army entered Mexico City in 1821 (Spain was finally expelled from Mexican territory a few years later). Although independence was first proclaimed in September 16, 1810, the republic was not established until 1824. The first form of government was a monarchy, with Agustin de Iturbide, a former Spanish general, proclaming itself emperor. In 1824 "[Guadalupe Victoria]?" became the first president of the new country. [Guadalupe Victoria]? was not his real name, but it was a name specially chosen: Guadalupe for the protection of [Our Lady of Guadalupe]?, and Victoria which means Victory. The first constitution was made. Many presidents came and went, and there was a period of instability.In this period, many of the territories in the north were lost to the USA. They were either sold dirt cheap by means of cohercion, or lost in bloody battles against the USA. One of the memorable battles is when the USA invaded Mexico in 1847, and the [Heroic Military College]? fought against experienced soldiers (September 13, 1847). Many people preferred a monarchical? form of government (conservatives), while others preferred a democracy/republic (liberals). In the middle of all this, conservatives "imported" an archduke of Austria, known as [Maximilian of Habsburg]? (wife [Carlota of Habsburg]?) with the support of France, who was interested in exploiting the rich mines in the north-west of the country. Altough the French, then considered one of the most efficient armies, suffered an initial defeat in The Cinco de Mayo (may 5th, 1862) battle in Puebla they eventualy defeated the Mexican goverment forces leaded by the general [Ignacio Zaragoza]? and entroned Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico. Unfortunately for the conservatives, Maximilian of Habsburg favored the establishment of a Republic, and a liberal way of government. Maximilian was eventualy captured and executed in the [Cerro de las Campanas]?, Queretaro? by the forces loyal to President [Benito Juarez]? who kept the Federal goverment functioning during the French intervention that put Maximiliano in power. In 1857, the republic was restored, and a new constitution was written, that amongst other things confiscated the goods of the Catholic church and stablished civil marriages. After the victory, there was resentment against President Juarez (who began to concentrate too much power) so one of the army's generals, named [Porfirio Diaz]? rebeled against the goverment with the proclamation of the [Plan de Tuxtepec]? (1876), a small war against the president started. Porfirio Diaz became the new president; he was in power for about 30 years. During this period of about 30 years (1876 - 1911), Mexico progressed a lot with the investments of other countries. This period of prosperity and relative peace is called the Porfiriato?. But the people was not happy with the form of government during the Porfiriato: It was attracting investors because the pay for workers was very low, which made a very steep social division: only a small bunch of investors (national and international) were getting rich, but the grand majority of the people was super poor. Not happy with this, a man named Francisco I. Madero prepared the [Plan de San Luis]?, in which he called the Mexican people to take their weapons and fight against the government of [Porfirio Diaz]? on November 20, 1910. This started what is known as the Mexican Revolution (Revolucion Mexicana). Madero was incarcerated in [San Antonio]?, Texas, but his plan took effect in spite of being in jail. The Federal Army was defeated by the revolutionary forces which were lead amongst others by [Emiliano Zapata]?, [Pancho Villa]? and [Venustiano Carranza]? what forced Porfirio Diaz to resign for the "sake of the peace of the nation" and to exile himself in France where he died. There was a big struggle for the control of Mexico's goverment, and the conflict lasted more than 10 years. However [Venustiano Carranza]?, a former revolutionary general who became one of the several presidents during this turbulent period, promulgated a new Constitution on February 5, 1917. This is the constitution that still guides Mexico. In the 20s and 30s there was another civil war called "la Guerra Cristera" that was fought on religious issues. The government, formed by old veterans from the revolution, created a party called the PNR, who will becamo the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional), who would "rule" for about 70 years. In 1938, the oil companies were nationalized by President Lazaro Cardenas, who organized the PRI and set the foundations that allowed this party to rule unchallenged for decades to come. The 40s, 50s, and 60s were a period of economical prosperity and peace in Mexico. In the 70s, things started to look not-so-bright, economic crisis affected the country in 1976 and 1982 after which the banks were nationalized after being singled out for the economic problems. In both ocassions the mexican peso devaluated, and ever since, it was normal to expect a big devaluation and a recession period after each presidential period ended (every 6 years). People started getting tired of the corruption of the PRI, party in power for about 70 years. How did they stay in power for so long, if leaders are elected through general vote? They always rigged the elections and their methods became part of the popular culture. After the 1988 election, which was very disputed and arguably lost by the goverment party, the IFE (Instituto Federal Electoral - Federal Electoral Institute) was created in the early 90s, it is run by normal citizens and it oversees that elections are conducted legaly and fairly. As a result of this the presidential candidate of the PAN (Partido Accion Nacional, National Action Party) Vicente Fox Quezada won the federal election and both chambers of congress are composed by members of several different parties of all political persuasions. |
See also:
From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Not Wikified.
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