Cinco de Mayo – May 5th Celebration
May 5, the date of the commemoration of the Battle of Puebla, marks the victory of the Mexican army against the invasion of the second French Empire, which was the first time it successfully faced a foreign power since its independence. .
The United States also celebrates this commemoration because Mexican forces did not allow France to pass onto American soil. In 1861, the country was bankrupt due to half a century of almost constant conflict and war. It could not face the most urgent needs, so on July 17, 1861, President Benito Juárez decreed a two-year extension to pay foreign debt to European countries.
In October 1861, France, England and Spain signed the London Convention and agreed to send soldiers to Mexico to claim their rights as creditors for a debt that amounted to around 80 million pesos. Approximately 69 million were for the English, 9 million for the Spanish and 2 million for France. The latter refused to negotiate, through diplomatic channels, the terms and conditions under which the debt would be paid later, as the Spanish and British did in the preliminary Treaties of La Soledad. So Napoleon III, ruler of France, decided to invade Mexico to establish a monarchy favorable to France, supply himself with raw materials and in the future extend his imperialism to the United States. To that end, he was to dissolve the Mexican Government established by President Benito Juárez.
In April 1862 the French landed in the port of Veracruz, and began the military campaign towards the center of the Republic. After several attacks, on May 5, 1862, the battle took place on the Loreto hill, at the top of which was a chapel converted into a fort to defend the city of Puebla. The hero of the first battle of Puebla was General Ignacio Zaragoza in command of almost 2,000 soldiers and 2,700 peasants using machetes and spears called “chinacas” made of wood with a metal tip. The French used pistols, metal-tipped carbines, bayonets, and cannons. The report that General Zaragoza gave about the Battle of Puebla to President Benito Juárez was brief and significant.
Mexico’s first victory did not last long. A year later, thirty-five thousand French troops managed to defeat the Mexican army, and in this way France managed to take control of Mexico City and imposed the Austrian Maximilian of Habsburg and his wife Carlota as emperor and empress of Mexico. . The emperor did not sustain his empire for long: France’s victory lasted only 4 years. In 1867, and due to the conflictive situation in Europe and pressure from the United States, Emperor Napoleon III ordered the withdrawal of military and economic support for Maximilian. At the same time, Mexican Republicans began to receive American financial and diplomatic support when the Civil War ended in that country, and the new empire began to lose its weak social base. Thus, during 1866 the Republicans were gaining important positions until the area of imperial influence was reduced to Puebla and Veracruz. On April 2, 1867, troops led by the Juarista Porfirio Díaz took the city of Puebla, thus militarily the empire was annihilated. Emperor Maximilian, by then besieged in Querétaro, was taken prisoner and shot in the city of Querétaro in “The Hill of the Bells.”
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What is Cinco de Mayo and why is it celebrated in the United States?
Every May 5 in Mexico the victory in the 1862 battle of Puebla against France is commemorated. A century and a half later the festival has crossed the border and has become a holiday also in the United States.
What happened in the Battle of Puebla?
On May 5, 1862, the Army of the East, commanded by the young General Ignacio Zaragoza, defeated the invading troops of Napoleon III. The Battle of Puebla represents one of the most glorious episodes in our history.
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On May 5, the Battle of Puebla is recreated in the place where it occurred: a colorful parade of floats and participants dressed in bright traditional costumes travels through the streets. The entire history of Mexico is shown.
In 1863, the first Cinco de Mayo celebration was held in the United States, where Mexicans living in California remembered the date. In the United States there was fear of the French since they supported the Confederacy in the Civil War that devastated the country. Therefore, the date was remembered.
May 5, a day that in the United States is often confused with Mexican Independence Day. In fact, the historical moment that gave rise to this festival occurred more than fifty years after the date on which the Mexican War of Independence began. So here’s what you need to know about May 5, including how it became a major economic driver for entrepreneurs and beverage companies across the United States.
What is the importance of May 5?
Not widely celebrated in Mexico, 5 de Mayo commemorates an unexpected victory over France at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The victory was exhilarating for the Mexican forces (and those who supported them from afar), but it was brief, because soon France occupied Mexico for a few years. Either way, May 5 continued to be celebrated in Puebla and, more interestingly, north of the border by some Americans of Mexican descent.
The country’s Independence Day is September 16 and is a national holiday. On that date in 1810, a priest named Miguel Hidalgo harangued Mexico to rise up against Spain, which gave rise to the War of Independence that ended in 1821.
In the early 1960s, many Mexican-American activists fighting in the civil rights movement in the United States used that day to demonstrate the pride they felt in their roots. Almost two decades later, in 1989, an importer of Mexican beers such as Modelo or Corona launched an advertising campaign related to that celebration. Initially the campaign was aimed at Latinos, but later expanded to a broader audience with advertisements on television and print media. This year, the Corona website has a clock with a “May Corona Countdown” during the hours leading up to May 5.
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The commercialization of May 5 (and the criticism of cultural stereotypes) has been very successful. The market research agency Nielsen reported that in 2013 Americans bought more than $600 million worth of beer for May 5, more than for the Super Bowl or St. Patrick’s Day.
The evolution of this celebration from a sincere display of patriotism to a more corporate celebration has been, to say the least, irregular.
Many Latinos specifically avoid celebrating the day, in part due to a generational forgetfulness about the holiday’s origins during the Civil War.
Despite the controversies, many American cities and their Mexican communities will celebrate that day, including Portland, Oregon, Denver, Colorado, New York
5 de Mayo improved and proposed that the holiday could still be part of the celebration, but with greater emphasis on the historical context of the holiday. “Let’s take May 5 back to its roots as a commemoration of civil rights and social justice,” he said.
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Puerto Vallarta’s municipal government recently announced progress in finalizing a Sister City twinning agreement with New York City. As part of the initiative, Puerto Vallarta will be advertised on Time Square screens during a parade on May 5th.
On May 5th, they will have a Cinco de Mayo parade and are looking to showcase Puerto Vallarta on Time Square screens. We’re also working to have Vallarta-themed letters displayed that day, similar to the ones here where people take pictures.”
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