Free to follow every thread. No paywall, no dead ends.
Second French intervention in Mexico | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Origins And Motivations —
Second French intervention in Mexico.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
In July 1861, Mexican president Benito Juárez placed a moratorium on foreign debt payments and expelled all Spanish diplomats from the country. This action triggered a response from Spain, France, and Great Britain who agreed to the Convention of London to ensure debt repayments would be forthcoming. Napoleon III saw an opportunity to establish a European-derived monarchy in Mexico that would secure French access to Mexican silver. The French emperor hoped this new regime would restrain the growing power of the United States and replace it with French influence across Latin America. Conservative Mexican elites supported the invasion because they had been defeated by Juárez's liberal government during a three-year civil war known as the Reform War. They sought aid from France to effect regime change and install a monarch. Napoleon III initially hesitated due to inevitable opposition from the United States but found an opening when the American Civil War began. The intervention allowed conservative forces to take up their cause once again after being defeated in the Reform War.
Battlefield Dynamics
A French force of 6,500 men advanced toward Mexico City in early 1862. On the 5th of May 1862, Mexican forces commanded by Ignacio Zaragoza and Porfirio Díaz won a major victory against the French at the Battle of Puebla. A Mexican force of about 5,000 men confronted 6,000 French troops as they tried to climb steep terrain towards the city. The French suffered 476 casualties against 227 Mexican losses during this costly defense of the Cerro de Guadalupe. This triumph strengthened President Benito Juárez’s political position and stirred a new sense of national unity and resistance. Napoleon III sent 30,000 troops under the command of Élie Frédéric Forey on the 1st of July 1862. The French arrived at Orizaba on the 24th of October 1862, and began planning another siege of Puebla. The Siege of Puebla lasted until the 17th of May 1863, when González Ortega surrendered after running out of munitions and food. The French captured much of Mexican territory including major cities but guerrilla warfare by republicans remained a significant factor throughout the conflict.
Imperial Administration
Following the French occupation of Mexico City on the 10th of June 1863, conservative elites were forced to align more closely with the French. On June 16, the French nominated 35 Mexican citizens to constitute a Junta Superior de Gobierno tasked with electing a triumvirate that would serve as the executive of the new government. The three selected were General Almonte, Archbishop Labastida, and José Mariano Salas. On July 11, the Assembly resolved that Mexico was to be a constitutional monarchy and invited Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian to accept the Mexican throne. The executive was then officially changed to the Regency of the Mexican Empire. Maximilian and his wife Charlotte of Belgium arrived in Veracruz in the summer of 1864 and were later crowned in the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral. The emperor himself proved to be of liberal inclination and continued some of Juárez's most notable measures. Some liberal generals defected to the empire, including Santiago Vidaurri who had fought on the side of Juárez during the Reform War. However, the intervening army directed generals Élie Forey and Achille Bazaine to centralize power and delay broader conservative reforms.
International Diplomacy
The United States never recognized the government of Maximilian but could not aid the Republican cause until its own civil war ended in April 1865. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln expressed sympathy to Latin American republics against any European attempt to establish a monarchy. Secretary of State William H. Seward stated that it did not accord with U.S. policy to acknowledge a monarchical government erected on the ruins of any republican government in America under the auspices of any European power. After the Union victory in the American Civil War, the reunited country began providing material support to the republicans. Between 1865 and 1868, General Herman Sturm acted as an agent to deliver guns and ammunition to the Mexican Republic. In 1866, General Philip Sheridan was in charge of transferring additional supplies and weapons to the Liberal army, including some 30,000 rifles directly from the Baton Rouge Arsenal in Louisiana. By 1867, Seward shifted American policy from thinly veiled sympathy for the republican government of Juárez to open threat of war to induce a French withdrawal. The Monroe Doctrine became an irreversible fact rather than merely a theory.
Guerrilla Resistance
Republican guerrillas in the countryside around the capital counted no victories against the French but maintained a presence throughout the conflict. Guerrilla commanders Catarino Fragoso, León Ugalde, and others continued to wage warfare against towns occupied by the French. Porfirio Díaz defeated the imperialist Marcos Toledo at the silver mining town of Taxco on the 26th of October 1864. Díaz then besieged the brigade of Juan Vicario in Iguala until imperialist reinforcements forced him to abandon the siege. He headed south to his home state of Oaxaca and increased his troops to eight thousand. The Republicans controlled the sparsely populated frontier states of the north where Juárez led from Monterrey. These northern states granted them revenue coming into the Pacific ports of Manzanillo, Mazatlán, and Guaymas. Arms flowed in from the U.S. states of California and Texas along with mercenaries. The Republicans also held the southern states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Chiapas under the command of Porfirio Díaz. General Ramón Corona fled north but returned in September with a victory at Mazatlán after fierce warfare ensued.
Collapse And Execution
Napoleon III announced that he would withdraw French troops from Mexico at the opening of the French chambers in January 1866. The withdrawal plan reduced troops in phases starting in November 1866 and ending one year later in November 1867. Bazaine evacuated Mexico City on the 5th of February 1867, and the last French troops embarked for Toulon on the 12th of March 1867. Maximilian joined the army at Querétaro along with Minister Aguirre, Leonardo Márquez, and Miguel López with 50,000 pesos, 1,600 men and twelve cannons. On the 14th of May 1867, imperialist López opened the gates of Querétaro to the Republicans in exchange for gold. Republicans quickly overwhelmed the city and Miramón, Mejía, and Maximilian were taken prisoner. Following a court-martial, Maximilian was sentenced to death. Many European monarchs and other prominent figures including Victor Hugo and Giuseppe Garibaldi pleaded Juárez for Maximilian's life to be spared, but he refused to commute the sentence. Maximilian was executed on the 19th of June 1867, along with Generals Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía on the Cerro de las Campanas outside Querétaro. Mexico City surrendered the day after Maximilian's execution.
Long Term Consequences
The republican victory transformed Mexico’s political landscape by consolidating liberal hegemony and allowing central elites to impose a state-building project over regional powers. The Mexican Conservative Party became effectively defunct due to its thorough discrediting by its alliance with the French. The Liberal Party remained almost unchallenged during the first years of the restored republic. In 1871, Juárez was elected for another term despite constitutional prohibitions against re-elections. Porfirio Díaz launched a rebellion against Juárez in 1871 that was nearly defeated when Juárez died on the 19th of July 1872. Four years later, in 1876, Díaz launched a successful revolt known as the Plan de Tuxtepec and captured the presidency. He held it through eight terms until 1911, a period known as the Porfiriato. France's adventure in Mexico improved relations with Austria but produced no lasting results. The Second French Empire itself collapsed in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. Only the eventual victory over the French would end the cycle of endemic political anarchy in Mexico.
What caused the Second French intervention in Mexico to begin?
The Second French intervention in Mexico began after Mexican president Benito Juárez placed a moratorium on foreign debt payments and expelled all Spanish diplomats in July 1861. This action triggered a response from Spain, France, and Great Britain who agreed to the Convention of London to ensure debt repayments would be forthcoming.
When did the Battle of Puebla take place during the Second French intervention in Mexico?
Mexican forces commanded by Ignacio Zaragoza and Porfirio Díaz won a major victory against the French at the Battle of Puebla on the 5th of May 1862. A Mexican force of about 5,000 men confronted 6,000 French troops as they tried to climb steep terrain towards the city.
Who was invited to accept the Mexican throne during the Second French intervention in Mexico?
On July 11, the Assembly resolved that Mexico was to be a constitutional monarchy and invited Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian to accept the Mexican throne. Maximilian and his wife Charlotte of Belgium arrived in Veracruz in the summer of 1864 and were later crowned in the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral.
Why did the United States support the Republicans during the Second French intervention in Mexico?
The United States never recognized the government of Maximilian but could not aid the Republican cause until its own civil war ended in April 1865. Secretary of State William H. Seward stated that it did not accord with U.S. policy to acknowledge a monarchical government erected on the ruins of any republican government in America under the auspices of any European power.
When was Emperor Maximilian executed after the Second French intervention in Mexico?
Maximilian was executed on the 19th of June 1867 along with Generals Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía on the Cerro de las Campanas outside Querétaro. Mexico City surrendered the day after Maximilian's execution following a court-martial where Juárez refused to commute the sentence despite pleas from many European monarchs and other prominent figures.