A Made-Up Holiday?
A web search of Cinco de Mayo produced these top results: 1. Send Cinco de Mayo greeting cards; 2. Find Mexican restaurants in your area; 3. Cinco de Mayo party supplies. A quick poll of five non-Mexican New Yorkers delivered these results: three said May 5 marks Mexican independence; two said it's a made-up holiday — “like Mother's Day.”
Both answers are wrong. Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16, the day in 1810 when several opposing factions in Mexico united to oppose Spanish rule. And far from being “made up,” Cinco de Mayo commemorates a real victory in the history of Mexico.
The Battle of Puebla
After winning its independence from Spain in 1821 (yes, it was an 11-year campaign), the next forty years of Mexican history is scarred by internal political takeovers, wars, and a deepening financial crisis. By 1861, the new government of President Benito Juarez was forced to default on its debts to many European governments. In response, Britain, Spain, and France sent naval forces to Veracruz to demand payment. However, while the British and Spanish negotiated with Juarez and withdrew, the French — under Napoleon III — used the opportunity to carve a new empire out of Mexico. Declaring his relative, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, ruler of Mexico, Napoleon ordered 6,000 troops under General Charles Latrille de Lorencez to march from Veracruz and capture Mexico City.
President Juarez sent a rag-tag force of approximately 2,000 Mexicans to the town of Puebla along the French route. There, on May 5, 1862, the French force of 5,000 attacked with the support of heavy artillery. By early evening, the French were forced into retreat. The small, outnumbered Mexican militia had defeated one of Europe's finest armies. It is the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla that Cinco de Mayo celebrates.
Napoleon Returns
Unfortunately, in historical fact, the victory was short lived. Upon hearing of the defeat, Napoleon simply sent more troops, 30,000 this time, and in 1864 succeeded in establishing French rule over Mexico — a rule that would last for the next four years. Still, the Battle of Puebla was significant in far more than military terms. After decades of war and internal revolution, the victory of Cinco de Mayo, 1862, was a rallying point for Mexicans of all political sides during the years of French occupation. It was a shining moment that showed what Mexicans could achieve together. By 1867, Juarez and his army had forced a general French withdrawal, captured Maximilian, and — to drive the point home — had him executed.
Cinco de Mayo may very well be a holiday that all Americans should celebrate. In 1862, north of the border, the Southern Confederacy under General Robert E. Lee was enjoying its greatest successes. What would a French Mexico, sympathetic to the south, have meant to our own history?
(This article can also be found on National Review Online.)
