The French Occupation of Mexico Part I — The Empire and the RepublicIn the 1860’s France

The French Occupation of Mexico Part I — The Empire and the RepublicIn the 1860’s France was once again an empire that was ruled by a Bonaparte.  In 1851 the President of France, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Second French Republic and declared himself Emperor Napoleon III.  Napoleon III was the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, and like his uncle he was a man of ambition with dreams of conquest, power, and glory.  From the 1850’s to 1870 he expanded French influence over the world, founding colonies in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America.  He is also noted for revitalizing French infrastructure and public services.  The realm that he ruled over would later be called the Second French Empire.One of Napoleon’s grand schemes was to conquer a large dominion in America from where he could expand French influence over Latin American trade.  In addition Mexico was rich in silver, which he needed to finance his empire, and if Napoleon wished to intervene in the American Civil War, Mexico was a good strategic area from which to supply the Confederacy.  The timing was also perfect, as Mexico was an unstable country that could hardly resist a military invasion, and the United States during the Civil War was in no condition to uphold the Monroe Doctrine, a policy stating that the US would resist all European interference in Latin America.In 1861 Mexico was a greatly diminished and weakened nation.  Mexico had lost large tracts of territory after the War of Texan Independence and a disastrous war with the United States.  Mexico had also fought a bloody civil war to topple the Mexican Empire.  Its ironic that while France had transformed from a republic to an empire, Mexico was transitioning from an empire to a republic.  The first president of Mexico’s new republic was Benito Juarez.  Juarez had inherited a country that was in shambles.  After decades of war, Mexican infrastructure was severely damaged, the economy was stagnant, and the country was flat out broke.  Deep in debt, Juarez had no choice but to suspend interest payments to Mexico’s European creditors.Mexico’s suspension of interest payments provided the justification Napoleon needed for an intervention in the country.  Using free trade as an excuse for war, Napoleon forged an alliance with Britain and Spain, both of whom where also creditors to Mexico.  Between the 8th and 17th of December, 1861, French, Spanish, and British forces occupied key ports along the eastern coast of Mexico, the most important of which was Veracruz.  The British and Spanish strategy was to hold key ports, pressuring the Juarez government to pay up.  However the French had much bigger plans.  When the British and Spanish learned that France intended to occupy all of Mexico, the alliance was dissolved and the other two powers withdrew their forces.  From thence on the conquest of Mexico would become an entirely French enterprise.  With the New Year in 1862, French forces marched from their foothold in Veracruz and advanced toward the capital of Mexico City.To be continued… -- source link

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