Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is a holiday everyone loves to celebrate, Mexican or not.  It’s a great excuse to get your friends and family together and knock back some Coronas and tequila shots in celebration.  But wait…What are we celebrating? Mexican Independence Day? No, that’s not it. That’s September 16th...

May 5th, 1862 commemorates the Battle of Puebla, the day the Mexican army successfully (and ironically) defeated the French army from invading Mexico City.  At the time, the Mexican government was in much foreign debt with countries such as Britain, Spain and France due to the Mexican- American War (1846-1848) and a civil war (1858-1861).  Mexican President Benito Juarez suspended debt payments for two years so Mexico could get back on its feet and with this, Britain and Spain were able to work with.  France, however, was not pleased and took this as an opportunity to create a French controlled Mexican empire.  (It should be no surprise that France’s ruler at the time was the overly ambitious Napoleon III.)  The French army had been succeeding at making their way to Mexico City until they experienced resistance in Puebla.  The battle there consisted of 6,000 well-equipped French army men against 2,000 somewhat equipped Mexican army men and somehow the Mexican army managed to win.  Unfortunately, the French came back a year later with 30,000 troops and were this time able to capture Mexico City and Maximilian (Napoleon III’s cousin) became Emperor Maximilian I, ruler of Mexico. Three years later, the Mexican people were able to regain control of Mexico City and had Maximilian executed.  Benito Juarez was then able to re-establish a legitimate government and reclaim his position as president. 

Although France’s second attempt was successful, its Mexico’s unlikely victory during the first attempt that is commemorated.  At the time, France’s army was considered the best and had not been defeated in 50 years and the victory brought a strong sense of national unity and patriotism to the Mexico.  

Walking around in Paris on this day, I found it ironic how many cafes/bars had Cinco de Mayo specials.  The holiday does commemorate France’s defeat after all…  But then again, I wonder how many people know the story behind Cinco de Mayo.  It’s definitely used as an excuse to party and drink by most people, especially in the U.S.  Come to think of it, I’m not even sure how it came to be a thing in the U.S.  It’s definitely recognized as an important historical event but its not a national holiday in Mexico.  In fact, its only celebrated in Puebla, where the battle took place.  Anywhere else in Mexico, its a pretty normal day.  Cinco de Mayo has definitely become more of a commercialized holiday (the Mexican St. Paddy’s Day if you will) so I figured its worth putting out the history behind the holiday out there.