Mexico: Difference between revisions

Main article: [[History of Mexico]]

''This is summary of New Netherland's history. See [[History of Mexico]] for the unabridged and complete history''

During the [[Communard Wars]] the majority of Spain was occupied by communard forces and during this time the royal family and king Ferdinand VII sought refuge in New Spain for the duration of the war. While the king was staying in Mexico he became interested in the internal affairs of the colony and instituted a series of reforms that sought to hispanize New Spain's culture to a further degree and weaken the power of the local Mexican elites in favor of giving greater power to the royal military and peninsulare business elites who were in the king's inner circle. This increased tension between Spanish authorities and New Spain's population across social classes. Additionally over the course of the 19th century, New Spain had become economic self sufficient while Spain had been increasingly dependent on New Spain's resources to fund their empire and this led to a period of increased dissatisfaction of local elites and businessmen starting from the 1860's.

When the King and the royal family returned to Spain following the end of the [[Communard Wars]] in 1878, the viceroy of New Spain [[Jorge González de Güemes y Horcasitas]] started to consolidate support within the New Spanish elite and amongst local military officers in order to declare independence. In early 1881 the King caught wind of the viceroys sedition and ordered the Spanish royal army to arrest him and sent a replacement viceroy to New Spain. When the new viceroy arrived in New Spain he was arrested by viceroy Jorge González and the local army who refused the King's orders and pledged loyalty to the González. The following day, on Feb 3rd 1881 González declared himself emperor of an independent Mexico. While in Spain, the Communard Wars left the Iberian peninsula devastated and with a guerilla insurgency in northern Spain wrecking havoc on the countryside. Additionally Spain borrowed money from Genoan and British banks to rebuild after the war but within a year defaulted on the payments which led to an economic crisis. Learning of González's declaration, the King was furious and pledged to retake the colony which led to the [[Mexican Independence Crisis]]. Several expeditions to retake Mexico were set out in in 1881 and 1882 but each time they were repelled by the newly formed Mexican army and Mexican navy. With a mounting economic crisis, guerilla fighting in the nation and the inability to militarily take back New Spain, the Spanish crown recognized the Mexican empire in 1884.