Mexico
| Mexico | |
|---|---|
| The Republic of Mexico | |
| México | |
 | |
 Location of Mexico | |
| Established | Founding of New Spain - 1521
Independence from Spain and the establishment of the empire of Mexico - 1881 Republic of Mexico - 1919 |
| Capital | Ciudad de México |
| Largest City | Ciudad de México |
| Population | 230 Million |
| Government Type | Republic |
| Languages |
|
| Currency | Mexican Peso (MXN) |
Mexico (Spanish: México); (Náhuatl: Mēxihco), officially the Republic of Mexico (República de México), is a country in the southern and western portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the Amerikaner Free State; to the northeast by Tussenland and Opdamsland; to the east by South Tussenland and the Gulf of Mexico; to the west by the Pacific Ocean and to the south by Boschland. Mexico is the most populous nation in North America and the most populous Spanish-speaking nation in the world. The nations capital: Mexico city (Ciudad de México) or known as CDMX, is the largest metropolitan area of North America and in the Western Hemisphere. Other major Urban areas include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Ciudad de Guatemala, Goudhaven, Jiménez and Santa Maria.
Pre-Columbian Mexico traces its origins to 8,000 BC and is identified as a cradles of civilization and was home to many advanced civilizations including the Maya and the Aztecs. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico City, which then became known as New Spain. The Catholic Church played an important role as millions of indigenous inhabitants converted. The colony became rich due to heavy exploitation of deposits of precious materials. Mexico became an independent country after the successful coup of the government of New Spain by the former viceroy Jorge González de Güemes y Horcasitas against Spain in 1881 and the subsequent Mexican Independence Crisis, founding the Empire of Mexico.
After Mexico's defeat in the Mexican-Dutch Boer War, internal popularity and legitimacy of the Emperor of Mexico waned and in 1909 the Emperor of Mexico abdicated and after the Mexican constitutional crisis was replaced by the Republic of Mexico. During the 20th century economic and political rivalry between Mexico and New Netherlands dominated political discourse. Starting in the 1930's Mexico experienced a massive economic boom with investment and advancement in mining, refining, industry, manufacturing and agriculture sectors spurred by modernization policies of the Mexican government.
Etymology
Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely the Valley of Mexico and surrounding territories, with its people being known as the Mexica. In the colonial era, when Mexico was called New Spain, this central region became the Intendency of Mexico, during colonial reforms in the 1850's the colony was locally referred to as the Crown colony of Mexico or the viceroy of Mexico. After the colony achieved independence from the Spanish Empire in 1881 with the new country being named after its capital: Mexico City, which itself was founded in 1524 on the site of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.
History
Main article: History of Mexico
This is summary of New Netherland's history. See History of Mexico for the unabridged and complete history
Early History
Mexico is a historic cradle of civilization, with many pre- colombian civilizations thriving in the valley of Mexico and the in the Yucatán peninsula. The earliest complex civilization in Mexico was the Olmec culture, which flourished on the Gulf Coast from around 1500 BC. In Central Mexico, the height of the classic period saw the ascendancy of Teotihuacán, which formed a military and commercial empire whose political influence stretched south into the Maya area as well as north. During the early post-classic era, Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, Oaxaca by the Mixtec, and the lowland Maya area had important centers at Chichén Itzá and Mayapán. Toward the end of the post-Classic period, the Mexica established dominance, establishing a political and economic empire based in the city of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City), extending from central Mexico to Guatemala. In 1519 Mesoamerican society drastically changed with the beginning of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire.
New Spain
Independence
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.
Mexican Empire
The Mexican Empire under Emperor González sought to centralize control over all of New Spain's former holdings and embarked on a wave of reforms to consolidate power in Mexico city and in the military. In 1887 the Mexican government sent the military to crush the Central American rebellions centered in Guatemala and Honduras. They also sought to build economic and political relationships with other nations in the region including Saint-Domingue, Colombia and South Tussenland. During the 1890's Mexico became a important funder of the proposed Genoan Panama canal project.
In western North-America the fledgling Mexican Empire had a lot of potential in the region as a great power. The Mexican Empire, heavily religious and autocratic, wanted to centralize its power and display its might. In 1897, Mexico abolished home-rule for the autonomous Voortrekker states. The Dutch, who were generally sympathetic to the Voortrekkers, issued an ultimatum to Mexico: restore self-governance for the Dutch Boers, or else they will attack Mexico. Mexico wanting to centralize and exert control over the region refused and in 1901 the Dutch declared war in the Mexican-Dutch Boer war. Near the beginning of the war the former Dutch colony of the New Netherlands joined the war on the side of the Dutch Kingdom; additionally, the empire of Mexico overestimated their power and weren't able to match the newly modernized Dutch military. Throughout the war, the Dutch had managed to occupy the land they had lost to Spain, however they were only able to liberate only two of the five Voortrekker Republics (Westerzee and Kimoeënim). Things soon came to a stalemate, and in 1903 both parties agreed to meet in the neutral Republic of Virginia to settle matters, with the war ending in uti possidetis. The Treaty of Williamsburg, signed by both parties in the capital of the Virginian Republic, ended the 1st Boer War. Under this treaty, the land lost in the 2nd Dutch-Spanish war would be retroceded back to Tussenland. As for the Voortrekker Republics under Dutch control, it was decided that it was impractical to annex them into Tussenland, as they had their own unique blend of Dutch-Hispanic culture (as well as a large proportion of Catholics, proselytized by Spain and Mexico during 75 years of foreign rule). They were granted their own fully-sovereign and (partially) unified state: the Amerikaense Vrystaët, or the Amerikaanse Free State in English. The rest of the Voortrekker Republics that the Dutch were unable to occupy were allowed to remain under Mexico, as long as they guarantee self-rule to these regions in matters concerning internal affairs.
The end of the Mexican-Dutch war was a blow to the prestige and legitimacy of Mexico and the nescient republican and liberal movements within Mexico pounced at the chance to get rid of Emperor González. In 1909 the Mexican senate was occupied by republicans and the after a massive popular protest that shut down Mexico city, Emperor González abdicated and after a constitutional crisis with the army briefly taking control, the Mexican Republic was declared.
