Cinco de Mayo

As I completed taking a test on Cinco de Mayo I was disappointed I got 90% out of  ten questions. The one I missed was how many French soldiers attacked Puebla? My choices were 600, 6000, or 60,000. I chose the largest number though it was only 6000! I suppose I should feel good that I knew as much as I did about the history of Mexico, but as in all tests, I like to get 100%.

In speaking to some Mexican friends from Mexico, they told me they were surprised that the United States makes such a big holiday for the 5th of May.  "In Mexico, we do not celebrate this holiday.  Well, maybe Puebla does, since that is where the battle where the French were defeated took place, but for the rest of Mexico, it is not a big holiday."

This surprised me and I did some research on the event and here is a synopsis of what I learned:   Mexico had stopped paying on loans to Spain, France and Britain and the three countries decided to invade Mexico to collect. When Spain and Britain realized Napoleon III, had an ulterior motive of taking over Mexico for its silver mines, they withdrew. The French continued with their quest to take over Mexico. As they marched through the country, they took over Guadalajara, Zacatecas, Acapulco, Oaxaca, Durango, and Guaymas among other parts of Mexico. When they got to Puebla, they were met by an army, much smaller and not as well prepared, yet, the French army was defeated on May 5, 1862. Even though the the French lost in Puebla, they eventually took it over and continued to Mexico City and on June 7, 1863 entered the city. The French would be in Mexico for the next three and a half years before their withdrawal. The story of Maxmilian, the Emperor of Mexico and Carlota, his wife, is that she went insane trying to find funds to keep Maxmilian in power and in 1867 he was executed in Mexico.

The fighting in Mexico was happening at the same time that the United States was fighting its Civil War. Abraham Lincoln was president and he could not do much to help Mexico from the invading European countries. Later, he did help Benito Juarez raise money and supplied him with guns which helped in getting  the French out of Mexico in 1866.

The 5th of May has become a large holiday in the United States and it is a time for the Mexican culture to be seen, to be tasted and to be celebrated!  Many cities celebrate by having Mexican food,  folkloric dances, mariachi music, the drinking of Mexican beer and Margaritas, parades, and Mexican flags waving from cars. In Denver, Colorado, there is a free two day event held in Civic Park. From news items on television the affair this year was fun, exciting,  interesting and safe!