What are major events in Mexico's history?

Answer 1

Mexico is a country with thousands of years of history, predating the discovery of the Americas by Columbus. A fairly short summary of Mexico's recent history - of almost 700 years - is as follows:

Home of advanced Amerindian civilizations such as the Olmec, Teotihuacan and Maya, Mexico is best known as the land where Aztec people (or Mexica, as they knew themselves) founded their capital Tenochtitlan, on March 13, 1325 on the site where present-day Mexico City is located. After the Fall of Tenochtitlan at the hands of Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes on August 13, 1521, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before priest Miguel Hidalgo began his struggle for Independence on the early hours of September 16, 1810. After eleven years of intense fight, Royalist Army General Agustin de Iturbide switched sides and allied himself with Vicente Guerrero and Guadalupe Victoria, leaders of the rebel forces, effectively achieving Mexico's independence on September 27, 1821. Thus the First Mexican Empire was born, with Emperor Agustin I as monarch.

After some years of bad economic policies on the part of Iturbide, Vicente Guerrero and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna adopted the Republic as form of government through the Plan of Casa Mata, which eventually resulted in Guadalupe Victoria being designated as the first President of Mexico (1824). The new republic suffered through the following years due to internal turmoil between conservatives and liberals, as well as the attack from foreign powers, including conflicts such as the Texas Revolution (1835), the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), the Reform Wars (1855-1861) and the First and Second French Interventions (1838 and 1862-1867). President Benito Juarez resisted the French occupation, overthrew the Second Mexican Empireimposed by the French invaders, restored the Republic, and made a large effort to modernize the country (1858-1872). These actions made him the most beloved and cherished Mexican President to date. His successor, President Porfirio Diaz further developed the country, at the expense of human rights and liberal reforms (1876-1910).

On 1910, the Mexican Revolution began to unravel, when Francisco Madero became the sole contender to Porfirio Diaz, and was put in jail to prevent his election. He was later liberated and elected as president, but was assassinated when General Victoriano Huerta staged a coup d'état in 1913. During the Mexican Revolution, important figures such as Francisco Villa, Emiliano Zapata and Venustiano Carranzafought against Huerta's troops. Eleven years and one million of lost lives later, this bloody conflict concluded when ex-revolutionary Alvaro Obregon became the elected president of Mexico in 1920.

When most of the world was deeply affected by the 1929 Great Depression, the Mexican Economic Miracle (1930-1970) was taking place, allowing some actions such as the nationalization of the oil industry (1938), the Mexican participation on WW2 on behalf of the Allies (1942-1945), and acting as host of the 1968 Summer Olympics. Later on, when the 1973 Oil Crisis hit the developed world, Mexican Presidents Luis Echeverria and Jose Lopez Portillo began to rely heavily on oil exports to support the financial needs of the country, taking advantage of the high oil prices. When the market eventually stabilized, the little diversification of exports resulted in an economic slump and a devaluation of the Peso by 500%. This is often called the Lost Decade or Decada Perdida (1973-1982). Three years later, the Mexico City Earthquake (1985) further deteriorated the Mexican economy, as Mexico City, which agglomerates 20-25% of the country's national income, was heavily hit by such natural disaster.

When President Carlos Salinas de Gortari was elected in 1988, he began a process of privatization of most government industries and businesses. This is known as the Rise of Neoliberalism in Mexico, which reached its highest point with the signature and later adoption of the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA with Canada and the United States (1994). This, however didn't shield the economy enough from internal or external shocks: on the same year, the Chiapas Zapatista Uprising led by Subcomandante Marcos (1994), the assassination of Presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosioand a continuing decrease on foreign reserves triggered the 1994 economic crisis in Mexico, known as the December Mistake(Spanish: Error de Diciembre). This in turn promoted a general dissatisfaction with the ruling party (PRI), which had governed Mexico uncontested for the previous 70 years. On the Presidential Elections of the year 2000, the PRI hegemony was abruptly ended, when PAN candidate Vicente Fox became the indisputable winner of such elections.

After 16 years of NAFTA and a general economic opening to international markets, Mexico has become the 10th to 13th largest economy in the world, often compared in terms of growth potential to the BRIC bloc, composed by newly industrialized countries Brazil, Russia, India and China. It is stated that by 2050, Mexico will be the 5th largest economy in the world; however the country faces many challenges ahead, including a War Against Drugs(2007), a Global Economic Slump (2008) and a H1N1 Flu Scare (2009) that are still taking their toll on Mexican politics, economy and society.

Answer 2

At the end of the Mexican War of Independence, the Army of the Three Guarantees (Ejercito Trigarante or Ejercito de las Tres Garantias) was the name given to the army after the unification of the Spanish troops led by Agustin de Iturbide and the Mexican insurgent troops of Vicente Guerrero, consolidating Mexico's independence from Spain.

At first, the meaning colors of the Army of the Three Guarantees was:

• Green: was a sign of independence from Spain.
• White: Religion, faith or belief, the Roman Catholic faith.
• Red: Union among Americans and Europeans

However the meaning of these colors have varied considerably with the passage of time. The last accepted, modern definitions are:

• Green: Hope in the future.
• White: Unity among the Mexican people.
• Red: The blood of the Mexican heroes.

As for the Mexican coat of arms:

Before 1325 AD, the Aztec or Mexica (as they knew themselves) people were a nomadic tribe that wandered throughout the land, looking for a place to settle and build their capital. Their state religion awaited the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy: that the wandering tribe would find the destined site for a great city whose location would be signaled by an eagle eating a snake while perched atop a cactus.

The Aztecs saw this vision on what was then a small swampy island in the middle of lake Texcoco, after which they founded their capital city, on March 13, 1325. Not deterred by the unfavorable terrain, they set about building their city, using the chinampa system (misnamed as "floating gardens") for agriculture and to dry and expand the island. That city was Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City.

The prophesy and subsequent vision is now immortalized in Mexico's coat of arms and on the Mexican flag.

Answer 3

Mexico is a country with thousands of years of history, predating the discovery of the Americas by Columbus. A good summary of Mexico's "recent" history (of almost 700 years) would be as follows:

• Precolumbian Mexico: Founding of Tenochtitlan by Aztec civilization (1325)
• Spanish conquest of Mexico (1521)
• Mexican war of Independence (1810-1821)
• First Empire (1821-1823)
• First Republic (1824)
• Texas Revolution (1835-1836)
• Pastry War/First French Intervention (1838)
• Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
• La Reforma and Las Guerras de Reforma (The Reform and Reform Wars) (1855-1861)
• Second French Intervention (1862-1867), including the Cinco de Mayo or Battle of Puebla (1865)
• Second Empire (1864-1867)
• Restoration of the Republic (1867-1872)
• Porfiriato: order, progress and Dictatorship (1876-1910)
• Mexican Revolution (1910-1921), including the 1917 Constitution
• The Cristero War (1926-1929)
• The Rise of Contemporary Mexico (1929)
• The Mexican Economic Miracle (1930-1970) including the Mexican Oil Expropriation (1938), the Mexican participation in the Second World War (1942-1945), Mexico '68 (Mexico hosting of the Summer Olympics of 1968) and the Tlatelolco Massacre (1968).
• La Decada Perdida (The Lost Decade: economic collapse and rise of external debt) (1973-1982)
• Mexico City Earthquake (1985)
• Neoliberalism in Mexico (1988-1994)
• El Error de Diciembre (The December Mistake or 1994 economic crisis in Mexico) (1994)
• North American Free Trade Agreement - NAFTA (1994)
• Chiapas Zapatista/EZNL Uprising (1994)
• Luis Donaldo Colosio assassination (1994)
• End of PRI's hegemony (2000)
• War Against Drugs (2007)

Answer 4

The independence in Mexico was between the Spanish and Mexican people which started on September 16,1810.