Cinco de Mayo

The celebration of the unlikely victory over the French forces at the Battle of Puebla. This took place on May 5, 1862, and is commemorated yearly on Cinco de Mayo.

In the Netherlands, it's Liberation Day, marking the end of Nazi occupation during WW2.

In Japan, it's Children's Day.

Access the related link listed for further information:

As a consequence of the large indebtedness acquired after both the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and the Reform Wars (1857-1861), the Mexican government faced such economic difficulties that president Benito Juarez suspended interest payments to foreign countries on July 17th, 1861. This angered France, Spain and England, who united their efforts to apply gunboat diplomacy on Mexico, and force it to continue with these payments. On December 8th of the same year, the Spanish fleet and troops from Spanish-controlled Cuba arrived at Mexico's main Gulf port, Veracruz.

Juarez negotiated the terms of such payments at the "La Soledad Preliminaries"; while Spain and England were satisfied and pulled their troops from the region, France (led by Napoleon III at the time) wasn't interested in such debt: they were interested in conquering Mexico to prevent the rising of the United States as a world power by establishing a foothold in the Americas, and supporting the Confederate forces during the American Civil War (1861-1865). As a secondary objective, France was interested in exploiting the large silver, copper and iron mines located on northern Mexico.

On March 6th, 1862 5,000 French troops arrived to Veracruz, letting know friends and foes alike that France was in for the conquest of Mexico. The United States weren't able to protest until May 6th of 1862, but by that date, the legendary Battle of Puebla or Cinco de Mayo (May 5th, 1862) had already taken place.

There were four factors that contributed to the end of such occupation:

• When Mexico City fell to French forces, the Mexican legitimate government and its supporters resorted to guerrilla warfare. This made the occupation of Mexico a very difficult proposition, especially if you take into account the large size of Mexico, which is three and a half times the size of France.

• It was very expensive for France to provide the arms and financial support required to continue the occupation of Mexico, as most military supplies had to be transported from France.

• Prussia became a threat to France, and Napoleon III saw the need to recall all his troops around the world in the event of a confrontation with such European power.

• Finally when the American Civil War (1861-1865) ended, the American government provided financial and diplomatic support to Mexico. No American troops were involved in the Franco-Mexican War.