How was Mexico's war of independence connected to events elsewhere in the world at the time?

Answer 1

When Napoleon's Army invaded both Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular Wars (1807-1814), most criollos (people of Spanish ancestry who were born in the Americas) saw the opportunity to secede from the Spanish Empire. By 1825 most of Latin America became independent, with only some last bastions in Mexico, Peru, Chile and Argentina still being loyal to the Spanish Crown. By 1833 even these were defeated, and all attempts of reconquest by Spain had been already thwarted. Finally, in 1836 the Spanish government renounced to the sovereignty over continental America, with the exception of Cuba an Puerto Rico, which were lost during the Spanish-American War (1898).