【The Armchair Historian】世界歷史故事合集：普魯士、俄羅斯、拿破崙、二戰、大不列顛、意大利、美國 P16 - 法墨戰爭

Hi, I'm Griffin Johnson, the armchair historian. Today's video, how France fought Mexico to put an Austrian into power only to be stopped by the United States. I promise it'll all make sense soon. I'm very pleased to announce that today's video is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. More on that later. The Franco-Mexican War might seem like somewhat of a strange conflict, but you might be surprised to find out that this wasn't the first time that France and Mexico went to war, and in the same century, too. The one we're covering today is the second of these conflicts, typically referred to as the Second French Intervention in Mexico. Unfortunately, we don't have a witty sobriquet to refer to it as, like the Pastry War, which was what the First Intervention came to be known as. But funny nicknames aside, today we'll be discussing the prelude, course, and aftermath of the war that would be the beginning of the end for Napoleon III's imperial ambitions. Between 1857 and 1861, Mexico was embroiled in a civil war, fought between the conservatives, who espoused the Catholic Church and the central government, and the liberals, who espoused democracy and equality. The conflict began after the conservatives, who were unhappy with the results of the election and the reforms being instituted, rose up in revolt against the liberals. In 1861, the liberals won the war, with Benito Juarez being recognized as president, and bringing an end to the bloodshed in Mexico forever. Except that wasn't the end of it. See, during the civil war, both sides borrowed a lot of money from Spain, France, and Great Britain. When the liberals won, these powers expected them to pay compensation. Not only for the money that they borrowed, but for the money the conservatives also borrowed. The liberals weren't enthusiastic about the idea, to say the least. So the European powers decided that they would seize their recompense instead. The plan was simple. Strongarm Mexico into paying for the wall. Wait, that's not right. Strongarm Mexico into paying for the war. But Napoleon III had other plans. After all, he had a lot to live up to. His intention was not to simply collect debts, but to take over all of Mexico. And to do that, he would need a monarch who would serve as his puppet. That's precisely where Archduke Maximilian comes in. A Habsburg who had been approached by Mexican monarchists before, and could claim to be the rightful ruler of the now defunct territory in New Spain. In December 1861, the European coalition comprising France, Great Britain, and Spain captured Veracruz with little to no resistance. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but we believe that the invading force numbered some 6,000 men. Whereas the Mexican army could only field some 3,000 men at the time. With such a hefty numerical advantage, the Europeans crept ever closer to Mexico City, capturing three cities along the way. Then seemingly out of nowhere, another French fleet arrived, capturing Campeche in February 1862. That cleared the way for an entirely new French army to land in April, under the command of General Charles de Lorenzay. This army came not to collect debt, but to begin the conquest of the country. Napoleon III had thereby revealed his hand, and the British and Spanish decided that they would have none of it. I mean, did you really expect that the French and British would be able to work together? By the end of the month, only French troops remained on Mexican soil. France had to secure its precarious position, while reinforcements were shipped across the Atlantic. So it concluded a ceasefire with Mexico. But Lorenzay had other plans. He initiated a series of skirmishes, after which he laid siege to the city of Puebla. The Mexican general, Zaragoza, had about 4,500 men at his disposal. Stationed in a well-fortified position on two hills just northeast of the city. General de Lorenzay had 6,000 men. He immediately ordered a headlong attack against Puebla from the north, which was repelled. De Lorenzay then attacked again, bolstering his numbers by committing his reserves and orchestrating a diversionary attack on the eastern part of the city. Both attacks were initially more successful than the first, but they were repelled all the same. Nevertheless, de Lorenzay ordered a third attack. An ill-fated one, as his artillery was out of ammunition. It was a complete disaster. Now it was Zaragoza's turn. It's the climactic counterattack you've been waiting for, with the French being attacked on both flanks simultaneously by the Mexican cavalry and charged head-on by the infantry. The festival of Cinco de Mayo is actually meant to celebrate this victory, not Mexican independence. But the war was not won yet. On the eastern coast of Mexico, the French expanded their foothold until the end of 1862. When Zaragoza died, the French returned to Puebla under a different general, Elie Frederic Fauré. He was in less of a hurry to take it, and in March 1863, he besieged the city with 26,000 men. After a grueling two-month siege, the defenders, despite several relief efforts and sordid attempts, were forced to surrender in May 1863. The road to Mexico City now lay open to the French. In May, Juárez and the Mexican government took flight from the capital and made for Chihuahua. One week later, on June 7, 1863, French troops stormed Mexico City. The second phase of the French conquest of Mexico had now begun, installing Maximilian and keeping him in power. To convince him to take the crown, Napoleon provided him with results from a rigged election. He accepted the crown in October of that same year and began working on a series of progressive reforms, making the country more open to democracy, abolishing a Mexican form of serfdom, ending child labor and even limiting work hours. Mexican conservatives lent him tepid support. French and imperial Mexican forces remained victorious on the battlefield until the end of 1865, taking a number of cities and asserting control over Sinaloa and Jualisco. Their advance stalled thereafter, and in 1866,Juárez's Republican forces made a startlingly fast comeback, armed with American dollars and weapons. Up to that point, Americans had been busy fighting the bloodiest war in their history, but now that the United States were united once more, they were more than willing to enforce the Monroe Doctrine and thereby defend their southern border from European imperialists. Napoleon III was prudent enough to begin withdrawing troops, deciding that Mexico was not worth the damage to Franco-American relations. By the end of 1866, Maximilian had been abandoned. After fleeing Mexico City and being besieged in Querétaro for a few months, the Habsburg prince, who had traveled the Atlantic expecting to be welcomed with open arms as the bridge between the Old World and New, was captured by Mexican forces. His execution took place a month later, resulting in the restoration of a Republican Juárez government and the end of French intervention in Mexico. If you want to learn more about the Franco-Mexican War, then I highly recommend you watch an episode called Napoleon III and Evaluation from Professor Robert Wiener's lecture series, The Long 19th Century, on the site of today's sponsor, The Great Courses Plus. The Great Courses Plus is a subscription on-demand learning service with some of the best lectures and courses from top Ivy League professors. By subscribing, you will gain access to a massive library with over 11,000 video lectures about any major academic subject, like history, science, math, literature, music, philosophy, and more. The Long 19th Century is without a doubt one of my favorite lecture series. If you want a comprehensive history of the 19th century, this course is the one for you. Encompassing a grand total of 36 episodes. One of my first popular videos was actually made possible because of one of Wiener's lectures dedicated to the Crimean War. We invite you to start your free trial at The Great Courses Plus today by using my link, thegreatcoursesplus.com slash thearmchairhistorian or by clicking the link in the description below.