Cinco de Mayo

It is that time of year again and amidst all the celebrations (moreso in the US than in Mexico for some reason) it is important to remember a few facts about this holiday.

Cinco de Mayo - A Few Facts

Today the people of Mexico celebrate "Cinco de Mayo" -the holiday celebrated in honor of the republican victory over the French Imperial Army at Puebla on the 5th of May, 1862. Republican leader Benito Juarez had bet everything on holding Puebla even though up to that time the French had been everywhere victorious. When the Mexican republicans (there were Mexican conservatives fighting alongside the French) under General Ignacio Zaragoza (a Tejano born in Goliad, Texas) succeeded in defeating the French a jubilant President Juarez immediately declared May 5th a national holiday. For those who care to know what Cinco de Mayo is all about, most know at least that much.

However, what many may not know is that, traditionally, May 5th has not been that big of a deal in Mexico. It is moreso today but even that is mostly because it became so widely known that May 5th was being much more widely celebrated in places in the U.S. like Texas and California by Mexicans no longer living in Mexico. The popular image is of a tiny band of ragged but fierce Mexican soldiers driving back an immaculate army of French dandies. In fact, the odds were not grossly uneven with about 4,500 Mexican republicans facing 6,000 French Imperial troops. The French attack was not well planned, but even then it was a lack of ammunition that finally forced their retreat.

Most importantly however, and this is unpopular and so will probably never be accepted, is the fact that for all the celebrations of the battle of May 5th the whole thing was really pointless for the Mexican republicans. It only delayed the inevitable, Emperor Napoleon III sent reinforcements to Mexico, reorganized the army command and the following year on May 17 the city of Puebla surrendered to the French and shortly thereafter Juarez abandoned Mexico City and fled north, clearing the way for the organization of a new government which eventually established the II Mexican Empire under Maximilian. For the rest of the reign of Maximilian the city of Puebla was under French, Mexican Imperial and Austrian protection. It was not until the final days of the empire that Puebla was retaken by the Juaristas on April 2, 1866. So, in looking at the big picture, one has to wonder just how worth celebrating the 5th of May is, even for those on the republican side. It really only serves to show just how few and far between their victories were in open battle against the imperialist forces.

Royal Events of the 5th of May

Around here Cinco de Mayo is mostly celebrated in recognition of the battle of Puebla in which the Mexican republicans defeated the French Imperial Army. However, there are far better things I would like to remember the day for. For example, it was on 5 May that the great Kublai Khan became ruler of the Mongol Empire in 1260. On 5 May in 1640 King Charles I of Britain dissolved the Short Parliament (no monarch ever does so great a national service as when they dissolve parliaments). On May 5, 1821 the former Emperor Napoleon I of France died in exile on St Helena island, in 1941 it was the day that Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia returned to his capital and declared May 5 "Liberation Day" and it was on May 5, 1950 that HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned King of Thailand. He remains the longest serving head of state in the world today.

May 5 is also the birthday of Emperor Uda of Japan, King Alphonso III of Portugal, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, the French Empress Eugenie and was the wedding anniversary of the late Princess Margaret of Great Britain. Any one of these would be a greater cause for celebration than the battle of Puebla and the victory of the liberal, anti-clerical, republican government of Benito Juarez. May 5 is also the feast day of Pope St Pius V who famously reformed the Catholic Church and dispatched the Christian fleet that won the epic battle of Lepanto in the Mediterranean. Certainly a far more worthy figure of celebration than a republican victory in Mexico.