Reconquista -How Spain reconquered Mexico .

mad orc

Banned
The FRCA civil war .

The battle of Chiapas as it was called was a very bloody affair .About 5500 federal troops were fighting more than 900 militia and some rebel regulars supported by Iman's army of 2500 disgrunted Mexicans .

The federals made good use of their artillery but were no match for the numerical superiority and the few but excellent cannons brought by Iman from Mexico .

After the battle however Morazan ordered all the prisoners higher than the lowest rank to be slaughtered .He also took over all the cannons and horses that he could find and ordered his own men to have both of these instruments of war to be made fit or to taken apart or in the horses's case ..............shot .

With this victory ,Morazan's supporters in the republic itself began to rise ,but his supporters in Mexico dwindled .
But Santa Anna said in an interview to a Belgian war correspondent that "One more victory and the Mexicans will throng the streets in rebellion even as our victorious armies enter Mexico having subdued the conservatives in here" .

The federal troops next managed to catch the liberal army at Puerto Barrios ,however there ,the local people rebelled against central rule and with their support ,that battle was too .
Now Puerto Barrios was just a few miles from the capital and it frightened the president to think of its implications .

He tried to improve things one last time at the battle of San Pedro Sul ,but despite having an army of 8500 ,he lost a climatic and well planned battle to the liberals led by another general called Diego Vigil Cocaña(Whose portrait is given below) who had only 6000 troops but was a master tactician and had planned the battle on a ground where his light cavalry would be superior .

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Finally after this battle ,the president found it more better to leave the capital and take Spanish help rather than to defend it .

Now viceroy Zaldua had prepared himself for such a scenario and not only did he welcome the FRCA president with open arms ,but also had an army ready for him .
Obviously though ,he had a few clauses .These will be discussed later .

The arrival of the Spanish ,while being extremely game changing ,did not seem so to most of the people of FRCA at that time .
They were happy in the thought that most of their fellowmen would defend the nation with pride along with the troops of the liberal leaders and those of Iman and Santa Anna .

They however appeared to have forgotten what had happened to the conservative president .

The Spanish plan was different ,they could spare only 6000 troops which where extremely more superior and well trained than any central american forces .
But they did not want a war of attrition which could help the numerical superiority of the Central American troops .
Their plan was to go straight for the capital at Guatemala .

But these plans somehow leaked and the Liberal troops caught them on difficult terrain at the battle of Sayaxche .

Now the liberals were more than 10000 and for the first time the Spanish troops wavered .

But the superiority of the Spanish army only got a larger and more glorious challenge to manifest itself .Its rifles made mincemeat of the liberal armies .
But the reader would do better to understand the shock by reading the statistics of the battle in a European newspaper .

Battle of Sayaxche .
26 June 1840.

Spanish army .
General Juan Almonte.
Army -5700 troops .
Casualties -900 men .

Central American rebel army .
General -Diego Vigil Cocaña .
Army -10200 troops.
Casualties -8600 men .

Many called it the most decisive battle in Latin American history .

The battle completely broke the back of the liberal troops .
Morazan and Cocana fled to Columbia ,Iman fled to Brazil while Santa Anna fled to Chile .

A local newspaper in Edinburgh had at the same time had an interview for an amateur cartoonist and while the father failed to make it ,his small son of six copied one of his father's entries for the interview that he had proposed to display but hadn't at the last moment .
The son's rendition was extremely funny and was supplied to a London paper by someone where the man (Who we mentioned earlier in Edinburgh) became famous and apart from this cartoon(The son's version) being published ,he also got a job .
Below is the son's funnier rendition which forced a smile on many European faces .
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mad orc

Banned
The treaty of Sayaxche and federalism in California.

After taking the capital ,viceroy Zaldua decided to march back to the historic site of Sayaxche and he signed the treaty there .
The remaining liberals surrendered and agreed to be house arrested.
Also according to the terms of the treaty .
1)The FRCA would give up their part of Chiapas to the Viceroyalty of Mexico .
2)The FRCA would agree to a trading agreement giving special rights to all traders from Mexico .
3)The FRCA would sign an immediate alliance with Mexico .
4)Many liberal members of the central American parliament would be forced to resign from their positions .
5)The FRCA would allow a standing Spanish military presence about 2 Km inside their new borders(After taking out Chiapas ) .

Thus this treaty gave Spain infinite power in Central American politics and increased the nation's territory (Chiapas) .

Now that foreign affairs had been settled with ,the viceroy turned his attention to domestic ones .
He continued his quest for increased federalism with more vigour .
It was also by this time that things like tax collection and improved law began to cut through the hitherto carefree and semi independent lives of Californian people .

Below is a panoramic picture of Los Angeles in 1842 .........
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a map of Los Angeles ..............
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and a painting San Fransisco that same year drawn by official government painters to help in law and tax collection .

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Now the local Californios ,priests and Indians all ,were not at all accustomed to this level of interference by the central government .So they openly detested it .

The first time that the local tax man came to collect the dues ,they tried to bribe him away or offered him a fine horse in exchange for corruption in taxes ,but when he did not comply with them ,they threatened him .This was slowly evolving to a situation somewhat similar to the revolution in Tejas , 9 years before .

Also the central government was well aware that the Californians were stronger enemies and most of their strength came from the fact ,that to punish them ,a central army would have to cross the entire Sierra Madre .

In one such conference ,while other politicians debated wether or not to press the Californians any further ,the Viceroy Zaldua himself had a new idea .
"Brothers" he said .
"The Californians err........................lets say 'childish arrogance' comes from their thought that we cant cross the Sierra Madre .They believe that they are our citizens only in them ,already they have inaugurated a new flag for their state .There are even talks of secession from the crown .
That is unacceptable .They have to be disciplined .And hence i have a new proposal" he continued .

"But building new roads and paths from the Sierra Madre to California will take decades!" exclaimed a courtier .

"Yes i know that ,and while i have already given orders to start construction ,my proposal is of a different type .
Lets march an army 6000 strong through some of the most arid terrains of the desert and have a portrait painter and a writer record the journey ,lets make it national news .We shall name it ,the 'Expidition of the desert' " said Zaldua .

The next moment ,the whole conference was drowned in a big loud applause .

But it would take the government many months more to prepare for the expedition .
A Prussian ,Baron Alexander von Humboldt was chosen to lead the expedition .Expert cartographers and painters were appointed .
Below is a picture of the baron .
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The expedition set out on 13th February 1843 and while its story was very interesting ,it is for another time .
It reached California exactly on the stipulated time .

The Baron however took this as an opportunity to increase his own interest in Mexico .He received a land grant in Guanajuato .

But the trick worked and not only the Californians ,but all the anti federalists in general received a strong message .

By this time ,the 'Allianza' too had been swept up in the flood of Federalism and their military power had been exchanged for wealth and land grants .

The military presence was also maintained in almost as many borders of Mexico as the Spanish could afford .

Thus the viceroy and his court quickly strengthened Federalism in Mexico .
 
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A local newspaper in Edinburgh had at the same time had an interview for an amateur cartoonist and while the father failed to make it ,his small son of two copied one of his father's entries for the interview that he had proposed to display but hadn't at the last moment .
The son's rendition is extremely funny .
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That is hilarious. Awesome story man. I can't wait to see where this goes.
 

mad orc

Banned
That is hilarious. Awesome story man. I can't wait to see where this goes.
Thanks so much for commenting man ,though i did some slight changes to that newspaper story and would like to ask you to read it again .
Thanks again for commenting .Your comments mean a lot to me and motivate me much .:)
 

mad orc

Banned
Art ,daily life and social issues .

The coming of the Spanish apart from affecting politics ,also affected the daily life of the Mexicans ,even those belonging to the lower classes like the Indijos .
The painting 'Our Lady of Guadalupe' was banned and burnt in bonfires in the early 1830s itself as it had become a symbol of Mexican nationalism .Below is the painting .

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However ,rebels and separatists continued to use it .

Other ,more European art styles began to evolve in Mexico .
Romanticism evolved more quickly .
Below is a painting called 'Caudillo' ,one of the first romantic paintings of the period .

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Soon however this wave of romanticism also spread to the lower classes and paintings like 'Bandido' which is displayed below began to penetrate the art scene .

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Another painting of the era is more neoclassical ,its a casta painting by Carbona .
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Similarly ,architectural styles also evolved into 'Bigger is better' and 'European is better than Mexican' styles .
Mostly Spanish buildings were copied and one Belgian who visited Mexico city said that 'Mexico city is like a weird copy of Madrid and Lisbon ' .

A prime example of realist art is during the 'Sierra Madre ' expedition where the lower class artists showed the true craftsmen of the same ,the workers and labourers.

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It was towards the middle of the 1840s that social issues in Mexico began to first appear .
While their force was non existant at this period ,it was a sign ,that change would come soon .

The first Indians began to be educated and began to participate in matters of the state during this period .A prime example was a great pro-Indian lawyer called Benito Juarez who later went on to become an advisor to the viceroy .

Below is a photo of him in later years when he retired from politics and resumed being a lawyer .
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mad orc

Banned
The tension years of the 'Slavery debate' .

North of the border ,in the USA ,the slavery debate was in full swing by the 1850s .This era also led to the emergence of thugs like William Walker .

(Had to leave in a hurry ,so consider this a trailer) .
 
I hope we're not completely through with Santa Ana. He's like some bizarre reverse Napoleon, everywhere he goes its chaos and failure! I find myself hoping he gets involved with Chilean wars.
 
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