A very short History of Mexico

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Mexico is a huge country with an area of 758,249 sq mi ( 1,972,550 km²) inhabited by 108 million people. It is, by population, the third largest country in the Americas following the USA and Brazil. Mexico is the most populous Spanish speaking country in the world. Its population reflects Mexico's ancient and complicated history: about 70% are of Spanish-Amerindian (Mestizo) descent, 15% Amerindians, 12% Europeans and the rest Chinese, Arab, Philippine and Jewish minorities.

Between 1800 BC and 300 BC, complex cultures began to form. Many matured into advanced Pre-Colombian Mesoamerican civilizations such as the: Olmec, Izapa, Teotihuacan, Maya, Zapotec, Mixtec, Huaxtec, Purepecha,Toltec and Aztecs (Mexica) , which flourished for nearly 4,000 years before the first contact with Europeans.

In 1519, the native civilizations of Mexico were invaded by Spain, and two years later in 1521, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was conquered by an alliance between Spanish and Tlaxcaltecs (the main enemies of Aztecs) led by the most important of the early Conquistadores, Hernán Cortés. Because of constant rebellions, attacks, and continued resistance against the Spanish, it would take another two centuries, after the Siege of Tenochtitlan, before the Conquest of Mexico was completed. The colonial period, when Mexico was known as "Nueva España" or "New Spain", lasted to 1810,
In 1807, Spain was occupied by Napoleon and became powerless to control its overseas possessions. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Spanish Catholic priest with progressive ideas, supported by Spaniards who wanted to reinstate the Bourbon King in Spain, declared, in 1810 in the town of Dolores, Mexico independent from Spain. This act started a 11 year war, that ultimately led to the official recognition of independence from Spain in 1821, when the liberating army entered Mexico City. The Treaty of Cordoba recognized Mexican Independence.

Following Mexican independence, many Spanish possessions in Central America, which also proclaimed their independence were incorporated into Mexico from 1822 to 1823. The exception were Chiapas and some other Central American states. 

In an attempt to populate "empty fringe areas" the Mexican government awarded extensive land grants in remote areas such as the northernmost state of Coahuila y Tejas (Texas) to thousands of immigrant families from the United States, on the condition that the settlers convert to Catholicism, did not keep any slaves and assumed Mexican citizenship. 

Because of personal ambitions of various Generals, the First Republic was quite unstable, until Antonio López de Santa Anna took office in 1832. His abolition of the federal constitution, caused insurgencies in Yucatán and Coahuila y Tejas (Texas). Both areas sought independence from the Mexican government. Santa Anna's army eventually brought Yucatán to recognize Mexican sovereignty, Texas, led by relatively recently-arrived English-speaking settlers, declared independence from Mexico, with the Texan militias defeating the Mexican army and winning independence in 1836.

After accepting Texas's application for statehood in 1846, the US government sent troops to Texas in order to secure the territory, ignoring Mexican demands for US withdrawal. Mexico, despite having ignored Texas for ten years, saw this as a US intervention in internal affairs by supporting a "rebel" province.This led to the Mexican-American War (1846-48) during which Santa Anna was in and out of power. It ended in Mexico's defeat and the acquisition, partially through purchase, by the USA of vast territories north of the Rio Grande.

New Constitutions in 1856 and 1867 did little to establish stability and the constant confrontations between liberals and conservatives, the latter supported by a wealthy Catholic Church, continued. A short and bizarre intervention by the French and Napoleon III led to the Second Empire (1864-1867). But the Austrian born Habsburg Emperor Maximilian wanted to institute a liberal democratic Monarchy. This was opposed by the conservatives who abandoned him and he was ultimately executed.

Porfirio Díaz, a conservative General came to power in in 1876. This brought relative stability for a period of more than thirty years (1876–1911). Massive voter fraud on Diaz's re-election led to his resignation and the Mexican Revolution. The Federal Army was defeated by the revolutionary forces which were led by, amongst others, Emiliano Zapata in the South, Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco in the North, and Venustiano Carranza.

While the civil war may have subsided after 1920, armed conflicts did not cease. The conflict continued as a battle between forces favoring a secular society with separation of Church and State and those favoring supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church and social conservatives. This developed into an armed uprising by conservative supporters of the Church that came to be called "la Guerra Cristera." It is estimated that between 1910 and 1921 the country lost about 900,000 people in this struggle.

The constant struggle and changes of Presidents led to a deterioration of the economic conditions and in 1929, the National Mexican Party (PNM) was formed by the serving president, General Plutarco Elías Calles. The party later became the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) that ruled the country for the rest of the 20th century.) The PNM succeeded in convincing most of the remaining revolutionary generals to dissolve their personal armies to create the Mexican Army. Its foundation is considered by many to have been the real end of the Mexican Revolution.

After it was founded in 1929, the PRI monopolized all the political branches.The party is typically referred to as the three-legged stool, in reference to Mexican workers, peasants and bureaucrats. Its power base continued until the year 2000. The PRI brought stability to the country, but its long reign also brought endemic corruption.

The PRI did not lose a senate seat until 1988 or a gubernatorial race until 1989. It wasn't until July 2, 2000, that Vicente Fox of the opposition "Alliance for Change" coalition, headed by the National Action Party (PAN), was elected president. His victory ended the Institutional Revolutionary Party's 71-year hold on the presidency, though it did not end the PRI's significant hold on power in the legislative branch and the bureaucracy.