Mexico

## Map

Mexico, officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: *Estados Unidos Mexicanos)* is a country located in North America, bordering the United States of America to the north and the Nationalist Central State to the south. Its capital and largest city is Mexico City. Its territory is 2,190,830 km2 (845,884 square miles), making it the 12th biggest country in the world.

Mexico is the 10th most populous country in the world with approximately 138,479,427 inhabitants.

## History

### Mesoamerica

Humans first discovered modern-day Mexican territory around 30,000 years ago, however, the first *major* civilizations appeared around the year 2500 BC.

#### Olmecs

The Olmecs settled on south-eastern Veracruz and western Tabasco. Their most important areas were La Venta (Tabasco) and Tres Zapotes. They were dedicated to agriculture, mainly cultivating corn and cotton. The Olmecs are also known for building giant heads with stone, standing at 2.7 meters (8'8 feet) tall.

It's unknown why the Olmecs disappeared, but it is thought that they were invaded by a rival tribe, which caused the abandonment and destruction of some cities; it is thought that the Olmec culture spread through migration. They dispersed in different places: some went to the Mayan region, some migrated to the centre of Mexico and others to the north. Those who went to the centre arrived at city of Cuicuilco, but it disappeared due to the eruption of the Xitle volcano; that is why they were forced to travel to other places, thus reaching parts of the states of Morelos, Mexico, Oaxaca and Chiapas.

#### Teotihuacán

During the years of 200 to 900 AD, the cultures in Mesoamerica went through their most technologically advanced period. The largest pyramidal foundations in all of Mesoamerica were built, such as the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacán or the Temple of the Two-Headed Serpent in Tikal, Guatemala.

The cities in this period grew a lot until they reached their maximum population, such as Teotihuacán, Monte Albán and Tikal. These cities maintained close matrimonial, commercial and political alliances between the priest-kings. This is known because in the entrance of each city there were stone monuments that meant that Teotihuacán ambassadors were coming; Mayan and Zapotec products such as ceramics, jade beads, shells and sea snails have been found modelled in Teotihuacán.

Teotihuacán became the main city of this period, it was located in the area of ​​the central highlands, which allowed its inhabitants to take advantage of natural resources such as obsidian to make weapons, tools and utensils. They also have gods of rain and fertility such as Quetzalcóatl (which means "feathered serpent") and Tlaloc (which means: "nectar of the earth", although this God was also venerated in the Mayan and Zapotec cultures).

The city of Teotihuacán maintained close relations with other cultures, such as the Mayans and Zapotecs. With the Mayans they had matrimonial alliances, through commercial agreements with Teotihuacán-Palenque and Uxmal. With the Zapotecs they maintained a relationship between Teotihuacán and Monte Albán.

The cause of decline of the Teotihuacan culture is unknown, some researchers say it could be due to the over-exploitation of natural resources, invasions by other peoples and some internal conflicts.

#### Mayans

The Mayan Culture is another important civilization that lasted thousands of years. The Mayan civilization developed exquisite art and architecture, the most advanced writing system in the New World, much literature, and astronomical and mathematical knowledge. Among the latter, the use of a more precise calendar than the one used in Europe at the time stands out, and being one of the pioneering civilizations in the use of the number zero.

They settled on the Yucatan peninsula (Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Chiapas and Tabasco) and modern day territories of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Their territory was large, so they had to split it into three areas.

The Maya used limestone to make pyramidal foundations, temples, platforms, and ball courts; although they also used this material to make various monuments and sculptures. Among these, the stelae stand out, which were carved stone columns with important characters along with their name, date of birth or date of death. In their mural paintings, they represented everyday scenes, such as fishing, festivals and ritual ceremonies related to war. For aesthetic reasons, the Mayans used to deform the skull of children and cause strabismus.

There are many theories on why the Maya people fell, such as overpopulation, environmental degradation, warfare, shifting trade routes and extended drought, and even a combination of all of these.

#### Zapotecs

The Zapotec culture inhabited what is now the state of Oaxaca, southern Guerrero, and southern Puebla. They were distinguished for their excellent weavers and potters, and had notable advances in their writing, architecture and calendrical knowledge.

Their summit city was Monte Albán, which had its splendour from the year 200 and until its weakening around 900. The ceremonial city of Monte Albán was built on top of a mountain, with buildings oriented like the stars using the technique of slope and board; Pyramidal foundations, ball courts and an arrowhead observatory were built, located where the constellation of Orion is known to be today. Like Teotihuacán, it is unknown why Monte Albán weakened.

Society was divided into priest-rulers, merchants, warriors, artisans, war slaves, and sacrificial tributes. According to the duties of each one, the economy was controlled and from it the control of agriculture and the progress of the cities.

#### Toltec

The postclassic period lasted from the 900 to 1521 AD and is characterized by a large increase in armed conflicts. The great importance of the war, the codices and the writings can be appreciated in the ceramics, in addition to the fact that a notable detail is the architectural style of the buildings.

The Toltec culture developed between 900 and 1150 AD. The Toltecs dominated the Huasteca region, in part of what is now San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas, as well as central Mexico such as Hidalgo, where the ceremonial centre and capital called: Tollan-Xicocotitlan, better known as Tula, was located. The economy was based on an agriculture of extensive cultivated fields irrigated by complex canal systems, where corn, beans and amaranth were the main crops. Society was divided into several groups. The most privileged were military, officials, the supreme ruler and the priests, who were at the service of the military caste and were in charge of attending the cult, the calendars and the count of time. Traces of a fire have been found in Tula, so it is thought that the end of this city was very violent.

#### Mixtec

Another postclassic culture is the Mixtec, which developed from 1300 to 1522 AD. C., concluding with the conquest of the Spanish. They covered a region called the Mixteca that included the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and parts of the state of Puebla and Chiapas. According to their mythology, the Mixtecs were descendants of the children of the Apoala tree.

The main divinity of the Mixtecs was Dzahui, god of rain and patron of the Mixtec nation, another divinity of great importance was Nine Wind-Coo Dzahui, a civilizing hero who gave them the knowledge of agriculture and civilization. During pre-Hispanic times, Mixtec society was characterized by its high hierarchy. The subsistence of the Mixtecs was based on agriculture, the ecological and topographical conditions of the territory of this people conditioned the development of certain crops adapted to the diversity of environments in the Mixteca.

#### Mexica

Towards the middle of the 14th century, the Mexicas arrived in the Valley of Mexico, according to the myth they came from a place to the north called Aztlán and from there they took up elements of other cultures. They were called the people of the sun, since it was the one they venerated, thanks to their military power from the Mexicas (or Aztecs) and they founded their great capital with great military power: Mexico-Tenochtitlán. When they forged a great empire and formed the Triple Alliance with Texcoco and Tlacopan. War was a very common practice to be able to extend their empire, the conquered peoples delivered products such as gold, silver, jade and Quetzal feathers. They developed knowledge that reflected religious beliefs.

The Aztec empire fell on the year 1521, with the conquest of Tenochtitlán by the Spanish.

### Spanish conquest of Mexico

After the expeditions of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and Juan de Grijalva. Hernán Cortés and his people arrived in Cozumel and reached the shores of Tabasco, where they were fought by the Chontals, in Centla. In that region, Cortés founded the Villa de Santa María de la Victoria and received as a gift the bilingual Nahuatl-Maya, Malintzin, a slave who served along with Gerónimo de Aguilar as a valuable interpreter for foreigners.

The Spanish headed for the coast of Veracruz, where they entered the interior of Mesoamerica. They established alliances with some indigenous peoples and advanced to Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Along the way they defeated the allies of the Mexica, as happened in Cholula. Moctezuma Xocoyotzin received the Spaniards peacefully, but the Massacre of Tóxcatl put the Mexicas on a war footing.Cuitláhuac defeated the invaders in 1520,but died during the huey cocoliztli epidemic.

The Tlaxcalans, Texcocans and Totonecas formed a conglomerate that had allied with the Spanish, a decisive factor in the battles against the Mexica. Cuauhtémoc, the last Tenochca tlatoani, was captured on August 13, 1521, and executed in 1525. After occupying Mexico-Tenochtitlan, the Spanish set out to conquer the rest of New Spain in a process that lasted the entire viceregal period. The military conquest was accompanied by the Christianization and acculturation of the indigenous peoples, which led to a process of cultural syncretism.

Once Tenochtitlan was subdued, the Spanish soldiers were able to subdue the center of the territory. Hernán Cortés assumed the government as Captain General of New Spain.

### Viceroyalty of New Spain

In 1527 the Audiencia de México was established. The first viceroy was Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco and he ruled from 1535. New Spain was ruled by 63 viceroys during the almost 300 years of Spanish domination. Spanish domination faced indigenous resistance, which manifested itself on some occasions by means of arms, such as the Chichimeca War (1546), the Mixtón War (1540-1551), the Pericú Rebellion (1734-1737) and the Mayan rebellion of Cisteil (1761).

The base of the New Spain economy was mining. The discovery of deposits, notably Zacatecas and Guanajuato, gradually allowed New Spain to occupy a privileged position. Mining allowed the development of other associated activities, especially the mills and agriculture, which turned the Bajío regions and the valleys of Mexico and Puebla into prosperous agricultural regions and incipient industrial activity. The minerals were minted exclusively in the Royal Mexican Mint; the Real de a 8 became, due to its amount, high grade and quality, the currency preferably used in the international transactions of the Empire

The territory of New Spain was large enough for there to be a large number of indigenous peoples and a wide variety of languages, not excluding Europeans. During the three hundred years of New Spain there were different legal provisions that affected the trade and prosperity of New Spain. In general, their level of prosperity was the highest in America, especially the residents of Mexico City, Puebla de los Ángeles, Villa Rica de la Veracruz, Acapulco and Zacatecas.

Despite the fact that as a general rule an integration policy was proposed, the political reality that imposed the granting of important posts to the Spanish bureaucracy (especially since the arrival of the Bourbons, who advocated the French model of colonization, against whom criollos or children of Spaniards born in Mexico began to resent it). In addition, divisions as serious as the castes in Yucatan were created. During the viceregal period, many of the traditions and institutions that have evolved, in accordance with the character of the Mexican people, in many of the Mexican characteristics of today were gestated.

### Independence

The French occupation of Spain detonated several sovereignist movements in the American possessions. In 1808 a political crisis took place in New Spain that ended with the removal of Viceroy Iturrigaray through a coup d'état. In other parts of the viceroyalty, conspiracies against Spanish rule were forged, but they were suppressed. On September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called the town of Dolores (Guanajuato) to the insurgency, starting the war of independence. Hidalgo is responsible for the abolition of slavery in Mexico. In 1811, he and the leaders of the movement were arrested and shot.

The insurgent movement was strengthened in the center of New Spain under the command of José María Morelos y Pavón, who stood out for his ability as a military strategist. In 1813 he convened the Anahuac Congress, which proclaimed the independence of North America and gave the country its first constitution, promulgated in Apatzingán. Morelos was captured and shot in 1815.

Starting in 1815, the independence fighters entered into a defensive and fragmented war. The campaign of Pedro Moreno and Francisco Xavier Mina in 1817 advanced rapidly from Tamaulipas towards the center of New Spain, but was finally defeated. The pardon offered by Viceroy Apodaca encouraged the desertion of many insurgents. The rehabilitation of the Cadiz Constitution in 1820 affected the New Spain elite, who agreed with the insurgents for independence from the viceroyalty. Agustín de Iturbide leaned on Vicente Guerrero and together they promulgated the Plan of Iguala in 1821. When Juan O'Donojú, the last appointed viceroy, arrived in New Spain, he signed the act of independence from Mexico on September 28, 1821.

### Republics and Empires

#### First Mexican Empire

After the signing of the Treaties of Córdoba, a provisional government was installed, which in accordance with the aforementioned document established a parliamentary Monarchy, first installing a regency as executive power, which functioned until the coronation of Agustín de Iturbide as emperor in 1822. The economic and political situation of the Empire was weak and led to the proclamation of the Casa Mata Plan, which proposed the establishment of a republic. The republican insurrection triumphed in 1823, leading to Iturbide's exile and the separation of Central America.

#### First Federal Republic

The Constituent Congress promulgated the Constitution of 1824, establishing a republican and federal regime in the country. The first president was Guadalupe Victoria. From the government of Victoria, the country had a conflictive political life due to the confrontation of different factions. The central character throughout the first half of the 19th century was Antonio López de Santa Anna. He rose to power eleven times; five of them as liberal and the other six as conservative. The conflicts between liberals and conservatives (in any of its variants as antagonistic sides: republicans against monarchists and federalists against centralists) caused coups, revolts, riots and even civil wars. All of the above forced a large number of elected officials to resign a few months after exercising responsibility, or to appoint a substitute while they reorganized the defense of the country or the regime.

#### Centralist Republic

In 1833, President Valentín Gómez Farías ordered a series of liberal reforms that provoked a conservative reaction, which led to the dissolution of the first federal republic and the installation of a centralist republic. The promulgation of the Seven Laws in 1835 provoked separatist movements in several departments, all repressed except in Texas, which consummated its independence in 1836. In 1841 Yucatan separated from Mexico and did not rejoin the country until 1848.

##### Mexican-American War

Mexico faced US invasion between 1846 and 1848, as a result of the territorial claims of Texas, which had been annexed to the United States in 1845. In the midst of the war, the Federalists reinstated the 1824 Constitution. At the end of the conflict, the Mexican government was forced to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo by which he gave more than half of the country to the United States (the current states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah; and portions of Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming). At the end of the war, clashes between political factions continued, which led to Santa Anna's arrival in power for the eleventh and last time (1853-1855), which he exercised with a dictatorial character. In 1854 the Liberals rose up in arms led by Juan Álvarez; the insurrection deposed Santa Anna and installed the liberals in the government in the year in which the sale of La Mesilla became effective, a territory of present-day Arizona that the United States bought from Mexico in its expansionist desire

#### *Leyes de Reforma* and Second Mexican Empire

The promulgation of the Liberal Reform Laws affected the interests of various groups, particularly the Church. In 1857 the new Mexican Magna Carta was promulgated. Among other things, the document established a secular state in Mexico. After Ignacio Comonfort's self-coup d'etat, Benito Juárez assumed the presidency. Then the Reform War began, which ended with a new defeat for the conservatives. Starting the following year, they would try to seize power again, supported by the French intervention that created the Second Mexican Empire, headed by Maximilian of Habsburg. The French invasion and the empire ended in 1867 with the surrender of the Conservatives and the execution of Maximilian in Santiago de Querétaro.

#### Porfiriato

Benito Juárez continued in the presidency until his death in 1872. The last years of his government were harshly criticized by the various liberal factions. Juárez was succeeded by Lerdo de Tejada. After a rebellion caused by Lerdo's intentions to be re-elected, Porfirio Díaz became president in 1876. Thus began the Porfiriato. During that period, foreign and national investment was favored with great privileges by the government, which favored economic development. In contrast, the living conditions of the workers and peasants continued without major changes. The political opposition was eliminated by force, and the rebels were exiled or forced to work in places like Valle Nacional, the Yaqui river valley, or Yucatán.

#### Mexican Revolution

Some social outbreaks such as the strikes of Cananea (1906) and Río Blanco (1907), revealed the discomfort with the regime. The presidential elections of 1910 gave Díaz victory over Francisco I. Madero, who had been imprisoned. Escaped from prison, he called to arms in the San Luis Plan. On November 14, the revolution was brought forward with the taking of Cuchillo Parado. On November 20, numerous groups from different social classes joined the rebellion, raising various flags. Among other leaders of the Revolution are Pascual Orozco, Álvaro Obregón, Francisco Villa, Venustiano Carranza and Emiliano Zapata. Díaz resigned on May 24, 1911 and went into exile in France, where he died and was buried.

In February 1913, Victoriano Huerta's coup d'état concluded with the assassination of Madero and Vice President José María Pino Suárez.106 Huerta was deposed in 1914 with the Taking of Zacatecas. With the purpose of unifying the revolutionaries, Carranza he summoned the Aguascalientes Convention, which he ignored and defeated to reach the presidency. In 1917 Carranza promulgated the Constitution that currently governs Mexico. The conflict between factions culminated in the assassinations of Zapata (Chinameca, 1919), Carranza (Tlaxcalantongo, 1920), and Villa (Parral, 1923).

Carranza was succeeded by members of the Sonora group, among whom there was always discord. In 1924, Plutarco Elías Calles came to power, creating the Bank of Mexico and facing the Cristero War. At the end of his term, Álvaro Obregón was elected for the second time as president, but he was assassinated before taking office. The periods of the three presidents that followed are known as Maximato, because they governed under the line of Calles, who was called the Maximum Chief of the Revolution. In 1929, the National Revolutionary Party (PNR) was founded, the forerunner of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

### Contemporary Mexico

In 1934, Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was elected president for the first six-year period (1934-1940). Cárdenas banished Calles, promoted education, the Agrarian Reform and decreed the nationalization of oil. His successor, Manuel Ávila Camacho, stopped the agrarian distribution, reconciled with the nascent industrial bourgeoisie and faced the beginning of the Second World War.

During the 1950s, Mexico experienced a time of great economic development known as the Mexican Miracle. This development was favored by the post-war recovery environment. In 1960 the electrical industry was nationalized. Economic development was reflected in the increase in infrastructure and public services and social protection. As a consequence of the strengthening of the State, a series of client corporations associated with the government were developed that caused conflict with independent organizations. This was the case during the railroad workers' strike of 1959. The demand for greater political freedoms was expressed in various ways, most notably by the student movement of 1968, which ended with the murder of students by the Army in Tlatelolco, and in the various guerrillas that appeared in various parts of the country and were violently repressed by the State.

At the end of the 1970s, the Mexican economy showed signs of exhaustion that led to bankruptcy at the beginning of the following decade, in the context of an oil boom. As a result of opposition pressure, a political reform was introduced in 1977 that legalized the leftist opposition. During the following years, most parastatal companies were privatized. In 1985, various parts of the center and west of the country were shaken by an earthquake that left thousands dead and missing, most of them in the capital city. During the government of Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994), Mexico experienced an economic rebound based on the privatization of state companies and the opening to foreign investment. In 1994, when NAFTA entered into force, the Zapatista uprising and the assassinations of the official candidate for the presidency of the republic, Luis Donaldo Colosio, and that of Senator José Francisco Ruiz Massieu shook the political scene in Mexico. The economy entered a recession known as the December error, positioned as the first crisis of globalization.

It came to light in the Mexican state of Chiapas on January 1, 1994, when a group of armed indigenous people occupied several municipal seats on the same day that the North American Free Trade Agreement came into force, during the government of Carlos Salinas de Gortari, destabilizing the Mexican political system and questioning its promises of modernity. Their goal was the overthrow of the elected president and the establishment of a participatory democracy. After the military repression to which his revolution was subjected, he decided to undertake political activity while maintaining a radical left character. Its command is called the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee-General Command (CCRI-CG) of the EZLN. On December 22, 1997, 45 Tsotzil indigenous people were murdered while praying in a church in the community of Acteal, in the state of Chiapas. Those directly responsible for the massacre were paramilitary groups opposed to the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN).

In 2000, the PRI lost the presidency after 71 years in power, when Vicente Fox won the presidential elections. He was succeeded in the government by Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, who came to the presidency in the midst of the disputed presidential elections of 2006. In that same year the war against drug trafficking began, which has left more than 350,000 dead, of which 15, occurred in 2010. The PRI returned to the presidency in the 2012 elections, this time refuted by the opposition for the irregular use of economic and media resources by the winning candidate Enrique Peña Nieto. His six-year term unfolded within the framework of a resurgence of the War against organized crime, which reached record figures of violence at the end of his term. At the same time, various officials at various levels, including the president, were involved in relevant cases of corruption that increased the levels of social discontent.

The former head of government of the Federal District and presidential candidate of the Left in 2006 and 2012, Andrés Manuel López Obrador ran again for a presidential election, this time with the coalition *Juntos Haremos Historia* ; He achieved victory on the electoral day of July 1, 2018 with 53.3% of the votes cast, in addition to obtaining a majority in the chambers of deputies and senators.

### 2022 - Present Day

In the decade of the 2030s, the United States of America faced a war against Germany which resulted in a german victory. As part of the terms, Germany ceded to Mexico souther Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. They were incorporated as completely new states. (Texas and La Mesilla) (Arizona and New Mexico were merged into one.)

The 2040s were almost uneventful. In mid-decade another state was incorporated to the Mexican territory, which was known as Florida as a deal with the United States, but ended up getting independence just a year later. In 2047, Mexico became one of the founding members of Congress of Philadelphia and remained a member until 2050, when the alliance was disbanded due to conflicts between the nations.

That same year (2050) Mexico (along Brazil and Chile) became a part of the Latin Quartet and participated in a war against The Gulf Confederation and the United States. Mexico now oversees the Floridian state of Ajacutla (*Náhuatl: **Place of Many Lakes***) and is actively helping in rebuilding the area.

To this day, Mexico still remains a part of the Latin Quartet. And it's leader still wants a wife.

**To be continued, perhaps.**