After a period of national crisis due to the collapse of a conservative government resisting liberal all-over reform, Mexico was in the process of rebuilding it's government and society. Napoleon III, showing his imperialist roots, saw this time as an opportunity to occupy Mexico with little to no resistance and to deny with hostility the tenets of the Monroe Doctrine.  A stronghold in Mexico would threaten future US bids at establishing world power.   Two birds with one stone, so to speak.  He banked on the United States' preoccupation with their own little skirmish, the Civil War, and was backed by the Spanish and the English.

However, Napoleon III was in for a HUGE surprise.  On May 5, the French army, with the help of rebel Mexican nationals (read:  conservative nationals that would support a monarchical, religious state), about 8,000 strong, invaded the state of Puebla.  The French army, though, was met with less than 5,000 Mexican soldiers led by Ignacio Zaragosa (A TEXAN!).  Using sound strategies, Zaragosa and the Mexican army disarmed the French artillery and they were forced to retreat.  Zaragosa sent a one line message to Juarez:  "The national arms have been covered with glory."

The small Mexican army had defeated the great French imperialists in what became the most famous battle of the French Intervention.  Although not the deciding battle, as the victory was soon overturned and France put Austrian Archduke Maximilian in place as a puppet ruler, it was nonetheless important because it was it did several things for Mexico and the Americas:

-It boosted the morale of the Mexican army and filled the people of Mexico with pride and hope.

-It symbolized the right of people to defend themselves against strong, powerful, imperialist nations.

-It marked the beginning of the end of European occupations in the Americas by inadvertently upholding the tenets of the Monroe Doctrine, which proclaimed that the U.S. and the Americas (lands of the Western Hemisphere) were to no longer be colonized by or have affairs interfered with by European powers.

-It also inadvertently diverted funds from Napoleon's coffers and kept France from supplying the Confederate Army in the U.S. Civil War. Napoleon had hoped for a quick Southern victory to re-establish France's place in the textile (cotton) industry. He also was banking on the fact that a Confederate win would open the door to conquering Mexico and Central America.

In 1867, after several years of occupation, France was faced with U.S. pressure to retreat and the loss of support from other European countries and Napoleon III was forced to withdraw his hold in Mexico, but Puebla and populations in the U.S. remember and celebrate the famous against-all-odds victory in Puebla 148 years ago.

So today, we celebrate Cinco de Mayo with food, friends and tasty beverages. But,remember to  raise your tasty beverage to Zaragosa and the small but mighty Mexican army!