01.05.02. History | Mexico

01.05.02. History | Mexico

11 Jul 2022

Pre-Columbian Mexico dates to about 8000 BC and was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilisations such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, and Maya which preceded the Aztec empire, conquered in 1519–1521 by the Spanish. Spain ruled Mexico as part of the viceroyalty of New Spain for the next 300 years until Sept. 16, 1810, representing the first uprising of the country, and which led to independence from Spain in 1821.

The post-independence period was tumultuous, characterised by economic inequality and many contrasting political changes. The Mexican American War (1846–1848) led to a territorial cession of the extant northern territories to the United States. In the 19th century there were several armed conflicts such as The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, two empires, and the Porfiriato, named after President Porfirio Díaz who remained in power for almost 30 years (1876 to 1911). The year 1910 saw the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which lasted 7 years and gave way to the enactment of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country’s current political system as a federal, democratic republic which is currently maintained.