Mexico

Overview

Parties in Tijuana and Cancun, Mayan archaeological sites, Tabasco sauce and tequila are popular snapshots of this exciting country. The sprawl of the capital, Mexico City encloses the Historic Centre and gondola trip though the canals.

Natural sites include the volcanoes Iztaccihuatl and Popocatapetl, the Lagoons of Zempoala, the waterfall La Cascade de Eyipantla and Lacandon jungle. It is clear that Mexico holds a range of landscapes that have different ways of attracting visitors.

The Maya sites are especially alluring at Chichen Itza, Palenque and Uxmal while other archaeological sites of interest are Milla and Monte Alban. If the ghost town of Real de Catorce is too much then the beaches at Marueta, Zipolite or Acapulco should prove less so and it is at the latter that there is the chance to see people swallow diving from cliffs. Experience the running of the bulls at Aguascalientes, cockfights in Tijuana, hundreds of churches in Puebla or hiking in the Sierra Madre mountain range.

History

Highly advanced cultures including those of the Olmecs Mayas Toltecs and Aztecs existed long before the Spanish conquest. Hernando Cortes conquered Mexico during the period 1519-21 and founded a Spanish colony that lasted nearly 300 years. Independence from Spain was proclaimed by Father Miguel Hidalgo on September 16 1810; this launched a war for independence. An 1821 treaty recognized Mexican independence from Spain and called for a constitutional monarchy. The planned monarchy failed; a republic was proclaimed in December 1822 and established in 1824.    

Prominent figures in Mexico's war for independence were Father Jose Maria Morelos; Gen. Augustin de Iturbide who defeated the Spaniards and ruled as Mexican emperor from 1822-23; and Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana who went on to control Mexican politics from 1833 to 1855. Santa Ana was Mexico's leader during the conflict with Texas which declared itself independent from Mexico in 1836 and during Mexico's war with the United States (1846-48). The presidential terms of Benito Juarez (1858-71) were interrupted by the Hapsburg monarchy's rule of Mexico (1864-67). Archduke Maximilian of Austria whom Napoleon III of France established as Emperor of Mexico was deposed by Juarez and executed in 1867. General Porfirio Diaz was president during most of the period between 1877 and 1911.

Mexico's severe social and economic problems erupted in a revolution that lasted from 1910-20 and gave rise to the 1917 constitution. Prominent leaders in this period -- some of whom were rivals for power -- were Francisco I. Madero Venustiano Carranza Pancho Villa...more