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Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday that celebrates the country'south victory over French republic at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. It represents the triumph of Mexico over foreign interference. While the holiday is not a major occasion in most parts of United mexican states itself, it has since been transformed by Mexican-Americans into a commemoration of Mexican culture and ingenuity. Cinco de Mayo should not exist confused for United mexican states's Independence Twenty-four hours, which is historic on September 16th and commemorates the 1810 phone call to artillery that started United mexican states's state of war of liberation from Espana.

Background

Cinco de Mayo'due south history begins in 1861 when the president of Mexico, Benito Juarez, temporarily stopped paying back financial debts to strange countries to instead focus on addressing the damage years of infighting in the country had caused. United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, Spain and French republic objected to the decision and sent ships to pressure the president to change his mind.

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While Mexico was able to negotiate with Spain and Britain, who so pulled back their forces, France under Napoleon III decided to invade the country and create a puppet monarchy instead. The goal was to adjourn growing American influence in the New World while expanding French control. The French had around 6,000 professional soldiers, while Mexico had a canaille group of between ii,000 and iv,000 men, most of whom were of indigenous and particularly Zapotec heritage.

France rapidly seized the major port urban center of Vera Cruz, forcing Mexico to fortify the metropolis of Puebla de Los Angeles while bracing for the worst. The French arrived at Puebla on May 5, 1862, and the two armies fought from dusk until dawn. In the finish, France suffered somewhere between 500 to thousand casualties, United mexican states saw fewer than 100. The war waged on for five more years, with the Puebla later being captured by the French and then liberated, but in the stop, the French were driven from Mexico.

While the first Battle of Puebla wasn't a decisive victory, it proved that Mexicans could resist foreign powers, and that same year, the would-be Mexican emperor, Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, was captured and executed. Puebla de Los Angeles was even renamed Puebla de Zaragoza in honor of the commander of the Mexican forces, General Ignacio Zaragoza.

Cinco de Mayo in Mexico

Today, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in the state of Puebla with reenactments of the battle, military parades, speeches and more. Since 2012, the city of Puebla also holds its annual International Mole Festival on that day, with exotic kinds of mole sauce from around the globe available to try too as Puebla'south famous mole poblano.

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That said, most of the remainder of the country does not celebrate it. Cinco de Mayo is not a federal vacation in Mexico, so stores, schools and government offices by and large do non close for it.

Cinco de Mayo in the United States

Cinco de Mayo in the United States also wasn't a major occasion until Mexican-American civil rights activists turned the activity into a celebration of Mexican culture and victory over European invaders. The promotion of Mexican beer and liquor (particularly margaritas) as well spread the popularity of the holiday. Today, it is often historic every bit much past Americans who aren't of Mexican heritage every bit those who are. Parades, folk dancing, mariachi music and traditional (and non so traditional) Mexican foods are often part of celebrations, although the holiday is likewise sometimes used to reinforce negative Mexican stereotypes by not-Mexican-Americans. Cinco de Mayo is celebrated most widely in places with big Mexican-American populations, such as San Diego, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Houston, Denver, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C.