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Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday that celebrates the country's victory over France 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 Mexico itself, information technology has since been transformed past Mexican-Americans into a celebration of Mexican culture and ingenuity. Cinco de Mayo should not be confused for Mexico's Independence Day, which is celebrated on September 16th and commemorates the 1810 telephone call to arms that started Mexico'southward war of liberation from Espana.

Background

Cinco de Mayo'south history begins in 1861 when the president of United mexican states, Benito Juarez, temporarily stopped paying back financial debts to foreign countries to instead focus on addressing the damage years of infighting in the country had caused. Britain, Espana and France objected to the decision and sent ships to pressure the president to change his listen.

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While Mexico was able to negotiate with Spain and Britain, who then pulled back their forces, French republic 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 person soldiers, while Mexico had a ragtag group of betwixt 2,000 and 4,000 men, about of whom were of ethnic and specially Zapotec heritage.

France quickly seized the major port city of Vera Cruz, forcing Mexico to fortify the city 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 end, France suffered somewhere between 500 to k casualties, United mexican states saw fewer than 100. The war waged on for five more than years, with the Puebla later being captured by the French and then liberated, only in the end, 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, Full 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 than. Since 2012, the metropolis of Puebla also holds its annual International Mole Festival on that day, with exotic kinds of mole sauce from around the world bachelor to try besides as Puebla'south famous mole poblano.

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

Cinco de Mayo in the United States

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