The History of Mexico, since the Partition
series of progressively more authoritarian governments in Mexico
resulted in the revocation of the 1824 constitution and the dictatorship
of Antonio López de Santa Anna in 1831. As part of a backlash to this
move towards the consolidation of power in the central government, the
north eastern state of Mexico rebels against Mexican rule. The unrest
soon leads to the declaration of "Der freie Zustand van Texas"
(The Texas Free State) or F.Z.T. After the initial embarrassment of Mexican
forces at the hands of the rebels, Santa Anna personally leads a punitive
expedition into the F.Z.T. Shortly after some initial limited
success, Santa Anna is confronted by a surprisingly well armed and trained
force of rebels, perhaps most notably the Askari Comanche. The
general is soon brought to a humiliating surrender at the battle of San Jacinto.
After the humiliation of Santa Anna in his looses in F.Z.T., he was
soon deposed in favor of a liberal constitutional government based on the
constitution of 1824. This rapid change in rule alienated many of the more
conservative elements within the other northern states of the Mexican.
These politically influential forces petition the regent of Queen Isabella II of Spain to intervene on their behalf. With the support of Britain and Prussia, the Spanish under the regent, Maria Cristina, claim the Mexican states of upper and lower California as New Spain. The Spanish royal forces land at Puerto de Monterrey in late 1839. The week central government of Mexico did not belive their army could effectually repel these battle hardened troops. In order to prevent an invasion of Mexico proper, as had occurred in 1829, the Mexican government cede their claims on these regions to the Spanish crown. Humiliated and being insufficiently powerful to effectively collect taxes the Mexican government soon becomes hopelessly burdened with crushing debt. The discovery of gold in the formerly Mexican state of upper California in 1848 leads to considerable economic and social upheaval. The viceroy of New Spain enacts a number of liberal reforms to assure peace among the newly cosmopolitan population of New Spain. Feeling crowed out of there own colony, the conservatives of New Spain begun to seek refuge once again in Mexico, were many still had substantial land holdings.
