During the 16th — 18th centuries, the European powers colonized most of America. The lands they occupied became objects of cruel exploitation. Not only the indigenous peoples were dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, but also the descendants of white settlers, who had significantly fewer rights than the inhabitants of the metropolitan areas.

As a result of the War of Independence of 1775-1783, a new state was formed - the United States of America. And in the course of the Napoleonic wars, when the European powers were not up to the problems of the New World, the uprisings in Latin America created the basis for a real parade of sovereignties. And Mexico was among the countries that actively fought for their independence. The war for sovereignty began on its territory in 1810 and ended with its recognition by Spain in 1821.

However, after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, Europe took a course towards the restoration of monarchies. In the early 1820s, leaders of a number of European countries agreed on joint opposition to the revolutionary demonstrations in Latin America, and at the same time they thought about the prospect of an invasion of the former Latin American colonies of Madrid in order to return them to the Spanish crown.

  • Caricature of the Monroe Doctrine
  • Gettyimages.ru
  • © Bettmann

But these ideas provoked a tough reaction from the United States. On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe, during his address to Congress, formulated a new foreign policy doctrine, the essence of which was that Washington assumed obligations not to interfere in the affairs of the Old World, but European countries, under the threat of a military response from the US, would stop trying to influence American of the state.

According to Yego Lidovsky, Director General of the Hugo Chávez Latin American Cultural Center, the Americans were not pursuing humanistic goals.

"The United States began to see Latin America as its backyard, where they must freely implement economic and political plans," the expert said.

Mexican revolution

In the middle of the XIX century, the country lost about half of its lands in the war with the United States and survived the Anglo-French-Spanish intervention - the invaders made an unsuccessful attempt to turn it into a monarchy, but were defeated. In 1867, Mexico again became a republic.

However, nine years later a coup d'état occurred in the country. General Porfirio Díaz came to power with US support. Manipulating voters and electoral procedures, he led Mexico for more than thirty years. During this period, about 60% of Mexican imports and 77% of exports came from the United States. The Americans controlled a significant part of the mining industry (including oil fields) and agriculture in Mexico. Changes in the legislation of Mexico, specifically introduced in 1884, allowed foreign companies to own not only land, but also its subsoil.

Although under Diaz, foreign investment came to Mexico, railways were built and formal economic growth was observed in the country, the real standard of living for the broad masses of the people declined.

Citing a lack of documents, Diaz massively seized land from peasant communities and Indians. If in the first half of the XIX century, communal land tenure accounted for about 40% of the land in the country, then at the beginning of the twentieth century - only 5%. Nearly 97% of Mexico’s rural population did not have their own land at the end of the Diaz reign. The farm laborers made up about two thirds of the total number of Mexicans. Only 19% of the population were literate. The lion's share of land became the property of large landowners, American and British corporations.

Peasants and Indian tribes raised uprisings, but they were brutally suppressed, in particular by the so-called rurals, a rural horse gendarmerie, whose rank and file consisted largely of criminals.

  • Rurales
  • © US National Archives and Records Administration / Wikipedia

In 1906, a strike took place in the Cananea American mines. The American staff opened fire on the workers and suppressed the performance, but the incident became a symbol of the aggravation of the situation in the country.

Gradually, relations between Washington and the Diaz regime began to deteriorate. The US authorities were unhappy that the official Mexico City creates preferences for British business, but reluctantly goes to meet the US in matters of territorial concessions and the lease of military bases. Therefore, the States decided to bet on oppositionist Francisco Madero, who initiated the uprising against Diaz. Under pressure from several rebel armies at once, Diaz was forced in 1911 to resign and leave the country. In October of the same year, Madero became president, having appointed his relatives to key positions in the government.

After the peasants realized that Madero was not going to solve the agrarian question, the former comrades raised an uprising against him. Madero appointed his ex-supporter Diaz - General Victoriano Worth.

  • Mexican Revolution, 1911
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  • © DEA / BIBLIOTECA AMBROSIANA

At first, the new president was lucky - he was able to beat those who had previously helped him to come to power. However, the situation in the country remained difficult, and in 1913 a group of the military rebelled against Madero. Worth only imitated the fight against the rebels, and then arrested the president and (as commander-in-chief) headed the country.

Although Worth did not carry out an agrarian reform, he returned some of the confiscated land to the Indians, took a number of steps to protect the rights of workers, and increased spending on education. In Mexico, they talked about establishing state control over oil production, which was extremely dangerous for American corporations. Worth recognized all the leading European powers, but not the United States.

As in the time of Diaz, several insurgent armies, adhering to ideologies of various kinds, acted against the central government under Worth. The position of the new head of state was complicated by the American embargo on the sale of his weapon.

Occupation of Veracruz

US warships have been off the coast of Mexico since February 1913. On April 9, 1914, a group of Americans, without the permission of the local military, attempted to go for kerosene to a warehouse in Tampico. The city at that time was under the siege of the rebel forces, it had a special regime. The behavior of foreigners was suspicious of the warehouse guard, and the Americans were detained.

They were released almost immediately, apologizing, but Washington caught on to this situation as a reason for conflict. The US authorities demanded a written apology and salute in deference to Mexicans to the American flag. Worth understood that the adoption of an ultimatum would become a national humiliation and could lead to an uprising, therefore he agreed to salute only if he received a counter-sign of respect from the American fleet. The US authorities did not agree to an "exchange of courtesies".

On April 20, the Americans learned that the ship Ipiranga was going to Veracruz with a cargo of weapons purchased for Mexico by Russian-German intermediaries. The US authorities first decided to seize it by force, but since formally there was no war between Germany, the States and Mexico, Berlin could regard their actions as piracy, so Washington corrected its plans. Weapons decided to select the Mexican customs. On April 21, 1914, 1,200 US marines and armed sailors landed in Veracruz, seizing the port, train station and telegraph.

The Mexican garrison consisted of only 600 soldiers, joined by several hundred civilian volunteers. The war ministry decided to withdraw the troops from the city, but it was too late - the fighting began. After the Americans lost four killed and several dozen people wounded, most of the US Atlantic Fleet reached Veracruz. Three thousand more paratroopers landed on the shore.

On April 22, the resistance of the Mexican military and volunteers was crushed by the superior forces of the invaders.

When defending Veracruz, 19-year-old Lieutenant José Azuet, a son of the head of the local naval academy, distinguished himself. The young man personally restrained the advancing USMC with machine gun fire until he received a heavy gunshot wound from an American sniper. The lieutenant was taken home, and the commander of the US squadron, Frank Fletcher, after the end of the fighting, expressed a desire to personally see him. However, the young man told that if an American admiral appeared, he would kill him or himself.

  • Lieutenant Jose Azuet when defending Veracruz against the Americans
  • © AlejandroLinaresGarcia / Wikipedia

The lieutenant refused any American assistance and soon died. The occupation administration has forbidden to organize the solemn funeral of the hero, but the residents of Veracruz, risking their lives, massively went to his last journey.

"Ipiranga" against the background of the conflict went to another port. Americans did not remember her. The occupying garrison was raised to eight thousand people. But these forces are still not enough for large-scale expansion. The US authorities initiated negotiations with various parties to the conflict and agreed to create a coalition government. However, this position soon lost its relevance - in July, Worth resigned, and the opposition that came to power, despite Washington’s loyalty, asked the Americans to leave Veracruz. Nevertheless, the occupation was delayed until November.

Worth tried to regain power, but was captured by the American authorities and thrown into prison, where he died of cirrhosis of the liver (historians do not exclude that he could be poisoned). In 1917, the opponent Werta Venustiano Carranza won the presidential election. The acute phase of the revolution ended, but the fighting with rebel groups continued for several more years. The change of power did not bring much relief to the people. Agrarian reform was carried out slowly, and American influence in the economy was limited only in the late 1930s.

Banana Wars

Occupation Veracruz historians call one of the episodes of the so-called Banana Wars - a series of acts of aggression by the United States against Spain and Latin American countries, which took place from 1898 to the 1930s. These, in addition to the attack on Mexico, usually include the Spanish-American war, the establishment of control over Panama, the occupation of Haiti, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Honduras.

“Military actions were usually carried out either to support politicians loyal to the United States and impose their own rules, or to lobby the interests of American corporations. At the same time, the entry of American companies into the country's market and the coming to power of pro-American politicians had a negative impact on the quality of life of the population — while officials and businessmen made huge profits, ordinary people barely survived. There was no question of any mutual benefit, ”said political scientist Yegor Lidovskaya.

According to Boris Martynov, head of the department of international relations and foreign policy of Russia at MGIMO of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Banana Wars have become one of the manifestations of the transformation of the United States into a great power. “These were the first steps of the new imperialism,” the expert emphasized. “Thus, under conversations about democratic values, the United States established control over the territory of other countries.”