por what was the Cakes war?
The Pastry War or First French intervention in Mexico It was an armed conflict between France and Mexico. This confrontation took place between April 1838 and March 1839. The negotiations to stop the war ended with the signing of an agreement favorable to the French, who obtained almost all their requests.
Mexico, since its independence, had gone through decades of political and social instability. Armed insurrections were very frequent and it was common for violence to affect foreign interests. French businessmen based in Mexico were among the most affected, since their government had promoted trade agreements with the Mexican.
A complaint from a French businessman was the final trigger for the conflict. He was the owner of a pastry shop who denounced the damage caused by Mexican soldiers in his establishment and requested large compensation. The French ambassador took advantage of the circumstance to demand a large sum to cover all the claims made by his compatriots.
The refusal of the Mexican government caused France to send a fleet to the coast of Veracruz. The blockade lasted eight months and the city was bombarded. General Santa Anna took charge of the defense, but with little success. Ultimately, the Mexicans had to concede and concede to the French almost all of their claims.
Background
After declaring its independence from the Spanish Crown in 1821, Mexico entered a period of great instability. There were great ideological differences when it came to deciding how to organize the new country and this caused constant insurrections to break out.
During the early years as a nation, power in Mexico passed from one group to another through violence. The effects on the economy, already damaged by years of war against the Spanish, were disastrous. To try to alleviate the situation, the different governments forced citizens, nationals or foreigners, to make financial contributions.
Mexico as a business opportunity
In addition to contributions from its citizens, the Mexican government tried to attract foreign investment. Mexico, like the rest of the new Latin American countries, was seen as a very interesting market by European nations, which began to compete with each other.
France had tried to open trade routes in Argentina and Uruguay, albeit with little success. After that, she turned her gaze to Mexico, where some professional communities began to establish themselves.
The French government expressed its intention to establish diplomatic relations. In 1826, the Mexican president, Guadalupe Victoria, met with the rulers of France to negotiate some type of economic collaboration.
Provisional Statements
The first agreement between Mexico and France was signed in 1827. The document was called Provisional Declarations and sought to regulate relations between the two countries, including economic ones.
When France recognized independence, in 1830, a fairly large French colony already existed in Mexico. Subsequent trade agreements, signed in 1831 and 1832, granted France and its citizens most-favored-nation treatment.
However, by 1838 the two countries had not yet signed a final trade agreement. The French ambassador, Baron Antoine-Louis Deffaudis, showed his disagreement with several of the articles of the agreement that was being negotiated. His role would be fundamental in the outbreak of the war.
Causes of the Cake War
Beyond the incident that ended up giving its name to the Cake War, historians consider that the conflict broke out due to the union of several factors.
One of the most important was the intention of France to gain commercial and political leadership in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.
Internal crisis and its effect on trade
As previously noted, the continuous rebellions and riots that characterized Mexican politics since its independence also affected foreigners. The same thing happened with the forced lending measure imposed by the government to try to improve the economy.
On the other hand, the French merchants and professionals who had settled in Mexico formed a highly regarded community. In a short time, they managed to get rich and extended their activities to sectors such as industry or transport.
One of the worst moments for these businessmen occurred in 1828. That year an armed confrontation broke out between Guadalupe Victoria, then president, and Lorenzo Zavala, governor of the State of Mexico. The riots affected many merchants, including the French. They soon complained about the lack of compensation.
claims of the French
Almost a decade later, a group of French businessmen filed numerous claims against the Mexican government. The complaints were sent to the French ambassador to the country, Baron Antoine-Louis Deffaudis.
Among those claims was the one made by the owner of a pastry shop in Tacubaya, a French citizen with the last name Remontel. The complaint related the events that occurred in 1832, when some officers of Santa Anna’s army had left his establishment without paying after consuming many cakes.
According to Remontel, the debt reached 60,000 pesos, an exaggerated amount for the time. This claim was the one that caused the Mexicans to call the conflict the Pastry War.
In addition to these economic complaints, relations between France and Mexico were affected by the execution of a Frenchman who had been convicted of piracy.
The French government demanded that the Mexican authorities pay 600,000 pesos as compensation for the damage that the French had suffered in Mexico over the years. To that figure we had to add the large external debt that Mexico had contracted with France.
Development
The Baron de Deffaudis traveled to Paris to communicate to his government the claims that his compatriots had presented. When he returned to Mexico on March 21, 1838, he did so accompanied by 10 warships.
The fleet anchored on the island of Sacrificios, in Veracruz. From there, the ambassador issued an ultimatum to the Mexican president, Anastasio Bustamante: France demanded the payment of 600,000 pesos for compensation plus another 200,000 for war expenses.
The term ended on April 15 and in case of not having a positive response, France threatened to invade Mexico.
port blocking
Bustamante refused even to answer the French while the warships were off the Mexican coast. The French response was to declare the blockade of all the ports of the gulf and to seize the Mexican merchant ships that they found in the area.
This blockade, which began on April 16, 1838, would end up lasting eight months.
negotiation attempt
Mexico remained firm in its position despite the blockade of its most important ports. Given this, France decided to go one step further and sent a new fleet made up of twenty ships. In command of the squadron was a veteran of the Napoleonic wars, Charles Baudin, in the capacity of minister plenipotentiary.
Baudin and Luis G. Cuevas, Minister of Interior and Foreign Relations of Mexico, held a first meeting in Xalapa. In it, the Frenchman demanded that a trade and navigation treaty be signed that would give his country preferential rights.
In addition, they also demanded that Mexico pay, within 20 days, 800,000 pesos. This amount included compensation to the businessmen harmed by the riots on Mexican soil and compensation for the expenses of the ships shipped from France.
beginning of the war
The response of the Mexican government to the French demands was negative. On November 21, 1838, the French squadron began to bombard San Juan de Ulúa and the port of Veracruz.
The Mexicans suffered 227 casualties, and a few hours after the attack began, the head of the fortress signed the capitulation. The same was done shortly after by the governor of Veracruz.
The Mexican federal government rejected both capitulations and on November 30 declared war on the King of France. The president put Santa Anna in charge of the troops that had to respond to the French aggression.
Santa Anna performance
General Santa Anna arrived with his men in Veracruz with the intention of defending the city. His first act was to communicate to Baudin that the capitulations were not legal, since the government had not approved them.
The French, before this announcement, ordered the landing of 1,000 artillery soldiers with the mission of arresting Santa Anna. On December 4, French and Mexican troops engaged in combat, which ended with no clear winner.
Baudin ordered his troops to return to the ships. Santa Anna arranged to chase the French soldiers until they reached the pier. At this, the French fired a cannon that stopped the Mexicans and wounded Santa Anna in the leg.
After this, Baudin sent his ships to bombard the city again. Santa Anna and his men had to flee and took refuge in Pocitos, one league from the town.
English intervention
The months of naval blockade were severely damaging the Mexican economy. Part of the supplies had to enter from Texas, through smuggling activities. The Texan government, before this, feared that France would take action against them and ordered the arrest of the Mexican smugglers.
Finally, Texas agreed with France to send a ship to join the blockade of the Mexican ports. In addition, faced with the resistance of Mexico, Baudin received another twenty ships as reinforcements.
By this time, the blockade was also affecting the commercial interests of other nations, especially those of England. Given this, the English transferred their West Indies Fleet to Veracruz, where they arrived at the end of 1938.
The British intention was to force the French to withdraw the blockade. The French command had to negotiate with the English minister, Mr. Pakenham, and finally accept his mediation in the conflict.
Negotiations and end of the war
British-sponsored peace negotiations began in early 1839. Charles Baudin, on behalf of France, and Manuel Eduardo de Gorostiza, as representative of the Mexican government, participated in them.
The peace treaty was signed on March 9. France promised to return the fortress of San Juan de Ulúa, while Mexico was forced to cancel the forced loans and pay 600,000 pesos.
Consequences
As indicated, the peace agreement implied the recognition of the victory of France. In addition to the aforementioned 600,000 pesos for compensation, Mexico had to agree to sign a series of commercial agreements favorable to French businessmen.
These agreements remained in force for several decades. In the long term, they were part of the causes that led to the arrival of Maximilian as emperor…