Blog: Viva Cinco de Mayo (May 2022) 

In 1861, Benito Juárez, a lawyer and member of the Indigenous Zapotec tribe, was elected president of Mexico. The country was in financial ruins and in debt to France, Britain and Spain who sent naval forces to Veracruz, Mexico demanding payment. While Britain and Spain made negotiations, France, ruled by Napoleon III, stormed the city, driving President Juárez and his government into retreat. Soon 6,000 French troops set out to attack Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east-central Mexico. President Juárez was able to round up an army of 2,000 loyal men to fortify the town and prepare for an assault. The battle ended after one day with the French retreating after losing nearly 500 soldiers. The Battle of Puebla was not the end of the French American war, but the victory did represent the first time the world’s most feared army, Napoleon’s French Foreign Legion, had met defeat in almost half a century. Even more importantly, they were defeated in 1867 by the brave men and women of the humble, war-town Republic of Mexico.

In the 1960s, Mexican American activists within the growing civil rights movement began celebrating Cinco de Mayo as a reminder of Mexico’s victory over France and as a celebration of Mexican culture. The date became a symbol of social and cultural pride along with images from Mexican artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo. The GVSU Art Gallery collection proudly represents several international and local Mexican and Mexican American artists.  

Read the full blog here.