Described below, in simple passages relevant to the historic city since its foundation until the battles in which it did receive the title of Historical City of Puebla de Zaragoza.
History of Puebla City Foundation
The city of Puebla is located in a well-known zone by the old settlers of Mexico, before the arrival of the Spaniards, like Cuetlaxcoapan, that means, “Place where the Serpents Change Skin”. By then, it was only seen like a valley with land for farming, but there were no traces of human settlements.
Puebla’s history is not known for sure, but chronics indicate that in 1530, Don Sebastian Ramirez de Fuenleal, president of the second Real Hearing of Mexico, commissioned to Fray Toribio de Benavente, known by the natives in the already conquered land of the New Spain, as “Motolinia”, to leave the diocese of Tlaxcala, to look for a new place to found a City.
When arrived, they chose the channel of the San Francisco River and the Hill of San Cristobal, as the limits between which they would erect the New City, and the construction of the new chapel began. Nevertheless, torrential rains and the growth of the river made this establishment to be in continuous danger, therefore, they decided, a year after their arrival, to change the site towards the west of the River.
According to the legend, on 1531, some angels came down from the sky and shown the Bishop, Julian Garces, the place where the City had to be constructed.
Nevertheless, it is also said that it was necessary a commercial route between Veracruz, place of arrival of the conquerors, and Mexico City, location of the Great Tenochtitlan. Since it did not have, before his foundation, some indigenous population, Puebla became instead a place for commerce and resting of the Spaniards.
On March 20th 1532, the Spanish King granted to the City the title of “City of Puebla of Los Angeles”. The city was growing with in time and, in 1558, the new title, “Nobleman and Loyal City of Puebla of Los Angeles” were granted it.
In 1561, it was given the new title of “Very Noble and Loyal City of Puebla of Los Angeles”, and finally, in 1576, the title of “Very Noble and Very Loyal City of Puebla of Los Angeles”.
With running time, its growth gained importance to become the second most important city of the New Spain.
On September 11th 1862, President Benito Juarez, designated their new name, as City of Puebla de Zaragoza, in honor and memory of the hero who fought against the French intervention in Hills of Loreto and Guadalupe (previously known as Hill of San Cristobal), on May 5th of that same year, and just dead on September 8th, hardly 3 days before.
Finally, in 1863, after the site of the French, the city fell in its power.
General Porfirio Diaz, defeated to the French on April 2nd 1867, when taking back the city and with the fall of the empire of Maximilano.
During the time of Porfirio Diaz as a President of Mexico, Puebla grew in its prestige and social level, turned which it into a place of recreation, relaxation and studies. Also it had an important commercial and cultural development.
The textile industry in Puebla initiated at the beginning of century XX. During this stage, European immigration grew towards the city, settling down Spanish, Italian, German, mainly French communities and of the Middle East, as Lebanon.
At the beginning of century XX, the “Porfirista” regime created an atmosphere of social inequality, which generates displeasure of the population in the country. In Puebla, who initiated this movement were, the brothers and sister Aquiles, Máximo and Carmen Serdan. Nevertheless, On November 18th 1910 the plans were discovered by the governor, who sent police and soldiers to catch them, starting a bloody fight, but after several hours, were caught and Aquiles killed. By now, the house is the Mexican Revolution Regional Museum.
Towards second half of century XX, Puebla is a transformed city, mainly in the social scope, as a modern and colonial city. In 1987 is declared a World Cultural Heritage by the Organization of the United Nations for the Education, Science and the Culture.
Know the legend: Puebla Founding, City of Angels.
The Battle of Puebla on May 5th
Mexico has just finished happening through the bloody Reforma war, also well-known as the War of the Three Years, and with Benito Juarez, President since January 1st 1861, the country did not have resources for its development. The Mexican government decided then to suspend the payments to his creditors during two years, in order to use those resources in the recovery of the country, since they absorbed more of 90% of the perceptions.
In the war of “Reforma”, two groups of people, called themselves “Conservadores” and “Liberales”, fought each other by opposed ideals; the first group, in search to recover their privileges when the country were governed by Spanish monarchy, while the seconds dreamed about a republican country, which already become truth with the government of President Juarez.
The perfect pretext for Conservadores, that already had lost the hope to govern with a monarchy, was the suspension of payments, to ally itself with foreign governments which would look for to acquire his pay back by the force, with an armed intervention to our country.
On October 31st 1861, the representatives of the three countries in London, France, Spain and England, agreed to invade Mexico for recovering their credits. They formed the Tripartite Military Alliance that would dominate the Mexican customs, respecting the Mexican government and its national integrity.
The conditions of those three countries were not only for recovering their money, but they would look for to recover the lost power and by other particular interests:
Spain would look for to reclaim its colonies lost in the Mexico’s independence war, England to widen its power towards America, and France to contain the development of the United States of America and also establish new colonies.
Thus, the armies of the three countries shipped towards Mexico, being Spain the first in arriving to the coasts of Veracruz, in December 1861. In January of 1862, Fleets of France and England arrived.
After an ultimatum of the three country representative in Mexico, Juarez showed its interest to solve friendly the discord and to establish the amount of the debt, countermanding the law of suspension of payments, in order to avoid a new military conflict.
The proposal of Juarez was accepted in February of 1862 in La Soledad Town, in a meeting with General Primm, representative of the three nations and the representative of Mexico, Manuel Doblado. The following agreements, known as “La Soledad Treaty” were approved: Recognition of the government of Juarez, declaration of respect of integrity and national independence by the three nations, the negotiations would become in Orizaba and the three nations would establish their quarters in the cities of Cordoba, Orizaba and Tehuacan.
If the relations were declared defeated, the allied troops would return to their points of beginning, in Veracruz.
In March of 1862, reinforcement troops of France arrived at the coasts of Veracruz, with the Count de Laurencez at the command, and General Almonte, who declared himself as the Supreme Leader of the Nation, and some other “Conservadores“ declared by Juarez enemies of the liberal government.
In April, the representatives of Spain and England, who already had negotiated with the Mexican government the payments and terms, realized that France’s interest was to overthrow the government of Juarez, decided to declare the alliance broken, and returned to their countries.
Count de Laurencez, refusing to accept the proposals and to back down to the starting points in Veracruz, ordered to his troops the advance inside the country. It was clear the objective to restore a monarchic government in order to resisting the power of the United States.
The French army that consisted of 6,000 men, with General Charles Ferdinand Latrille at the front, leaved Veracruz towards Mexico City. The Mexican government ordered to the Eastern Army, with around 10.000 men and commanded by General Ignacio Zaragoza, to resist the advance of the French that managed to visualize them between the limits of the States of Puebla and Veracruz. A contingent of the Eastern Army of 4.000 men leaved Ixtapa de la Sal In order to cut to the passage to the French, having its first encounter on April 28th in summits of Acatzingo, where the French lost around 500 men in the first fight.
On May 2nd, the French army leaved San Agustin del Palmar towards Mexico City; they must cross through Puebla, where they knew by the conservadores, that the people of Puebla was supporting them, since it was where more they were leaned. However, Juarez ordered Zaragoza to fight them in Puebla.
Zaragoza arrived at Puebla on May 3rd and he fortified with 1.200 men in Loreto and Guadalupe fortress, forming out with 3.500 men in four columns.
It was about 9:15 in the morning of May 5th, Laurencez ordered his troops to attack the forts, thinking that the Mexicans were very inferiors, but for his surprise, they were rejected in repeated occasions. The battle lasted of almost 9 hours, and the invading troops were overcome in spite of their concerted effort.
Although the French armed intervention did not finish here but 5 years later, in 1867, the Battle of Puebla is remembered as the first resistance fight against foreign troops who tried to invade and to govern to our country, and did not make it.
Mexican Revolution started in Puebla
At the beginning of XXth century, being as the President of the Mexican Republic, General Porfirio Diaz, with almost 30 years in the power and two govern periods, used to have our country with big social differences, because the rich ones became richer with the time, and the poor men as well, became more miserable; he gave too much more support of necessary to foreign companies for his investment in national territory, like the railway routes, the operation of petroleum, commerce and mining, among other activities, although important advances in the national infrastructure were seen, only some few people could enjoyed. All this combined with a world-wide economic crisis at the end of the previous century that brought shortage of goods to the country.
Francisco I. Madero had already prepared his book in 1907, “the Presidential Succession of 1910”, in which he made a situation analysis of the country and made proposals in the politician, social and economic, as Settling down the Political Freedom the town and thus to exert the Democracy, to reform the Constitution of 1857, prevent a new re-election of Porfirio Diaz, and to allow to the middle-class the formation of political parties, as a right.
In 1909, after having an interview with President Diaz, Madero started the first political campaign of the country, crossing the main cities of Mexico, and so obtaining followers. He formed the Anti Re-election National Party, while Diaz with his parties, National and Re-election Party, was also launched as in candidacy, but different candidates from the vice-presidency for each party. This caused that the day of the election, July 10th, there would be a strong tension, but Diaz and Ramon Corral were proclaimed president and vice-president on August 21st, whose period finished until November 30th of 1916.
Madero could escape from prison, where had been put by Diaz after elections, and fled to the United States, from where he sent the Plan of San Luis, in which Porfirio Diaz were not recognized as President of Mexican Republic, and called Mexicans to take the arms on November 20th of 1910 at 6 O’clock afternoon.
In Puebla City, Serdan Sister and Brothers, Carmen, Aquiles and Maximum, supported this plan. They were affiliates to the Anti-re-election Party and participated actively in Madero’s campaign. They were two sisters and two brothers, but Natalia, the second sister, had married and it did not use to live with them. Children of Serdan marriage formed by Lawyer Manuel Serdan and Mrs. Carmen Alatriste de Serdán, were educated with the democratic values and the freedom, fundamental citizen’s rights, that they shared with Madero.
The governor, through service of the police, had been abreast of the activities of support to the anti-reelection Party, so he watched them constantly.
By those days, the Serdan received copies of the Plan and that glided to initiate the movement in Puebla, but on November 17th, the governor received information of which Log has called to its followers to initiate the revolt on day 20. To the following morning sent thirty police officers to conduct a search to the house of the Serdan.
Aquiles Serdan is warned of the danger, reason why he meet his followers and decide to initiate previous to the established date. The police found the front door open, and when entering they are met with fire. One of the first victims, General Miguel Goatherd, Police chief, received a shot in the forehead.
The governor goes to the place with more than 400 soldiers and 100 police officers, to end the first revolutionary movement, which obtains when penetrating in the house assassinating the rebels, but without finding its leader, that finally they discover at 2:00 AM of the day 19, when Aquiles push up the cover of basement entrance, which was disguised with a stone, and he used as a hiding place, and immediately an official of the police shot him several times, including the grace shot.
Although the government managed to extinguish the movement in Puebla, in the rest of the country the rebellion forced Porfirio Diaz to resign in 1911, and the presidency of Francisco I Madero. The Mexican Revolution lasted about one decade in three phases: Madero’s presidency after the first democratic elections, that finishes with his murder and the one of vice-president Jose Maria Pino Suárez, the second with the presidency of Victoriano Huerta, to whose other fighting revolutionaries made him resign in 1914, and the third phase, the Mexican Revolution became a Social Revolution, with Emiliano Zapata in the south of the country and Pancho Villa in the north, whom fought by social causes like the Agrarian Reformation, social justice and education.
This phase culminates with the Political Constitution of the Mexican United States in 1917, introduced by Venustiano Carranza on February 5.
History of Puebla
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Two aspects of the front of the house of the Serdan Brothers. Now it is the regional museum of the Mexican Revolution. It can be seen the impacts of the bullets, shot by police when they were warned about the plans, and have been maintained for so long that by preserving of this property.
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Painting of the Nineteenth Century, located in the State Regional Museum, of the House of Alfeñique, Patricio Ramos Ortega's, "The May 5th afternoon"
