First Mexican Empire
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The Mexican Empire was the official name of independent Mexico under a monarchical regime from 1822 to 1823. The Mexican territory included the former Captaincy General of Guatemala, the intendencies and provinces of the continental New Spain. After the declaration of independence on September 27, 1821, it was the intention of the Mexican parliament to establish a commonwealth whereby the king of Spain, Ferdinand VII, would also be Emperor of Mexico, but in which both countries were to be governed by separate laws and with their own legislative offices. Should the king refuse the position, the law provided for a member of the Bourbon family to accede to the Mexican throne. Ferdinand VII, however, did not recognize the independence and said that Spain would not allow any other European prince to take the throne of Mexico. By request of Parliament, Mexican Agustín de Iturbide was proclaimed emperor of Mexico.
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[edit] History
The First Mexican Empire was short-lived, lasting only eight months from 21 July 1822 to 19 March 1823 and having only one emperor, Agustín de Iturbide.
[edit] Background
When the Emperor Napoleon of France put his brother, Joseph, on the Spanish throne in 1808, ties between Spain and her American colonies weakened and the movement for Mexican independence grew stronger.
The Mexican War of Independence began in 1810 and continued until 1821, when rebel troops entered Mexico City and the Treaty of Córdoba was signed, whereby the viceroy of New Spain recognized the independence of Mexico.
In that year, General Agustín de Iturbide, a Mexican-born criollo who originally fought for the pro-Spanish royalists but switched his allegiance to the insurgents in the final phases of the war, was elected head of the provisional junta government and of the regency that held the imperial power that Spain once had. On the night of the 18 May 1822, a mass demonstration led by the Regiment of Celaya, which Iturbide had commanded during the war, marched through the streets and demanded that their commander-in-chief accept the throne.
[edit] Establishment
On 19 May 1822, the Sovereign Congress named him emperor and on 21 May 1822, issued a decree officially confirming this appointment, which was officially a temporary measure until a European monarch could be found to rule Mexico.
Iturbide's official title was "By Divine Providence and the National Congress, First Constitutional Emperor of Mexico" (Spanish:Por la Divina Providencia y por el Congreso de la Nación, Primer Emperador Constitucional de México). His coronation took place on 21 July 1822, in Mexico City.
As factions in the Congress began to sharply criticise both Iturbide and his policies, the emperor decided on 31 October to dissolve it. This enraged the commander of the garrison at Veracruz, Antonio López de Santa Anna, who himself would be President in several terms, during the Secession of Texas and the disastrous Mexican-American War. Santa Anna and his troops rose up against Iturbide and declared a republic on 1 December.
