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Feb 1, 1517
First European Arrives
Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, the first European to visit Mexican territory, arrives in the Yucatán from Cuba with three ships and about 100 men. Members of the local native population clash with the Spanish explorers, killing some 50 of them and capturing several more. Córdoba’s reports on his return to Cuba prompt the Spanish governor there, Diego Velásquez, to send a larger force back to Mexico, under the command of Hernán Cortés. -
Feb 1, 1519
Cortes Arrives
Cortés sets sail from Cuba with 11 ships, more than 450 soldiers and a large number of supplies, including 16 horses. Upon arriving in Yucatán, the Spaniards take control of the town of Tabasco, where they begin learning of the great Aztec civilization, now ruled by Moctezuma II. Defying the authority of Velasquéz, Cortés founds the city of Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico directly east of Mexico City. Cortés begins his famous march inward into Mexico. -
Nov 1, 1519
Cortes in Tenochtitlan
Cortés and his men arrive in Tenochtitlán; they are welcomed as honored guests by Moctezuma and his people due to the Spaniard’s resemblance to Quetzalcoatl, a legendary light-skinned god-king whose return was prophesied in Aztec legend. Taking Moctezuma hostage, Cortés is able to gain control of Tenochtitlán. -
Aug 13, 1521
Conquest of Tenochtitlan
After a bloody series of conflicts–involving the Aztecs, the Tlascalans and other native allies of the Spaniards, and a Spanish force sent by Velásquez to contain Cortés–Cortés finally completes his conquest of Tenochtitlán. His victory marks the fall of the once-mighty Aztec empire. Cortés razes the Aztec capital and builds Mexico City on its ruins; it quickly becomes the premier European center in the New World. -
Napoleon Bonaparte's Occupation of Spain
Napoleon Bonaparte occupies Spain, deposes the monarchy, and installs his brother, Joseph, as head of state. The ensuing Peninsular War between Spain (backed by Britain) and France will lead almost directly to the Mexican war for independence, as the colonial government in New Spain falls into disarray and its opponents begin to gain momentum. -
Independence Day
In the midst of factional struggles within the colonial government, Father Manuel Hidalgo issues his famous call for Mexican independence. Thousands of natives band together to capture Guanajuato and other major cities west of Mexico City. The Hidalgo rebellion loses steam and is defeated quickly, and the priest is captured and killed at Chihuahua in 1811. His name lives on in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, however, and September 16, 1810, is still celebrated as Mexico’s Independence Day. -
Independence from Spain
After revolt in Spain ushers in a new era of liberal reforms there, conservative Mexican leaders begin plans to end the viceregal system and separate their country from the mother land on their own terms. In August 1821, the last Spanish viceroy is forced to sign the Treaty of Córdoba, marking the official beginning of Mexican independence. -
US Declares War on Mexico
As a result of the continuing dispute over Texas, frictions between the U.S. and Mexican residents of the region, and a desire to acquire land in New Mexico and California, the U.S. declares war on Mexico. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
A formal peace is reached in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848. By its terms, the Rio Grande becomes the southern boundary of Texas, and California and New Mexico are ceded to the U.S. The U.S. agrees to pay $15 million as compensation for the seized land, which amounts to half of Mexico’s territory. -
Benito Juarez - Champion of the Liberals
Benito Juarez emerges from the War of the Reform as the champion of the liberals. When Juarez suspends payment on all foreign debts, France, Great Britain, and Spain occupy Veracruz. After the British and Spanish withdraw, Napoleon III occupies Mexico City and installs Maximilian, archduke of Austria, on the throne of the Mexican Empire. -
France Withdraws from Mexico
Under pressure from the United States, France withdraws its troops from Mexico. After Mexican troops under General Porfirio Díaz occupy Mexico City, Maximilian is forced to surrender and is executed after a court-martial. Reinstated as president, Júarez immediately causes controversy by proposing further changes to the constitution. In the 1871 elections, he narrowly wins reelection over Porfirio Díaz, who leads an unsuccessful revolt in protest. Júarez dies of a heart attack in 1872. -
Rule of Porfirio Diaz
After another revolt against Juarez's successor, Porfirio Diaz takes control of Mexico. Except for one four-year stretch from 1880 to 1884, Díaz will rule essentially as a dictator until 1911. During this period, Mexico undergoes tremendous commercial and economic development, based largely on Díaz’s encouragement of foreign investment in the country. The modernizing reforms largely benefit the upper class, not its poor majority. -
Mexican Civil War
Defeat in the war against the United States serves as a catalyst for a new era of reform in Mexico. The rebel leader, Juan Álvarez, institutes a series of reforms, culminating in 1857 in the form of a new constitution. Conservative groups bitterly oppose the new constitution, and in 1858 a three-year-long civil war begins that will devastate an already weakened Mexico. -
The Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution begins when Madero issues the Plan of San Luis Potosí, promising democracy, federalism, agrarian reform and worker’s rights and declaring war on the Díaz regime. By 1911, Díaz is forced to step aside and Madero is elected president, but conflict and violence continue for the next decade. Leaders like Emiliano Zapata in southern Mexico and Pancho Villa in the north emerge as the champions of the peasant and working class, refusing to submit to presidential authority. -
Madero Overthrown
Madero is overthrown by a coup led by his own military chief, General Victoriano Huerta. Huerta declares himself dictator and has Madero murdered, but opposition from the supporters of Villa, Zapata and the former Díaz ally Venustiano Carranza drive Huerta to resign by 1914. Carranza takes power, and Zapata and Villa continue waging war against him. The United States invades several times, nervous about their unruly neighbor, as Carranza struggles to hold power. -
Mexico Remains Neutral in WWI
Mexico remains neutral throughout World War I, despite efforts by Germany to enlist the country as an ally. After a series of coups, General Álvaro Obregón is elected president and faces the task of reforming Mexico after ten years of devastating revolution. By this time, nearly 900,000 Mexicans have emigrated to the United States since 1910, both to escape the violence and to find greater opportunities for work. -
Lazaro Cardenas Elected President
After Obregon is successful in implementing several agrarian reforms, he is killed by a religious fanatic and Lazaro Cardenas, another former revolutionary general, is elected president. He revives the revolutionary-era social revolution and remains an influential figure in government throughout the next three decades. -
Manuel Ávila Camacho
Elected in 1940, Cárdenas’ more conservative successor, Manual Ávila Camacho, forges a friendlier relationship with the U.S., which leads Mexico to declare war on the Axis powers after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. During World War II, Mexican pilots fight against Japanese forces in the Philippines, serving alongside the U.S. Air Force. The following year, Mexico joins the newly created United Nations. -
Miguel Aleman Valdez is Elected
Miguel Alemán becomes the first civilian president of Mexico since Francisco Madero in 1911. In the post-World War II years, Mexico undergoes great industrial and economic growth, even as the gap continues to grow between the richest and poorest segments of the population. The ruling government party, founded in 1929, is renamed the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), and will continue its dominance for the next 50 years. -
Cantarell Oil Field
Huge oil reserves are discovered in the Bay of Campeche.The Cantarell oil field established there becomes one of the largest in the world, producing more than 1 million barrels per day by 1981. President Portillo promises to use the oil money to improve industry, social welfare, and agriculture. To do this, his government borrows huge sums of foreign money, only to discover that the oil is generally of low grade. These policies leave Mexico with the world’s largest foreign debt. -
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
President Carlos Salinas joins George H.W. Bush of the U.S. and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada in signing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which goes into effect January 1, 1994. The agreement calls for a phasing out of the longstanding trade barriers between the three nations. -
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon Elected President
The latest PRI candidate, Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, is elected president and immediately faces a banking crisis when the value of the Mexican peso plunges on international markets. The United States loans Mexico $20 billion, which, along with a plan of economic austerity, helps stabilize its currency. -
Vicente Fox Ends PRI Rule
Vicente Fox wins election to the Mexican presidency, ending more than 70 years of PRI rule. Fox enters office as a conservative reformer, focusing his early efforts on improving trade relations with the United States, calming civil unrest and reducing corruption, crime and drug trafficking. Fox also strives to improve the status of millions of illegal Mexican immigrants living in the United States, but his efforts stall after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. -
Calderon Wins by One Percentage Point
n the July presidential election, Felipe Calderón apparently wins by less than one percentage point over Andrés Manual López Obrador. With the country strongly divided along class lines, López Obrador and his supporters reject the results as fraudulent and stage mass protests. On September 5, a federal elections board officially declares Calderón the winner. He is inaugurated in December, as more than 100,000 protesters in Mexico City rally around López Obrador, who refuses to concede defeat.
