Discount Hotels Mexico
Historical interest: Mexico
    
The earliest known civilisation in Mexico began with the Olmecs who were an
advanced Mayan culture in terms of religion, architecture and mathematical systems.
They were later followed by the Toltecs (ancestors of the Aztecs) who were also
known for their intellectual pursuits. These civilizations flourished before
Columbus arrived in 1492.
In 1519 Spanish sailor Hernan Cortes arrived from Cuba with his explorers and
established the town of Veracruz. With just 500 followers, the conquistador
engineered the downfall of an Aztec empire.
In 1808 Napoleon occupied most of Spain and direct Spanish control over New
Spain suddenly ceased. The war that followed from 1810 - 1821 resulted in Mexico's
independence from Spain and their first president, Guadalupe Victoria, was inaugurated
in 1824.
In 1845 the US Congress voted to annex Texas, leading to the Mexican-American
War in which US troops captured Mexico City. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
(1848), Mexico ceded Texas, California, Utah, Colorado and most of New Mexico
and Arizona to the USA.
In 1861 Benito Juarez was elected president and launched into a two-year mission
to repay debts to Britain, France and Spain. The French Emperor Napoleon was
sent to enforce payment and colonized Mexico. The next 30 years were dominated
by civil wars with European governments.
In 1910 several coups led to the Mexican Revolution. The revolution, which
lasted 10 years, cost many Mexicans their lives, until the Institutional Revolutionary
Party came into power in 1934 and ruled unchallenged until the 1970s.
The oil boom of the late 1970s increased Mexico's oil revenues and financed
industrial and agricultural investments. Lopez Portilla, who was elected president
in 1976, led the country to the brink of bankruptcy due to large loans borrowed
against future oil income.
President Carlos Salinas de Gortari was elected in 1988 and managed to transform
Mexico. He renegotiated national debt, brought inflation under control and cracked
down on drug trafficking.
After years of state control, the government began liberalizing the economy,
joining the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. In March 1994
Ernesto Zedillo was elected. A major currency crisis early in his term brought
on deep economic recession and led to a huge increase in crime, intensifying
discontent with the PRI which caused large-scale Mexican immigration to the
US. Vicente Fox Quesada won the elections in 2000 and ended the PRI's 71-year
reign.
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