A year after the battle, a larger French force defeated Zaragoza at the Second Battle of Puebla, and Mexico City soon fell to the invaders.
These celebrations began in California, where they have been observed annually since The day gained nationwide popularity in the s thanks especially to advertising campaigns by beer and wine companies. Today, Cinco de Mayo generates beer sales on par with the Super Bowl.
In Mexico, the commemoration of the battle continues to be mostly ceremonial, such as through military parades or battle reenactments. The city of Puebla marks the event with an arts festival, a festival of local cuisine, and re-enactments of the battle. Cinco de Mayo is sometimes mistaken for Mexico's Independence Day βthe most important national holiday in Mexicoβwhich is celebrated on September 16, commemorating the Cry of Dolores , which initiated the war of Mexican independence from Spain.
Cinco de Mayo has its roots in the Second French intervention in Mexico , which took place in the aftermath of the β48 MexicanβAmerican War and the β61 Reform War. The Reform War was a civil war that pitted Liberals who believed in separation of church and state , and freedom of religion against Conservatives who favored a tight bond between the Catholic Church and the Mexican state. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew, but France, at the time ruled by Napoleon III , decided to use the opportunity to establish an empire in Mexico that would favor French interests, the Second Mexican Empire.
The empire was part of an envisioned " Latin America " term used to imply cultural kinship of the region with France that would rebuild French influence in the American continent and exclude Anglophone American territories. The Mexican victory, however, was short-lived. A year later, with 30, troops, the French were able to defeat the Mexican army, capture Mexico City, and install Emperor Maximilian I as ruler of Mexico. The Battle of Puebla was significant, both nationally and internationally, for several reasons.
