Cinco de Mayo is an annual Spanish celebration held on May 5th.
The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army’s unlikely victory
over the French Empire at the
Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio
Zaragoza.
This battle took place following the Mexican-American War of 1848-1850 by more than a decade.
The Battle of Puebla was significant because the Mexicans were considerably outnumbered by the French. Also, because no country in the Americas has been invaded by European military forces since this battle.
Historian Justo Siserra stated, “had Mexico not defeated the French on May 5, 1862, France would have gone to the aid of the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War and the United States’ destiny would have been very different.” The American Civil War was already over a year old at the time of the Battle of Puebla.
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