Vera cruz

The city of Veracruz is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located 90 km (56 mi) along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most populous city. The city's population is actually greater than the municipality's population, since part of the city extends into neighboring Boca del Río Municipality. At the 2010 census there were 554,830 inhabitants total, 428,323 in Veracruz Municipality and 126,507 in Boca del Río Municipality.^[Veracruz is Mexico’s oldest and largest port and the port most connected with its history.

Hernán Cortés arrived to Mexico here in 1519, founding the city with the name of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, due to the area’s gold and because they landed on Good Friday. This settlement became the first on the American mainland and the first to receive a coat-of-arms. During the colonial period, this city had the largest mercantile class and at times was richer than Mexico City. This wealth made it attractive to pirates, against which fortifications such as Fort San Juan de Ulúa were built. In the 19th century, Veracruz saw a number of invasions, mostly by France and the United States with the last invasion occurring in 1914. For much of the 20th century, the production of petroleum was more important for the state,but in the latter twentieth century and into the twenty-first, the port has re-emerged as the main economic engine, becoming the main port for most of Mexico’s imports and exports, especially for the automotive industry.

Veracruz’s status as a port has made the city a blend of cultures, mostly indigenous, Spanish and Afro-Cuban. The influence of these three is best seen in the food and music of the area, which has strong Spanish, Caribbean and African influencesThe Battle of Veracruz was a 20-day siege of the key Mexican beachhead seaport of Veracruz, during the Mexican-American War. Lasting from 9-29 March 1847, it began with the first large-scale amphibious assault conducted by United States military forces, and ended with the surrender and occupation of the city. U.S. forces then marched inland to Mexico City.After the battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista, fighting in northern Mexico subsided. Much of Zachary Taylor's Army of Occupation was transferred to the command of Major General Winfield Scott after the battle of Monterrey. After deliberating on the next course of action, Scott and other Washington officials came to the agreement that a landing would be made at Veracruz, which would provide the Americans a point for a further advance inland. Mexican military intelligence knew in advance of U.S. plans to attack Veracruz, but internal government turmoil left them powerless to send crucial reinforcements before the American assault commenced.
Vera Cruz is a 1954 American Technicolor Western starring Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster, about the French intervention in Mexico and the use of american mercenaries and it also featured Denise Darcel, Sara Montiel, and Cesar Romero. The movie was directed by Robert Aldrich from a story by Borden Chase. The film's amoral characters and cynical attitude toward violence .- there is a big battle between the american mercenaries and french lancers.(including a scene where Lancaster's character threatens to murder child hostages) were considered shocking at the time and influenced future Westerns such as The Magnificent Seven, The Wild Bunch, and the films of Sergio Leone.
Another film featuring the intervention was Major Dundee where Charlton Heston leads a band of mixed military over the border to chase Apaches only to end up embroiled in the war.Above is Richard Harris.Senta Berger was the romance angle.The French intervention in Mexico  also known as The Maximilian Affair, War of the French Intervention, and The Franco-Mexican War, was an invasion of Mexico by an expeditionary force sent by the Second French Empire, supported in the beginning by the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain. It followedPresident Benito Juárez's suspension of interest payments to foreign countries on 17 July 1861, which angered Mexico's major creditors: Spain, France and Britain.

Napoleon III of France was the instigator. His foreign policy was based on a commitment to free trade. For him, a friendly government in Mexico provided an opportunity to expand free trade by ensuring European access to important markets, and preventing monopoly by the United States. Napoleon also needed the silver that could be mined in Mexico to finance his empire. Napoleon built a coalition with Spain and Britain at a time the U.S. was engaged in a full-scale civil war. The U.S. protested but could not intervene directly until its civil war was over in 1865.

The three powers signed the Treaty of London on October 31, to unite their efforts to receive payments from Mexico. On 8 December the Spanish fleet and troops from Spanish-controlled Cuba arrived at Mexico's main Gulf port, Veracruz. When the British and Spanish discovered that the French planned to invade Mexico, they withdrew.

The subsequent French invasion resulted in the Second Mexican Empire, which was supported by the Roman Catholic clergy, many conservative elements of the upper class, and some indigenous communities; when the presidential terms of Benito Juárez (1858–71) were interrupted by the rule of the Habsburg monarchy in Mexico (1864–67). Conservatives, and many in theMexican nobility, tried to revive the monarchical form of government (see: First Mexican Empire) when they helped to bring to Mexico an archduke from the Royal House of Austria, Maximilian Ferdinand, or Maximilian I of Mexico .photos of french troops from blog pauly wauly, great blog to check out(who married Charlotte of Belgium, also known as Carlota of Mexico), with the military support of France.

 France had various interests in this Mexican affair, such as seeking reconciliation with Austria, which had been defeated during the Franco-Austrian War, counterbalancing the growing U.S. power by developing a powerful Catholic neighbouring empire, and exploiting the rich mines in the north-west of the country.