A Brief History

The first highly developed civilization to emerge in the New World belonged to the Olmecs, who flourished between 1200 and 500 B.C. in the lowland jungles of Veracruz and Tabasco, along the Gulf of Mexico. Today the Olmecs are most readily identified with the colossal stone heads they sculpted. They are credited, however, with originating much that would be adapted by later cultures, principally the Maya. The Olmecs developed a calendar and hieroglyphic writing. And aspects of their religion, architecture, art and an elementary numerical system were expanded on for centuries to come.

The dominant culture in central Mexico belonged to those who built Teotihuacan, a true city that at its peak, around 500 A.D., may have reached a population of 200,000. It maintained extensive contacts throughout Mesoamerica, but was long in ruins by the time the Aztecs arrived and gave it its name, meaning "Place Where Gods Are Made."

The Aztec Empire

When the Spanish successfully defeated the Mexicas in 1521 and toppled Tenochtitlan, which had about 300,000 residents, the area had already known the horrors of wars of conquest. When they arrived in the Anahuac Valley around 1300 A.D., the Mexicas found many different groups of people who, within time, they conquered violently. Atop the rubble of war they erected the mother city of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan, in accordance with the legend of the eagle and the snake. In 1345 the god of war Huitzilopochtli told the priest-king Tenoch that where he found an eagle perched atop a cactus devouring a snake, he should build the definitive home of the Mexicas. Destiny was in a hurry: the vision occurred the following day. The spiritual heart of the future Aztec empire would take hold here, where a temple in honor of the god of war was immediately built.

But Mexica dominance over the area would take a little longer. They were at first subdued by the Tepanecas, to whom they paid tribute. In 1428, however, under the command of Nezahualcoyotl, they finally gained the upper hand and defeated their enemy. This poet king of almost mythological fame established the Mexica capital in Texcoco. His rule would give rise to the so-called Triple Alliance involving Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Azcapotzalco. Additionally, he introduced a new legal system, presided over enormous feats of hydraulic engineering and encouraged the flourishing of the Mexica language, Nahuatl.

The Conquest

The Spaniards set sail for the Yucatan Peninsula in 1517 and by 1519 were already installed in the Gulf region, in what is today Veracruz. The news of their arrival reached Tenochtitlan, and was famously misinterpreted. Emperor Moctezuma II believed that the light-skinned warrior with a bearded face he was hearing about was actually the fair god Quetzalcoatl, who, according to legend, had promised to return some day from his exile in the east. He sent welcoming gifts of gold and other treasures that did nothing more than fuel the invaders' lust for riches.

The leader of the Spaniards, Hernan Cortes advanced doggedly on the future Mexican capital, while establishing alliances with other native cultures along the way. Arriving at Tenochtitlan, Spanish chroniclers recorded their amazement at finding a city "grander than any in Spain." Dominated by the towering Templo Mayor, or Great Temple, with twin altars dedicated to the gods of rain and war, Tenochtitlan was a city of canals connecting residential areas to the main plaza.

The Spaniards were welcomed and treated royally, a situation they exploited to the point of taking over Moctezuma's palace and imprisoning their host. The citizens of Tenochtitlan, disillusioned by their leader's weakness, removed him from office. He was later stoned to death by an angry mob. He was succeeded by his brother Cuitlahuac, who reigned for only 80 days, succumbing to smallpox, a disease brought over by the Spaniards. Their 26-year-old cousin Cuauhtémoc, who was outspoken in his resistance against the Spanish, became the last Aztec ruler before the fall of the empire. It was Cuauhtemoc who led the Aztecs in the final battles, and who is most revered today. He was captured in August 1521.

Colonial Times

The Conquest would give rise to 300 years of colonial rule, a long historic chapter (culminating in 1821 with the declaration of independence) that would determine the shape of modern Mexico. Over Tenochtitlan they built a new city that was essentially Spanish but had elements of the local cultures, even going so far as to use stones from ransacked Aztec monuments to erect their churches and buildings. This mestiza, or mixed, heritage took root in the capital of New Spain and extended throughout the culture, affecting everything from government to the arts.

The conquerors were awarded parcels of land for their labors to the crown and thus began the era of large land holdings. Silver lying below the ground in Taxco, Guanajuato and Zacatecas attracted many Spaniards, who forced the natives to work the mines. Over the next three centuries Spain sent 61 viceroys to govern New Spain. Many beautiful buildings were constructed, which are still in use today.

Independence

A priest from the town of Dolores, near San Miguel de Allende, was instrumental in cutting ties with Spain. Father Miguel Hidalgo's impassioned plea to his countrymen on the morning of September 16, 1810, urged them to "recover the lands stolen 300 years ago from your forefathers by the hated Spaniards." The impoverished Indian citizenry was quick to follow Hidalgo, and the image of the revered dark-skinned Virgin of Guadalupe, dear to all Mexicans, was wisely chosen as the emblem of the independence movement.

Every September 15 at 11 p.m., Hidalgo's "Grito de Dolores," or Cry of Dolores, is reenacted in plazas throughout Mexico. It was the decisive first step toward Mexican independence, which would come 12 years later and bring to prominence men like Ignacio Allende and Vicente Guerrero, names honored today throughout Mexico.

Revolution

Under President Porfirio Diaz's long reign (1876-1910) there was industrial development at the expense of the masses. Modernization without social improvement only made the people's lives unendurable and set the stage for revolution.

Six years of fighting and the death of about one million Mexicans ended the Porfiriato regime and brought into prominence men like Emiliano Zapata, Francisco Madero and Pancho Villa. November 20, a national holiday, honors the beginning of the bloody 1910 Revolution.

Today

The nation's 2000 presidential election signaled the beginning of a new era as former businessman and political maverick Vicente Fox defeated the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in a stunning election victory. Mexicans put an end to the PRI's 71 year-reign by overwhelmingly voting for Fox, a member of the pro-business National Action Party (PAN). In 1991 Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa described Mexico as "the perfect dictatorship." Officials were horrified, but average Mexicans agreed it was an apt description of a multi-party system with one party enjoying a 70-year winning streak.

The highly contested past presidential elections of 2006 saw PANista Felipe Calderon declared the winner amid much controversy surrounding the electoral process. Supporters of runner up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) have refused to recognize the official outcome, pronouncing their candidate to be the "legitimate" president. Lopez Obrador plans to head a shadow government.

On a brief visit to Mexico a few years ago, Vargas Llosa had reappraised the nation, deeming it no longer to be a perfect dictatorship, but "an imperfect democracy."