Answer:
As a reaction to Juarez's decision to prolong paying off the national debt, France, Spain and Italy sent military forces to Mexico in order to force the payment, which ended up unleashing the Battle of Puebla, remembered in Mexican historiography as Cinco de Mayo.
Explanation:
Cinco de Mayo is a regional holiday in Mexico that is mainly celebrated in the state of Puebla. The day is celebrated to remember the first victory the Mexican forces won, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza, over the French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.
In 1861, Mexico had stopped making interest payments on loans raised by the state. This caused France and other European countries to attack Mexico in late 1861 to try to force the country to continue making interest payments. The French government decided to try to occupy Mexico. The first part of France's invasion was successful, but on May 5, 1862, in the city of Puebla, Mexican troops managed to fight back the French army's attack. In the battle of Puebla, the Mexican army was led by General Ignacio Zaragoza. Although the Mexican army won over France in Puebla, it only meant that the advance of the French troops was delayed to the capital Mexico City, which they occupied a year later, as well as other large parts of Mexico. The French occupation forces let Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico, take Mexico's faith. The French were defeated in 1867 and then forced out of the country.
He unified small English kingdoms against the Danes.
Answer:
The end of the Peloponnesian War did not bring the promised “…beginning of freedom for all of Greece.”[1] Instead, Sparta provoked a series of wars which rearranged the system of alliances which had helped them win the long war against Athens. A peace conference between Sparta and Thebes in 371 ended badly and the Spartans promptly marched upon Thebes with an army of nine thousand hoplites and one thousand cavalry. Opposing them were six thousand Theban and allied hoplites and one thousand cavalry.[2]
Over generations, the Thebans had been increasing the depth of their phalanx, generally given pride of place on the right wing of coalition armies, from the traditional eight men, to sixteen, then twenty-five and even thirty-five ranks. As the Spartan and Theban armies maneuvered toward the plain of Leuctra, the brilliant Theban general Epaminondas devised a new tactic which would use the deep phalanx to destroy the myth of Spartan superiority.
Over the generations, the citizens of Thebes had developed a reputation as tough, unyielding fighters. Epaminondas had witnessed the power of the deep Theban phalanx at previous battles, and increased the depth of the phalanx to fifty ranks, but only eighty files wide. But Epaminondas’ true innovation was to position the deep Theban column not on the right, where it would have clashed with the Spartan’s weaker allies, but on the left, where it would attack the main phalanx of the Spartan “Peers” led by King Cleombrotus, arranged only twelve ranks deep. In other words, Epaminondas was concentrating his fighting power at the critical point in the evenly-spaced, less concentrated Spartan phalanx. Finally, he arranged the Theban’s allies on his right would advance “in echelon”, each poleis’ phalanx staying slightly to the rear of that to its left, so that the allied right would protect the Theban’s flank, but not initially engage with the enemy (see Leuctra map – ‘Initial Situation’). When asked why he positioned the Theban phalanx opposite the Spartan king, Epaminondas stated he would “crush…the head of the serpent”.[3]
Adams and Jefferson represented two different visions of what the United States of America should look like. Whereas Adams and his fellow Federalists, including George Washington, envisioned a strong central government and a thriving manufacturing sector centered in the cities, Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans espoused an agrarian ideal, rooted in the republican virtues of the independent small farmer. The election of 1800 was fiercely contested and facilitated the rise of the two-party system and bitter partisanship.
Upon entering office, Jefferson focused on reducing the national debt he had inherited from his predecessors. His administration lowered excise taxes while slashing government spending. Additionally, the Jefferson administration reduced the size of the Navy, ultimately bringing the national debt down from $83 to $57 million. Foreign developments, however, including the intensification of piracy along the Barbary Coast, would necessitate the rebuilding of the Navy and its establishment as a permanent part of the US government.
