What was the Pastry War, the conflict in which France blocked Mexico’s economy for almost a year

The popular story tells of a curious episode that took place in the year 1838, in the neighborhood of Tacubaya, then a neighboring town in Mexico City.

National Army officers arrived at the patisserie owned by a Frenchman named Remontel. Some chronicles say that the army looted the place. Others say the uniformed men ate cake and left without paying.

Whatever his actions, Remontel was the one left empty-handed and lost to the very considerable sum (by the standards of the time) of 800 pesos.

But that local episode, which historians point out there is no clear evidence that it happened as reported years later, it finally baptized a serious war between Mexico and France.

was called the Pie war.

Hostilities began April 16, 1838when an ultimatum came from France demanding the high payment of 600,000 pesos by the Mexican government, as well as a beneficial trade deal.

“Very little is known about the cake incident. There are stories that contradict each other, such as that he really was a pastry chef. Authors of the time call him a fondista, that is, he owns a fonda (restaurant). It is not clear,” Mexican historian Raúl González Lezama explained to BBC Mundo.

“This reference is used to magnify the absurdity and unfairness of the situation. How France uses a fairly banal issue to make a claim of great magnitude. Firstly because of the quantity demanded, but also because of the economic benefits it demanded,” he adds.

But to understand the First French Intervention in Mexico, as that conflict is formally known, it is necessary to consider what happened in Mexico and the geopolitics of the time.

The emerging Mexico

Mexico’s independence took place in 1821, but it took many years for the new country to become stable and sustainable government fully recognized by the world.

The country was born as an imperial monarchy that lasted only three years. Then came the establishment of a republic, but one fiercely opposed by federalists and centralists.

At the same time mainly the privileged of the regime of New Spain the church and the army, were established as an autonomous power. This made solving problems of national life and defending the country from external threats difficult.

In 1833, the country faced a severe cholera epidemic that severely decimated the population. And in 1836 Mexico suffered the loss of the territory of Texas, which was unilaterally separated.

“Mexico was a very weak country at home and abroad”says González Lezama.

And in geopolitics, like world powers England and France fought for control of the continent. which was ruled almost exclusively by Spain for centuries.

France, the historian explains, was waiting for the ideal moment to consolidate its position in America, and Mexico, because of its internal situation and geographical location, seemed the ideal place to take action.

“The country was very vulnerable,” he says. “The French not only demanded reparations from the pastry chef and other subjects of the French monarchy. Also advantages that gave him a better position, mainly against England”.

Among them was the demand for retail access, which was not allowed for foreigners and which, if it arose, would have put Mexican merchants in a very bad position. That was therefore unacceptable, says González Lezama.

The blockade of Veracruz

In those years, it was not uncommon for merchants to be affected by the rebellions for power in Mexico, including foreigners who owned several businesses in the capital and inland.

In the case of the French, French diplomatic reports said there were some 450 branches with an estimated value of 30 million francs.

The reign of the French monarch Louis Philippe I since 1836 he instructed his diplomat in Mexico, Baron Antoine Deffaudiswho demanded compensation from the French as a result of the internal strife in Mexico.

Given the refusal of the Mexican government, that “doesn’t think there’s the slightest obligation” In March 1838, France sent a fleet of 26 ships led by Deffaudis to the port of Veracruz.

This is the Mexico’s main point of trade with Europe and it is the key to its ailing economy. “It strangled him incredibly because the main revenue of the state was the product of customs,” explained González Lezama.

Mexico had just undergone the divorce from Texas, “the national pride had already been hit enough,” says the historian, so the government had asked France to pay the 600,000 pesos in installments. But he categorically rejected the requests for commercial benefits they demanded.

Deffaudis did not accept the deal and issued an ultimatum at the last minute on April 15. The next day, the blockade of the port of Veracruz begins.

Failed negotiations led to French troops opening fire on the fortress of San Juan de Ulúa on November 27, 1838.

“Within a few hours they will complete the defense of the port. They kill the Mexican artillerymen and disassemble the Mexican batteries. The French guns were of much better quality,” says González Lezama.

The Mexicans “failed to damage the French ships”.

The blockade from France to Veracruz thus moves from the mere presence at sea to land. The Gauls were placed at various points in the city without much resistance from the Mexican forces.

Although the Mexican government allowed for other ports in the Gulf of Mexico, none had the customs capacity of Veracruz. And smuggling became a big problem.

The only Mexican counter-offensive took place on December 5 of that year. The troops commanded by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana They allowed the French to retreat, but they lacked the strength to compromise the blockade of Veracruz.

“He had no weight in the situation”explains the historian.

“The real weight that settled the situation was when the English heard that the French had a claim on Mexico and they became concerned, because they knew very well what the true intention of the French was: to gain a commercial place.”

English mediation

Basically the French presence in Mexico at that intervention was confined to the port of Veracruz and with the exception of three days of fighting, there were no more armed hostilities.

What changed the situation was the arrival in port, along with a fleet of 11 ships armed with 370 gunsfrom the British minister Richard Packenhamwho presented himself as an intermediary in the conflict.

In the background, González Lezama explains, there was England was Mexico’s most important trading partner. and the dispute over France not only affected English merchant shipping, but also threatened to position France at a strategic point in America.

“The heart of the matter was really the struggle of these two powers for control and participation in the distribution of what would later be called Latin America,” the historian adds.

Faced with the English naval threat, France finally accepted English mediation and in a three-month period the agreement was reached. agreement on March 9, 1839: Mexico would pay the 600,000 pesos in installments (as it had offered from the start).

A few days after a year of blockade, France handed over the fortress of San Juan de Ulúa and withdrew from the port of Veracruz the following month.

The Pastry War was a reflection of a precarious situation Mexico went through in those years, losing Texas, facing French intervention and soon after losing more than half of its territory to a war with the United States, says González Lezama. .

The country lacked a strong government, there were power disputes between factions and few resources to respond to external threats.

“The reflection came after the war against the US, but this was one of the signs that should have warned us of what the problem was: we were not a nation,” the historian explains.

“Although we appear to be, we have not established ourselves as a state.”