Agustin de Iturbide

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Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu, Emperor of Mexico, 1822/23

Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu (born September 27, 1783 in Valladolid , Mexico, † July 19, 1824 in Padilla) was a Mexican general and politician and in 1822/23 as Augustine I Emperor of Mexico .

Life

Iturbide was born in what is now Morelia ( Michoacán ) in Mexico to Spanish parents who had left for the colony of New Spain shortly before he was born . At that time the city was still known under the name Valladolid .

In 1798 he enlisted in the Spanish army and rose to lieutenant by 1810 . In that year the Mexican War of Independence broke out, in which Iturbide initially fought against the insurgents on the side of the Spanish associations.

He showed himself to be a capable commander, so in 1816 he was given command of the Spanish troops in northern Mexico.

War of Independence 1810–1822

In the following years, however, the political, social and religiously motivated tensions increased, and Iturbide therefore began secret negotiations with the rebel leader Vicente Guerrero in 1820 . At this point Iturbide held the rank of colonel in the Spanish army and defected to the rebels with a large part of his regular troops. In February 1821 he and Guerrero drafted the Iguala Plan , also known as the Plan Trigarante (Plan of the Three Guarantees), which formulated the idea of ​​a united, independent and religiously free Mexico.

The two leaders managed to unite almost all rebel groups to take joint action against the Spanish royalists and to drive them out of the country. Iturbide was then appointed president of the new government council.

In August 1821 he signed the Treaty of Cordoba with the Spanish viceroy Juan O'Donojú , which implemented the Plan de Iguala and thus sealed the independence of Mexico. However, the price for this was very high, because in the contract the withdrawing Spaniards were assured considerable compensation in money. However, with the Spaniards still in possession of the best soils in the country, Mexico quickly bled out financially as a result of these contractual obligations. Even church bells made of silver and altarpieces made of gold were melted down to pay off the huge debts. Mexico was now a free and independent nation, but was bankrupt right from the start .

Iturbide was supported and influenced by the Mexican Conservatives, who wanted an independent Mexico with a monarch of noble European descent at the head of the state. When no European royal family accepted Mexico's offer because Spain was still hoping for a return as a colonial power, Iturbide let his advisors persuade him to crown himself Emperor of Mexico, following the example of Napoleon . Iturbide was initially cautious about this idea, as he firmly believed in God's right and considered himself unworthy. On July 21, 1822, however, he was finally crowned August I and became the first emperor of Mexico.

Ruler in the first empire 1822/23

Declaration to the World by Agustin de Iturbide, or rather Notes on History , was a manuscript by de Iturbide. It was found on his body after his execution by firing squad. His blood is on the paper.

The new emperor's style of government was military . He did not tolerate contradiction to his orders, commanded his subordinates and advisers as in the army and had those who disagreed with him locked up. Soon, discontent with his reign also grew in the country's political elite, culminating in the so-called Casa Mata Plan in 1823 , which was drawn up by governors and important military officials, including Guadalupe Victoria and Antonio López de Santa Anna . This plan envisaged the overthrow of Iturbides and the proclamation of the Republic of Mexico. On March 19, 1823, Iturbide came before his fall, abdicated without resistance and agreed to leave the country. In return, he was granted a pension.

He first went into exile in Italy and later moved to London , where he published his autobiography . Dissatisfied with his life, he soon decided to return to Mexico, where he arrived in the port of Tampico on July 15, 1824 . Immediately after his arrival, he was arrested by local authorities and shot dead shortly afterwards .

In 1838 the body of Iturbides was brought to the cathedral of Mexico City by the conservative government Anastasio Bustamante and buried again with all the honors of a state funeral. He received the title of Liberator of the Homeland .

From 1823 to 1863 Mexico was a republic until the troops of the French Emperor Napoléon III. the land occupied and after some confusion the Archduke Maximilian Ferdinand Joseph of Austria as Emperor Maximilian I installed. In 1865, in an effort to give his rule, which was unpopular in the country, greater legitimacy, Agustín de Iturbide y Green , a grandson of August I, became his heir to the throne. However, this step did not bring the desired success and became meaningless with the fall and execution of Maximilian (June 19, 1867). Since then Mexico has been a republic again.

Works

  • Memories from the public life of the ex-emperor of Mexico, Augustin de Iturbide, written by himself. Translated from the English edition. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1824.
  • Agustín de Itúrbide: Escritos diversos . Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, México, DF 2014, ISBN 978-607-516-922-4 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Agustín de Iturbide  - collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Juan O'Donojú as Viceroy of the Viceroyalty of New Spain Coat of Arms of the First Mexican Empire, svg
Emperor of Mexico
1821–1823 		Pedro Negrete , Guadalupe Victoria , Nicolás Bravo as triumvirate of Mexico;
José Cecilo del Valle as President of the Central American Confederation
personal data
SURNAME Iturbide, Agustín de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Iturbide y Arámburu, Agustín Cosme Damián de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Mexican general and politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 27, 1783
PLACE OF BIRTH Valladolid
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1824
Place of death Padilla