Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio López de Santa Anna Pérez de Lebrón (also written Santa Ana ; born February 21, 1794 in Xalapa , † June 21, 1876 in Mexico City ) was a Mexican general and politician. He was eight times - even eleven times, if you count the constant changes in office with his Vice-President Valentín Gómez Farías in the first term of office - President of Mexico (presidencies 1833–35; 1839; 1841–42, 1843, 1844; 1846–47; 1847; 1853 -55) and was sent into “lifelong” exile five times . His reigns were mostly shorter than the constitutional term.
Life
The early years
Antonio López was the son of a married couple who belonged to the lower middle class. His father, from Spain, was a minor civil servant in the Spanish administration, his mother was from France. In 1810, the youngster joined the Spanish military as a cadet , where he rose to the rank of lieutenant in the Napoleonic Wars until 1812 . He saw a point in the Spanish army service in preventing Mexican attempts at independence.
Military career
In 1821 he changed sides and declared his loyalty to the rebel leader Agustín de Iturbide . During the Mexican War of Independence , Santa Anna initially joined the rebellious Agustín de Iturbide as a colonel in a regiment. His reputation rose enormously after he had succeeded in driving the Spanish forces from the port city of Veracruz . Iturbide rewarded Santa Anna with the rank of general and appointed him governor of Veracruz.
After Iturbides ascended the throne , he turned against him and contributed to his overthrow in 1823. He was one of the military leaders who supported the Casa Mata plan (February 1, 1823) that resulted in an overthrow and make Mexico a republic.
After the proclamation of the republic in 1824, two political currents formed in Mexico. The centralists , a conservative group of church leaders, wealthy landowners, Creoles and army officers, wanted to save a heavily centralized form of government. The federalists , a liberal, anti-clerical faction that supported the building of federalist, independent member states, however, wanted to give the Indian population and other oppressed groups more rights. Santa Anna was an avowed opponent of the Roman Catholic Church, but nonetheless tended to be centralized. In 1824 he was appointed governor of Yucatán and developed a plan for the invasion of Cuba , which was still Spanish , but ended in the sand.
In December 1828 he was involved in the coup that brought Vicente Guerrero to power. He gained great popularity through his struggle against Spain's attempt to retake Mexico. In 1829, Spain made one last attempt to regain its former possession, Mexico, and landed in Tampico with a force of 2,600 soldiers . Santa Anna marched against them with less strength and involved the Spanish, many of whom suffered from yellow fever , in small skirmishes until they surrendered on September 11, 1829. This success earned him the nicknames Held von Tampico and "Salvador / Benemérito de la Patria" ("Savior of the Fatherland").
Political career
The way to power
In 1829 Santa Anna was appointed Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Army under President Guerrero . He said he wanted to stay out of politics, "unless my country needs me". He decided it was necessary after Anastasio Bustamante led a coup that swept away President Guerrero and killed the ousted president in 1831. In 1832 Santa Anna, at the head of the Veracruz garrison, instigated a revolt against Bustamante. After the rebel was victorious in Puebla on October 1 , he proclaimed Manuel Gómez Pedraza as president. In the political confusion that followed, Santa Anna took the initiative and was elected his successor in March 1833. However, the term of office beginning April 1 saw him officially not in office for health reasons. At first, Santa Anna had little interest in the way things went in his country. He gave the presidency to Vice-President Valentín Gómez Farías , a liberal reformer, and gave him a free hand. Farías worked hard to root out the corruption that had raged among the military, wealthy landowners, and the Catholic Church. On May 16, 1833, Santa Anna took over the presidency for a few weeks for the first time.
When these circles expressed their annoyance, the president dismissed his representative in 1834, suspended the constitution, dissolved the Mexican Congress, and thus established a dictatorship. While some conservatives applauded, it aroused considerable disapproval from other groups. Open rebellion broke out in the regions of San Luis Potosí , Querétaro , Durango , Guanajuato , Michoacán , Yucatán , Jalisco , Zacatecas and Coahuila y Tejas (Texas). Santa Anna planned to first put down the unrest in the largest state of Zacatecas and then to address the Texas problem. On May 12, 1835, he defeated the militia led by Francisco García in Zacatecas and took 3,000 prisoners. The army was allowed to pillage the city for 48 hours. Santa Anna imposed a strictly centralized constitution on Mexico in October 1835.
Texan-Mexican War
When Santa Anna finally repealed the federal constitution in the fall of 1835 , the revolution completely broke out in Texas , which was part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas . Resentment had built up since 1829 when the Mexican government banned slave labor, but Texan settlers wanted to practice slavery . Texan troops, consisting of volunteers of Anglo-American and Mexican origin, succeeded in pushing the Mexican armed forces back behind the Rio Grande by the end of 1835 . The Texan leaders declared their allegiance to the previous Mexican constitution, but condemned Santa Anna's actions. On March 2, 1836, they then proclaimed their independence from Mexico, whereupon the head of state moved into Texas with an army of about 7,000 soldiers.
In Alamo , an old Spanish fortification near San Antonio , all surviving male defenders were killed after the conquest on March 6, 1836. A further massacre of Mexicans followed in Goliad (now in Goliad County ). Sam Houston , the commander-in-chief of the Texan associations , gathered fresh forces in the hinterland and defeated the Mexican army on April 21, 1836 in the Battle of San Jacinto near what is now Deer Park in Harris County . In just 18 minutes, the Texans won the battle despite being outnumbered; over 600 Mexicans died and 730 were captured. The San Jacinto Monument commemorates the battle . Head of State Santa Anna was captured the next day (he remained in General Houston’s captivity for about two months) before he was released to Washington , where he was received by US President Andrew Jackson and further discussions on the Texas issue arose. Even before his release to the capital, Santa Anna was forced to sign an agreement in Velasco that granted Texas independence .
However, a new Mexican government declared that Santa Anna was no longer President and that the Velasco Agreement was therefore null and void.
Negotiations with Jackson were unsuccessful and so the prominent prisoner of war was released again to Veracruz in Mexico in 1837 by US escort, whereupon he returned to his hacienda .
Renewed presidency
In the 1830s Mexico was in the focus of interests of both the USA and the major European powers. France tried to gain a foothold in Central America by invading the country. Santa Anna therefore sensed a chance to return to political life. He represented an exchange of fire with a fleeing invasion force of the French in the cake war of 1838 in the defense of Veracruz as a grandiose victory. In this skirmish, a cannonball hit him in the lower leg, which could no longer be saved. Santa Anna had the illustrious idea of having a tomb built for his amputated leg. His lower leg was buried with military honors. From then on he held his wooden leg over his head during public appearances on horseback as a symbol of willingness to make sacrifices for his country. The invalid retained after the withdrawal of the French in control of his troops and supported initially incumbent President Bustamante, whom he had previously overthrown ever 1,832th
From 1841 onwards, Santa Anna made himself again (with short interruptions) the absolute ruling president. His second reign was even more dictatorial than the previous one, and in 1842 he endowed himself with dictatorial powers. His desire for ever larger taxes soon aroused anger in the country. Several states simply stopped doing business with the central government. The Yucatán and Laredo even went so far as to declare themselves independent republics. In December 1844, the opposition to him reached a point at which Santa Anna realized that to avoid civil war it was necessary to renounce the presidency and go into exile in exchange for a generous pension. Condemned by the Mexican Congress to lifelong banishment and confiscation of his assets of 3 million pesos for high treason, he went into exile in Cuba.
Mexican-American War
After the Republic of Texas became part of the United States in 1845, tensions between Mexico and its northern neighbor increased. A military conflict loomed. Santa Anna's role in this political situation was opaque. The expelled statesman had been in exile in Havana at the beginning of 1846 and had secret talks with envoys from US President James K. Polk . Santa Anna's offer was as follows: If the US would help him regain power in Mexico and pay $ 30 million for the disputed territories, he would deliver a strategic plan for conquering his country and secretly cooperate with the US as Mexican commander-in-chief.
In April 1846, US units occupied Mexican territory north of the Río Grande, which they interpreted as part of the US state of Texas. The US intended to provoke Mexico to war. On April 25, the first Mexican shots fell against the US soldiers, whereupon Washington declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846.
Santa Anna wrote to Mexico City that he had no ambitions for the presidency, but that he would like to use his military experience to help his country successfully fight foreign invaders as in the past. President Gómez Farías was innocent enough to accept the offer and allowed the expelled from the country to return home.
In August 1846, Santa Anna was recalled from his party and appointed generalissimo by the Provisional Government . According to the secret agreements, he was smuggled through the US naval blockade off Veracruz and entered Mexico City on September 15, 1846. The United States proceeded exactly according to his battle plan. A blockade of the Mexican seaports and the advance of US troops via Monterrey to Saltillo were Santa Anna's invention. The recalled president saw Mexico as his private property again and led his army in defeat, while he maintained secret talks with the war opponent parallel to the military events.
Although he suffered a defeat on February 22nd and 23rd, 1847 at Buena Vista by the Americans under General Zachary Taylor , he was elected President by the Mexicans. After Santa Anna had been defeated again on April 18, 1847 by General Winfield Scott at Cerro Gordo , he was appointed dictator in order not to let the Peace Party take control. However, when Scott took the capital Mexico City on September 15, 1847, the Mexican head of state fled to Jamaica . He left the exile in Kingston in 1853 and went to Turbaco in Colombia .
After US units landed at Veracruz, the tide had already turned in favor of the US, but Santa Anna continued his double game in order to maintain his nimbus as a "patriot". The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of February 2, 1848, ratified on May 30, 1848, which resulted in Mexico losing its northern half and thus two-fifths of the Mexican national territory, was probably also met with violent protests from Santa Anna. However, in Cuba he was clearly committed to this US war goal.
Return to Mexico
In 1853, growing anarchy led rebellious conservatives to recall the energetic Santa Anna, six years after his last presidency, with the aim of regaining power. After he had restored calm in the country, he declared himself president of the republic for life on December 17, 1853, during his most unscrupulous tenure, and maintained himself as a dictator until August 1855. It was the eighth presidency of Santa Anna.
On January 30, 1854, Santa Anna issued a Navigational Act, which came into effect four months later. The content of the file was that in principle only Mexican ships should be allowed to import foreign goods. Ships flying a flag with which Mexico had a reciprocity agreement were excluded. All other ships had to pay tonnage fees and port fees in double the amount for their goods.
But even this rule was no better than his earlier ones. Santa Anna channeled government money into his own pockets, sold further national territory to the USA in the Gadsden purchase and was addressed as the “Highest Highness” (“Su Alteza Serenísima”). As early as March 1, 1854, opponents of Santa Anna spoke out in favor of his removal in the Ayutla Plan . Despite generous donations to the military to ensure its loyalty, even its conservative allies finally had enough of Santa Anna in 1855. A group of liberals, led by Benito Juárez and Ignacio Comonfort , overthrew the dictator, who then fled to Cuba again. When the extent of his corruption became known, he was convicted of treason in absentia and all of his Mexican possessions were confiscated.
The late years
During the following years of his exile, Santa Anna stayed in Cuba, the United States, Colombia and the then Danish Caribbean island of Saint Thomas .
The Empire of Mexico under the Habsburg Maximilian I recognized Santa Anna, he was asked to return to Mexico as a strengthening of Maximilian's position and in 1864 he was appointed imperial "Reichsmarschall". Since the French, the real masters of the country during the reign of Emperor Maximilian, did not trust him, he was expelled from the country by return mail. Because after the violent end of the empire in 1867 he tried to win the Mexican army for himself and to regain power, Santa Anna was arrested and imprisoned in Yucatán, but was soon released again. The surveys that he repeatedly instigated in Mexico were unsuccessful.
Only in 1874 was the ex-dictator allowed to return to his home country as part of a general amnesty . Crippled and nearly blind from cataracts , he was not seen as a threat by the government. He died two years later on June 21, 1876 in poverty and forgotten in Mexico City and was buried with military honors in the Panteón del Tepeyac cemetery.
Private
In 1825 he married Inés García, with whom he had four children. After her death in 1844, he married 15-year-old María Dolores de Tosta, with whom he hardly lived together. This marriage remained childless. In his will, he recognized four illegitimate children.
During Santa Anna's stay in New York, he met the photographer and inventor Thomas Adams . The general encouraged him to consider other uses for the rubbery chicle and in 1857 sold chicle from his homeland to the inventor for this purpose. The inventor later used it to improve the chewing gum that had previously been in use and to build the world's first chewing gum factory.
Santa Anna is known to be an avid fan of cockfighting . He spent tens of thousands of dollars on award-winning roosters.
reception
- J. Carrol Naish portrayed him in The Barricades of San Antone in 1955 .
- He is played by Ruben Padilla in John Wayne's 1960 film Alamo .
- In 1987 Raúl Juliá played him in the TV movie The Alamo: 13 days to Glory .
- Santa Anna is one of the main characters in the feature film Alamo - The Dream, Fate, and Legend (2004), where he is played by Emilio Echevarría .
See also
literature
- General Santa Anna, Provisional President of Mexico . In: Illustrirte Zeitung . No. 17 . J. J. Weber, Leipzig October 21, 1843, p. 263-264 ( books.google.de ).
- James A. Michener : The eagle and the raven. An American duel. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1991, ISBN 3-7857-0613-8 .
- Randy Roberts, James S. Olsen: A line in the sand. The Alamo in blood and memory. Free Press, New York NY et al. 2001, ISBN 0-684-83544-4 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Antonio López de Santa Anna in the catalog of the German National Library
- Santa Anna and the fate of Mexico. Article in caiman.de, March 1, 2000.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Leslie Bethell (ed.): The Cambridge History of Latin America. Volume 3: From Independence to c. 1870. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1985, ISBN 0-521-23224-4 , p. 436.
- ^ Antonio López de Santa Anna Collection ( Memento November 13, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) in the Benson Latin American Collection, Library of the University of Texas at Austin .
- ↑ cf. Felix Becker: The Hanseatic Cities and Mexico. Trade Policy, Treaties and Trade, 1821–1867 (= Acta Humboldtiana. No. 9). Steiner, Wiesbaden 1984, ISBN 3-515-03995-3 , p. 77.
- ↑ cf. Günter Kahle : Latin America Ploetz. The history of Latin American countries for reference. 2nd updated edition. Ploetz, Freiburg (Breisgau) et al. 1993, ISBN 3-87640-454-1 , p. 86.
- ↑ cf. Felix Becker: The Hanseatic Cities and Mexico. Trade Policy, Treaties and Trade, 1821–1867 (= Acta Humboldtiana. No. 9). Steiner, Wiesbaden 1984, ISBN 3-515-03995-3 , pp. 77-79. The navigation file was published in Guillermo Tardiff: Historia general del comercio exterior mexicano. (Antecedentes, documentos, glosas y comentarios). Volume 2: 1848-1869. sn, México DF 1970, pp. 310-314.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
|
Valentín Gómez Farías Valentín Gómez Farías Valentín Gómez Farías Valentín Gómez Farías Anastasio Bustamante Francisco Javier Echeverría Nicolás Bravo Valentín Canalizo Valentín Gómez Farías Pedro María de Anaya Manuel María Lombardini |
President of Mexico 1833 1833 1833 1834–1835 1839 1841–1842 1843 1844 1847 1847 1853–1855 |
Valentín Gómez Farías Valentín Gómez Farías Valentín Gómez Farías Miguel Barragán Nicolás Bravo Nicolás Bravo Valentín Canalizo José Joaquín de Herrera Pedro María de Anaya Manuel de la Peña y Peña Martín Carrera |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Santa Anna, Antonio López de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Santa Ana, Antonio López de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Mexican general and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 21, 1794 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Xalapa |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 21, 1876 |
| Place of death | Mexico city |