Ignacio Comonfort

Ignacio Comonfort

Ignacio Comonfort (born March 12, 1812 in Puebla , Puebla , † November 3, 1863 ) was a Mexican politician and officer. He was President of Mexico from September 15, 1855 to January 21, 1858 .

Life

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Ignacio Comonfort was born in Puebla in 1812 to French parents . He took part in the Mexican-American War .

During Comonfort's tenure as president, the radical liberal Benito Juárez was both chairman of the supreme court and vice-president of Mexico. Comonfort was a moderate liberal who wanted to act as a stabilizing force between the radical conservatives and the radical liberals, who were referred to as puros (the pure).

Comonfort played an important role in the Three Years War (or War of Reform ).

In 1855 he was governor of Jalisco . As a moderate liberal, he had experienced the upheaval caused by the radical liberal constitution of 1857, which had caused unrest among Roman Catholic clergy and the overwhelming majority of devout Catholics. Anyone who swore on the Constitution (which all military personnel and civil servants were obliged to do ) was automatically excommunicated by the Catholic Church. This meant that the sacraments were withheld from him, even in the immediate face of death. This made it impossible for the outcast to obtain salvation - for devout Catholics this was a serious problem.

As a result, there was considerable social tension and the country was polarized. Together with allies, President Comonfort published the Plan de Tacubaya . This plan had the approval of several senior government officials, including Chief Justice Benito Juárez (who, however, kept a low profile for political reasons), and the Catholic clergy. In essence, the plan denied the validity of the constitution. In return, the Church repealed the excommunication decree issued in March 1857 for all who followed the new plan.

On December 17, 1857 , forces led by Liberal General Ignacio Zuloaga , a supporter of the plan, took power in the capital without firing a single shot. This was widely accepted by the population, who were concerned about the Constitution's treatment of Catholics. However, opposition supporters did not remain calm and the riots soon turned violent. The president asked for temporary special powers while opponents of the plan gathered their strengths. In some cases, they had legal arguments for this, as the repeal of the constitution had not taken place in accordance with the procedure prescribed in it. Even Benito Juárez was arrested for a few days.

When he saw the forces that had been set free, Ignacio Zuloaga demanded on January 11, 1858, contrary to his previous actions and views, that the plan of Tacuyaba should be suspended. Several of his supporters demanded the president's removal. The supporters of Zuloaga who wanted to make him president and forces loyal to Comonfort were deeply divided. That afternoon there were even calls for the return of the former dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna . The two hostile forces - radical liberals against radical conservatives - began a bloody war that would last three years and eventually lead to the establishment of a French-backed monarchy in the form of Maximilian von Habsburg , who, however, was shot dead in 1867 on the orders of President Juárez whereupon the republic was restored and the fighting ended.

After his removal, Comonfort sought asylum in the United States , but returned in 1862 to serve as a general against the French invasion. He died a year later, on November 13, 1863, when he was ambushed by bandits.

Web links

• Kindra Cowan: Ignacio Comonfort on historicaltextarchive.com
• Natalicio de Ignacio Comonfort on gob.mx

literature

• Frank A. Knapp Jr .: Parliamentary Government and the Mexican Constitution of 1857: A Forgotten Phase of Mexican Political History . Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 33, No. 1, February 1953, pp. 65–87 ( online )
• Brian Hamnett: The Comonfort presidency, 1855-1857. Bulletin of Latin American Research, Vol. 15, No. 1, Special Edition Mexican Politics in the Nineteenth Century , 1996, pp. 81-100 ( online )

predecessor	Office	successor
Juan Álvarez Benítez	President of Mexico 1855 - 1858	Félix María Zuloaga