Reform War

We explain what the Reform War was in Mexico, its causes and consequences. Also, its protagonists and the Reform Laws.

What was the Reform War?

In Mexican history, it is known as the Reform War or the Three Years' War. a civil war that pitted the liberals and conservatives of Mexico. These were the two most important parties in the nation. The conflict lasted between 1858 and 1861 and broke out as a result of the conservatives' opposition to the Constitution of 1857 and the reformist laws that sought to suppress ecclesiastical and noble privileges.

The Reform War confronted the model of society and economic administration inherited from the colonial era, defended by conservatives, with the ideals of a modern democratic State and the separation between Church and State, proposed by liberals. During the war two governments coexisted, one recognized by the conservatives and led successively by generals Félix Zuloaga and Miguel Miramón, and another recognized by the liberals and led by Benito Juárez.

This war cost the lives of thousands of combatants and ended with the victory of the liberals who after defeating the conservative army in the battle of Calpulalpan, managed to impose Juárez as president of the Republic.

After the 1861 elections that established Juárez as constitutional president, new measures were taken, such as the secularization of hospitals, which triggered new uprisings by conservatives, which made it clear that the political panorama continued to be unstable.

During Juárez's presidency, the second French intervention in Mexico began (1862-1867) in which the French Empire, allied with the conservative sectors, invaded Mexico and imposed the monarchical government of Maximilian of Habsburg, known as the Second Mexican Empire.

See also: Mexican Revolution

Causes of the Reform War

The antecedents of the Reform War must be traced in the panorama after the Ayutla Revolution that put an end to the dictatorial government of Antonio López de Santa Anna and that led to the promulgation of the Constitution of 1857 under the government of Ignacio Comonfort.

Since the mid-19th century The liberals tried to build a State modern based on the rule of law and the separation between Church and State, to the detriment of the interests of the conservative and religious sectors, which spoke out against these changes through the Tacubaya Plan.

President Comonfort initially supported the conservatives' plan but then He refused the proposal to reverse the liberal laws and repeal the new Constitution. Thus began a period of political instability that culminated with the departure of the Comonfort government and the confrontation of two parallel governments: that of Benito Juárez, president of the Supreme Court, and that of Félix Zuloaga, general in chief of the conservative army.

Consequences of the Reform War

In addition to the human losses, the main consequence of the Reform War was the enormous military, economic and political weakening of the Mexican nation which was left too vulnerable to guard its borders.

Thus, after the Benito Juárez government announced the suspension of external debt payments, as an attempt to address the precarious internal economic situation, the governments of France, Spain and the United Kingdom announced a plan for the military invasion of the country and they sent their troops to Veracruz in 1862.

Juárez reported that the Mexican State would restart payments once the economic situation allowed it and convinced Spain and the United Kingdom to withdraw their troops. However, France's invasion plans were not interrupted and, on the contrary, they had the support of Mexican conservative sectors. Thus began the second French intervention in Mexico.

As a consequence, The government of Maximilian of Habsburg was established in Mexico in 1864, known as the Second Mexican Empire. However, the liberal reforms established by the Juárez government set a precedent for a more modern and democratic nation. Once France withdrew its support from Maximilian's Empire, the Second Empire fell and the Republic was restored in 1867, presided over again by Juárez.

Who participated in the Reform War?

The two sides facing each other in the Reform War were:

• The liberals. Led politically by Benito Juárez and militarily by José Santos Degollado and Jesús González Ortega.
• The conservatives. Led by generals Félix Zuloaga and Miguel Miramón and supported by the ecclesiastical authorities.

Characters of the Reform War

Some of the most important figures of the Reform War were:

• Benito Juárez (1806-1872). He was one of the most prominent political figures in the history of Mexico. He was a lawyer and politician of the Zapotec ethnic group, known as the “Benemérito of the Americas.” He led the liberal forces that transformed the Mexican State and held various public positions throughout his life, including that of President of the Republic, making him an iconic figure of the liberal movement. After winning the Reform War and rejecting Maximilian's invitations to join the imperial government, he became president of Mexico again in 1867, a position from which he directed new changes of liberal tendency. He died in 1872, when the figure of Porfirio Díaz was beginning to gain prominence in Mexico, who shortly after established the Porfiriato.
• José Santos Degollado (1811-1861). He was a Mexican soldier and politician also dedicated to geography, philosophy, physics, mathematics and grammar. Nicknamed “hero of defeats” for his ability to reorganize his armies after being defeated in combat, he was a staunch supporter of Benito Juárez's cause. He died in an ambush by conservative groups in 1861 and was declared “Benemérito de la Patria”.
• Felix Zuloaga (1813-1898). He was a conservative soldier and politician who led the Tacubaya Plan, through which he disregarded the Constitution of 1857. He was named interim president of Mexico by the conservative side in 1858, a gesture that unleashed the Reform War. After the conservative defeat in the Reform War, he tried unsuccessfully to ally himself with the Second Mexican Empire and went into exile in Cuba, from where he returned after the death of Juárez, to dedicate himself to the marketing of tobacco and abandon politics forever.
• Miguel Miramón (1831-1867). He was the general in charge of the conservative troops, named interim president between 1859 and 1860 in opposition to Juárez. After his defeat in the Battle of Calpulalpan, he had to leave Mexico in 1861. He returned from exile in 1866 to join the government of Maximilian of Habsburg, with whom he died by firing squad on the Cerro de las Campanas, in Querétaro, after his defeat against the republicans.

Reform Laws

The Reform Laws were a set of liberal laws promulgated by the government of Benito Juárez during his first term, despite being in full military confrontation with the conservatives.

Between 1859 and 1860 this set of reforms established the separation between Church and State nationalized ecclesiastical assets, allowed civil marriage and entrusted the State with the civil registry of citizen identity and the administration of cemeteries.

In addition, it regulated holidays, repealed the official mandatory attendance of officials at public Church festivities and declared freedom of worship, so the Catholic religion was no longer the only religion allowed. These laws constituted a step towards a new social and political era in Mexico.

References

• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2015). The Reformation. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
• Delgado de Cantú, GM (2015). History of Mexico. Historical legacy and recent past. Third edition. Pearson.
• Secretariat of National Defense (2023). The Reform War. Official portal of the Government of Mexico. https://www.gob.mx/
• von Wobeser, G. (ed.) (2014). History of Mexico. Economic Culture Fund.