# The Chronicle of Mexico: From the Olmec mother-culture and the lake-city of the Mexica to a republic forged in conquest, reform, and revolution. History of Mexico: From the Olmec mother-culture and the lake-city of the Mexica to a republic forged in conquest, reform, and revolution. 6 eras and 26… Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/MEX/chronicle Updated: 2026-06-13 Founding: Consummation of Independence — 27 Sept 1821. The Army of the Three Guarantees, commanded by Agustin de Iturbide, entered Mexico City on 27 September 1821, consummating independence after the Treaty of Cordoba (24 August 1821) had recognised the terms of the Plan of Iguala. The struggle had begun eleven years earlier with the Grito de Dolores, the rebellion called by the priest Miguel Hidalgo on 16 September 1810. After a brief empire, the federal republic was constituted under the Constitution of 1824, with Guadalupe Victoria as first president. Mexico's history spans more than three millennia of indigenous civilisation, beginning with the Olmec of the Gulf coast and rising through the Maya city-states, the metropolis of Teotihuacan, and the Mexica (Aztec) empire centred on Tenochtitlan. The Spanish conquest of 1521 inaugurated three centuries of colonial rule as New Spain, a society of profound inequality and Catholic transformation. A war of independence (1810-1821) gave birth to a sovereign nation that endured invasion, civil war, and dictatorship before the Reform under Benito Juarez and the Revolution of 1910-1920 redefined its politics. The twentieth century was dominated by the long single-party rule of the PRI, broken only by the democratic alternation of 2000. This file carries the chronicle's sourced event record — every event with its year, summary and source keys (resolved under References below). The full reading narrative lives on the canonical page. ## Mesoamerican Civilisations — c. 1200 BCE - 900 CE Across some two thousand years, the peoples of Mesoamerica built the first cities, scripts, and calendars of the Americas, from the Olmec heartland to the Maya lowlands and the vast metropolis of Teotihuacan. - c. 1200 BCE: **Olmec civilisation flourishes** — The Olmec arise on the Gulf coast as the first complex society of Mesoamerica, carving colossal stone heads and shaping a cultural template inherited by later peoples. [britannica-olmec] - 1st-7th c. CE: **Teotihuacan, city of the gods** — Teotihuacan grows into a metropolis of monumental pyramids and a planned ceremonial axis, dominating central Mexico before its decline around 550-650 CE. [unesco-teotihuacan, britannica-pyramid-sun] - c. 250-900 CE: **Classic Maya civilisation** — Maya city-states reach their height, producing hieroglyphic writing, advanced calendars, and astronomy, before the southern lowland centres are abandoned by about 900 CE. [britannica-maya] ## The Mexica (Aztec) Empire — 1325 - 1521 From an island settlement on Lake Texcoco, the Mexica built Tenochtitlan and, through the Triple Alliance, the most powerful state in central Mexico on the eve of European contact. - 1325 CE: **Founding of Tenochtitlan** — The Mexica establish their capital on an island in Lake Texcoco, the site of present-day Mexico City. [natgeo-aztec, britannica-aztec-people] - 1428 CE: **The Triple Alliance** — Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan ally, inaugurating the tribute empire of the Aztecs across central Mexico. [natgeo-aztec, britannica-aztec-people] - 1502 CE: **Reign of Moctezuma II** — Moctezuma II ascends as huey tlatoani, ruling the empire at its territorial peak until the Spanish arrival. [britannica-aztec-people] Figures: - Moctezuma II (Montezuma) (c. 1466-1520) — Aztec emperor (huey tlatoani). Ninth ruler of Tenochtitlan, under whom the empire reached its greatest extent. His ambivalent reception of Cortes and his death during the Spanish occupation of the city presaged the collapse of Mexica power. ## Spanish Conquest and New Spain — 1519 - 1821 The fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521 ended the Aztec empire and opened three centuries of colonial rule, in which the Viceroyalty of New Spain remade Mexico through conquest, evangelisation, and a deeply stratified caste society. - 1519 CE: **Cortes lands in Mexico** — Hernan Cortes arrives on the Gulf coast and marches inland, allying with peoples opposed to Mexica rule. [britannica-cortes, britannica-battle-tenochtitlan] - 13 Aug 1521: **Fall of Tenochtitlan** — After a siege of some three months, the city falls to Cortes and his indigenous allies, ending the Aztec empire. [britannica-battle-tenochtitlan, britannica-cortes] - 1535 CE: **Viceroyalty of New Spain established** — Spain formalises colonial government under a viceroy, with Mexico City as the capital of a vast realm. [britannica-cortes] Figures: - Hernan Cortes (1485-1547) — Spanish conquistador. Leader of the expedition that overthrew the Aztec empire. His alliance with the Tlaxcalans and exploitation of indigenous discontent enabled the capture of Tenochtitlan and the foundation of Spanish rule in Mexico. ## Independence and the Early Republic — 1810 - 1855 A rebellion begun by a parish priest in 1810 became a war of independence, consummated in 1821, that gave way to a turbulent young republic beset by political instability and the loss of half its territory. - 16 Sept 1810: **Grito de Dolores** — Miguel Hidalgo calls for rebellion against Spanish rule, beginning the Mexican War of Independence. [britannica-grito] - Dec 1820: **Iturbide sent against Guerrero** — Viceroy Juan Ruiz de Apodaca sends the royalist criollo officer Agustin de Iturbide, known for his campaigns against the insurgents of Hidalgo and Morelos, to defeat the rebel forces of Vicente Guerrero in the south. [loc-mexico-study] - 24 Feb 1821: **Plan of Iguala** — At Iguala, Iturbide proclaims three guarantees (independence, the Roman Catholic religion, and equal rights for criollos and peninsulares) and wins the cooperation of the insurgent Vicente Guerrero. [loc-mexico-study, lumen-independence] - 24 Aug 1821: **Treaty of Cordoba** — At the town of Cordoba, Veracruz, Juan O'Donoju, the Spanish political chief of New Spain, and Agustin de Iturbide, commander of the Army of the Three Guarantees, sign treaties that ratify the principles of the Plan of Iguala. [cultura-tratados-cordoba, loc-mexico-study] - 27 Sept 1821: **Independence consummated** — The Army of the Three Guarantees enters Mexico City following the Treaty of Cordoba, ending Spanish rule. [lumen-independence, britannica-grito] - 28 Sept 1821: **Act of Independence of the Mexican Empire** — The day after the Army of the Three Guarantees enters the capital, the Supreme Junta of the Empire declares Mexico a sovereign nation independent of Spain; Agustin de Iturbide's signature heads the act. [ojn-acta-1821] - 19 May 1822: **Iturbide made emperor** — The day after his troops march through Mexico City in his support, congress names Iturbide constitutional emperor of Mexico, as Agustin I. [loc-mexico-study] - 1823 CE: **Iturbide abdicates** — Faced with the revolt of Santa Anna and other generals under the Plan of Casa Mata, Iturbide abdicates the throne. [loc-mexico-study] - 1824 CE: **First federal republic** — The Constitution of 1824 founds the United Mexican States as a federal republic, with Guadalupe Victoria as first president. [lumen-independence] - 1846-1848: **Mexican-American War** — Defeat by the United States costs Mexico roughly half its territory under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. [britannica-juarez] Figures: - Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753-1811) — Priest and independence leader. Parish priest of Dolores whose Grito de Dolores launched the war of independence. Captured and executed in 1811, he is honoured as the father of the Mexican nation. - Agustin de Iturbide (1783-1824) — Military leader and emperor. Royalist officer turned independence leader who, through the Plan of Iguala, united factions to achieve independence in 1821, briefly reigning as Emperor Agustin I. ## Reform, Porfiriato, and Revolution — 1855 - 1920 The liberal Reform led by Benito Juarez, the long dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, and the cataclysm of the Revolution remade Mexican society, its church, and its constitution. - 1857 CE: **Constitution of the Reform** — The liberal Constitution of 1857 limits church and army privileges and establishes a bill of rights, deepening conflict between liberals and conservatives. [britannica-la-reforma, britannica-juarez] - 1867 CE: **Fall of the Second Empire** — Mexican forces under Juarez defeat the French intervention; Emperor Maximilian is captured and executed, restoring the republic. [britannica-juarez, britannica-la-reforma] - 1876-1911: **The Porfiriato** — Porfirio Diaz rules Mexico for over three decades, modernising the economy while entrenching authoritarian government and land inequality. [britannica-juarez] - 1910-1920: **Mexican Revolution** — A decade of revolution and civil war overthrows Diaz, costs over a million lives, and produces the Constitution of 1917. [britannica-mexican-revolution] Figures: - Benito Juarez (1806-1872) — President and reform leader. Zapotec lawyer and statesman, architect of La Reforma and leader of the resistance to the French intervention. He is revered as a symbol of liberalism, secular government, and the rule of law. - Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919) — Revolutionary leader. Leader of the agrarian revolution in the south, whose demand for land reform under the slogan Tierra y Libertad made him an enduring emblem of the peasantry's struggle. ## Modern Mexico: The PRI Era to Today — 1920 - present From the institutionalisation of the revolution under a single dominant party to the democratic alternation of 2000, modern Mexico has navigated economic transformation, integration with North America, and a hard-won political pluralism. - 1938 CE: **Oil nationalisation** — President Lazaro Cardenas nationalises the petroleum industry, creating Pemex and asserting economic sovereignty. [britannica-vicente-fox] - 1 Jan 1994: **NAFTA and the Zapatista uprising** — The North American Free Trade Agreement takes effect as the Zapatistas rise in Chiapas; a peso crisis follows that December. [britannica-zapatista] - 2000 CE: **End of one-party rule** — Vicente Fox's election ends 71 years of uninterrupted PRI government, marking Mexico's democratic alternation of power. [britannica-vicente-fox] Figures: - Lazaro Cardenas (1895-1970) — President of Mexico. President from 1934 to 1940 who carried out sweeping land reform and nationalised the oil industry in 1938, shaping the social and economic order of modern Mexico. - Vicente Fox (born 1942) — President of Mexico. Businessman and politician whose election in 2000 ended more than seven decades of PRI dominance, inaugurating a new era of multiparty democracy. Machine-readable claims — every event above as an addressable claim ID (TL:MEX:event::) with its sources and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/MEX/chronicle.claims.json ## References - [britannica-olmec] Olmec — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Olmec - [unesco-teotihuacan] Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/414/ - [britannica-pyramid-sun] Pyramid of the Sun — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Pyramid-of-the-Sun - [britannica-maya] Maya — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Maya-people - [natgeo-aztec] Aztec Civilization — National Geographic Education · https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/aztec-civilization/ - [britannica-aztec-people] Aztec — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aztec - [britannica-cortes] Hernan Cortes — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hernan-Cortes - [britannica-battle-tenochtitlan] Battle of Tenochtitlan — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Tenochtitlan - [britannica-grito] Grito de Dolores — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/Grito-de-Dolores - [lumen-independence] Winning Independence — Lumen Learning, SUNY World History · https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-worldhistory/ - [britannica-juarez] Benito Juarez — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benito-Juarez - [britannica-la-reforma] La Reforma — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/La-Reforma - [britannica-mexican-revolution] Mexican Revolution — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/Mexican-Revolution - [britannica-vicente-fox] Vicente Fox — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vicente-Fox - [britannica-zapatista] Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zapatista-National-Liberation-Army - [loc-mexico-study] Mexico: A Country Study (Iturbide and the Plan of Iguala; Empire and Early Republic) — Library of Congress, Federal Research Division · https://www.loc.gov/resource/frdcstdy.mexicocountrystu00merr_0/ - [ojn-acta-1821] Acta de Independencia del Imperio Mexicano, 28 de septiembre de 1821 (text) — Orden Juridico Nacional, Secretaria de Gobernacion (Mexico) · https://www.ordenjuridico.gob.mx/Constitucion/1821C.pdf - [cultura-tratados-cordoba] Los tratados de Córdoba y la consumación de la independencia — Secretaría de Cultura, Gobierno de México · https://contigoenladistancia.cultura.gob.mx/detalle/los-tratados-de-cordoba-y-la-consumacion-de-la-independencia - [wikipedia-mexican-independence] Mexican War of Independence — Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_War_of_Independence - [nwe-mexico] Mexico — New World Encyclopedia · https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mexico Citation template: Terralore, "The Chronicle of Mexico: From the Olmec mother-culture and the lake-city of the Mexica to a republic forged in conquest, reform, and revolution.", terralore.co/country/MEX/chronicle, retrieved .