Agustin I: The First Mexican Emperor

In 1821, after over a decade of fighting, Mexico won its independence from Spain, ending two hundred years of colonial rule and declaring itself an autonomous, free nation. But the victory was just the beginning: arguments over the structure of new country's government would result in many more struggles between the two sides of the political spectrum. The spark that set this ideological disagreement alight was the First Mexican Empire, which lasted for just ten months and was run by Agustin de Iturbide, the first Emperor.

Agustin was born in the state of Michoacan in 1783, while the country was still called New Spain. His parents were privileged, owning several haciendas and with a long history of serving in political positions in their native Basque. He entered the royalist army while a teenager, became a full lieutenant, and when the War of Independence broke out in 1810, he initially fought with the Spanish royalists against the insurgency.

While he campaigned against the rebellion for over a decade, in 1821 Iturbide became convinced that the only way to ensure a decisive victory for Mexico was to unite the royalists and the guerrillas into a coalition. He accomplished this unlikely truce, with the eventual goal being to bring the Spanish King Ferdinand over to rule the newly independent nation; at the time, Spain's monarchy looked as if it was on the brink of complete collapse. He worked out a proposal which appealed to both sides, and was a major figure in ending the war.

With Mexico freed from colonial ties, Iturbide named himself the President while he searched for a member of the royal House of Bourbon to rule. European princes would not take the chance of losing their nobility rights to rule Mexico, due to the possibility that their monarchy would fail, even though Spain still considered Mexico a colony.. Thus, Agustin was named as Emperor by the congress he'd assembled (mostly people who were loyal to him).

After his coronation on July 21 1822, the Emperor began to go mad with power. When Congress began to criticize him, he dissolved it; the troops of Commander Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, arrived in Mexico City in December after he became infuriated. Plans were conceived to start a republic government in the place of the monarchy. The insurrectionists managed to gain the loyalties of the leader of the Imperial armies, Echavarri and without military support, Agustin de Iturbide was forced to flee the throne and the country in March 1823.

The First Emperor of Mexico's regime was the first attempt at a Spain-free governing structure, and it failed fairly quickly. While not much infrastructure changes came about in his brief 10 month reign, it clearly sealed the ideals of both the democratic liberal political party, and those of the centrist conservatives. The definition of this political spectrum would set the stage for a long struggle that would come to shape the country in ways no one could yet imagine.

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