Speaking of the French, today is in Cinco de Mayo in Mexico, a holiday commemorating the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, in which the Mexicans defeated an invading French army sent by Louis Napoleon to set up a puppet government under his control. (He eventually did subdue Mexico, and he installed the Austrian Archduke Maximilian as emperor; once the U.S. Civil War was over, however, the Americans intervened, Louis Napoleon withdrew, and Maximilian was executed.)
In a final irony, Puebla is currently the site of a Volkswagen factory, which meant that the European powers dominated Mexico after all.
Many Americans resent the commemoration of the Battle of Puebla by Mexican-Americans and recent Mexican immigrants. But think about it- what could be more American than Cinco de Mayo, a holiday devoted to celebrating a humiliating defeat for the French?
:-D
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