CAKE WAR: CAUSES, DEVELOPMENT, CONSEQUENCES, CHARACTERS - HISTORY - 2025

The War of the Cakes or First French intervention in Mexico was an armed conflict that confronted France and Mexico. This confrontation took place between April 1838 and March 1839. Negotiations to stop the war ended with the signing of an agreement favorable to the French, who obtained almost all their requests.

Mexico, since its independence, had gone through decades of political and social instability. Armed insurrections were very frequent and it was common for violence to affect foreign interests. French businessmen living in Mexico were among the most affected, since their government had promoted trade agreements with the Mexican.

Bombardment of San Juan de Ulloa - Source: Théodore Gudin / Public domain

A complaint from a French businessman was the final trigger for the conflict. It was the owner of a bakery who reported the damage caused by Mexican soldiers in his establishment and requested a large compensation. The French ambassador took advantage of the circumstance to demand a large sum to cover all the claims made by his compatriots.

The refusal of the Mexican government caused France to send a fleet to the coast of Veracruz. The blockade lasted eight months and the city was bombed. General Santa Anna led the defense, but with little success. Ultimately, the Mexicans had to give in and grant the French almost all of their claims.

Background

After declaring its independence from the Spanish Crown in 1821, Mexico entered a period of great instability. There were great ideological differences when deciding how to organize the new country and this caused constant insurrections to break out.

During the first years as a nation, power in Mexico passed from one group to another through violence. The effects on the economy, already damaged by the years of war against the Spanish, were dire. To try to alleviate the situation, the different governments forced citizens, nationals or foreigners, to make financial contributions.

Mexico as a business opportunity

In addition to contributions from its citizens, the Mexican government tried to attract foreign investment. Mexico, like the rest of the new Latin American countries, was seen as a very interesting market by the European nations, which began to compete among themselves.

France had tried to open trade routes in Argentina and Uruguay, although with little success. After that, she turned her gaze to Mexico, where some professional communities began to establish themselves.

The French government expressed its intention to establish diplomatic relations. In 1826, the Mexican president, Guadalupe Victoria, met with the rulers of France to negotiate some type of economic collaboration.

Guadalupe Victoria was the first president of Mexico once its independence was achieved. Source: National Museum of Interventions, via Wikimedia Commons.

Provisional Declarations

The first agreement between Mexico and France was signed in 1827. The document was called Provisional Declarations and sought to regulate relations between the two countries, including economic ones.

When France recognized independence in 1830, there was already a fairly large French colony in Mexico. The following trade agreements, signed in 1831 and 1832, granted France and its citizens most-favored-nation treatment.

However, by 1838 the two countries had not yet signed a final trade agreement. The French ambassador, Baron Antoine-Louis Deffaudis, disagreed with several of the articles of the agreement that was being negotiated. His role would be fundamental in the outbreak of war.

Causes of the Cake War

Episode of the expedition to Mexico in 1838, the prince of Joinville in the forecastle of the corvette Créole listens to the report of the lieutenant Penaud and attends the explosion of the tower of the fort of San Juan de Ulloa, on November 27 from 1838.

Beyond the incident that ended up giving its name to the War of Cakes, historians consider that the conflict broke out due to the union of several factors.

One of the most important was France's intention to gain commercial and political prominence in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.

Internal crisis and its effect on trade

As noted above, the continuous rebellions and riots that characterized Mexican politics since its independence also affected foreigners. The same happened with the forced loan measure imposed by the government to try to improve the economy.

On the other hand, the French merchants and professionals who had settled in Mexico formed a highly regarded community. In a short time, they managed to enrich themselves and extended their activities to sectors such as industry or transport.

One of the worst moments for these businessmen occurred in 1828. That year an armed confrontation broke out between Guadalupe Victoria, then president, and Lorenzo Zavala, governor of the State of Mexico. The riots affected many merchants, including the French. These soon complained about the lack of compensation.

Claims of the French

Almost a decade later, a group of French businessmen filed numerous claims against the Mexican government. The complaints were sent to the French ambassador to the country, Baron Antoine-Louis Deffaudis.

Among those claims was the one made by the owner of a Tacubaya pastry shop, a French citizen named Remontel. The complaint related the events that occurred in 1832, when some officers of Santa Anna's army had left their establishment without paying after consuming many cakes.

Antonio López de Santa Anna - Source:]

According to Remontel, the debt reached 60 thousand pesos, an exaggerated amount for the time. This claim was what caused the Mexicans to call the conflict War of the Cakes.

In addition to these economic complaints, relations between France and Mexico were affected by the execution of a Frenchman who had been convicted of piracy.

The Gallic government demanded that the Mexican authorities pay 600,000 pesos as compensation for the damages that the French had suffered in Mexico over the years. To that figure had to be added the large foreign debt that Mexico had contracted with France.

Development

The Baron de Deffaudis traveled to Paris to communicate to his government the claims that his compatriots had presented. When he returned to Mexico on March 21, 1838, he did so accompanied by 10 warships.

The fleet anchored on the island of Sacrificios, in Veracruz. From there, the ambassador issued an ultimatum to the Mexican president, Anastasio Bustamante: France demanded the payment of 600,000 pesos for compensation plus another 200,000 for war expenses.

Portrait of Anastasio Bustamante. Source: General Archive of the Nation., via Wikimedia Commons.

The deadline ended on April 15 and in the event of no positive response, France threatened to invade Mexico.

Port blocking

Bustamante refused even to respond to the French while the warships were off Mexican shores. The French response was to declare the blockade of all the ports of the Gulf and seize the Mexican merchant ships found in the area.

This blockade, which began on April 16, 1838, would end up lasting eight months.

Negotiation attempt

Mexico remained firm in its position despite the blockade of its most important ports. Given this, France decided to go a step further and sent a new fleet made up of twenty ships. At the command of the squad was a veteran of the Napoleonic wars, Charles Baudin, with the capacity of plenipotentiary minister.

Baudin and Luis G. Cuevas, Minister of Interior and Foreign Relations of Mexico, held a first meeting in Xalapa. In it, the Frenchman demanded that a trade and navigation treaty be signed that would give his country preferential rights.

In addition, they also demanded that Mexico pay, within 20 days, 800,000 pesos. This amount included compensation for businessmen harmed by the disturbances on Mexican soil and compensation for the expenses of ships displaced from France.

Start of the war

The response of the Mexican government to the French demands was negative. On November 21, 1838, the French squadron began to bombard San Juan de Ulúa and the port of Veracruz.

The Mexicans suffered 227 casualties and, a few hours after the attack began, the head of the fortress signed the capitulation. The same did the governor of Veracruz shortly after.

The Mexican federal government rejected both capitulations and on November 30 declared war on the King of France. The president put Santa Anna at the head of the troops that had to respond to the French aggression.

Santa Anna performance

Antonio López de Santa Anna

General Santa Anna arrived with his men in Veracruz with the intention of defending the city. His first act was to inform Baudin that the capitulations were not legal, since the government had not approved them.

The French, before this announcement, ordered 1,000 artillery soldiers to land with the mission of arresting Santa Anna. On December 4, French and Mexican troops entered into combat, which ended with no clear winner.

Baudin ordered his troops to return to the ships. Santa Anna organized to chase the French soldiers until they reached the dock. At this, the French fired a cannon that stopped the Mexicans and wounded Santa Anna in the leg.

After this, Baudin sent his ships to bombard the city again. Santa Anna and his family had to flee and took refuge in Pocitos, a league from the town.

English intervention

The months of naval blockade were seriously damaging the Mexican economy. Part of the supplies had to enter from Texas, through smuggling activities. The Texas government, faced with this, feared that France would take action against them and ordered the arrest of the Mexican smugglers.

Finally, Texas agreed with France to send a ship to join the blockade of Mexican ports. In addition, before the resistance of Mexico, Baudin received another twenty ships as reinforcement.

By then, the blockade was also affecting the commercial interests of other nations, especially those of England. Given this, the English moved their West Indies Fleet to Veracruz, where they arrived at the end of 1938.

The British intention was to force the French to lift the blockade. The French command had to negotiate with the English minister, Mr Pakenham, and finally accept his mediation in the conflict.

Negotiations and end of the war

The British-sponsored peace negotiations began in early 1839. Charles Baudin, on the part of France, and Manuel Eduardo de Gorostiza, as representative of the Mexican government, participated.

The peace treaty was signed on March 9. France promised to return the fortress of San Juan De Ulúa, while Mexico was forced to cancel the forced loans and pay 600,000 pesos.

Consequences

As has been indicated, the peace agreement marked the recognition of the victory of France. In addition to the mentioned 600,000 pesos for compensation, Mexico had to agree to sign a series of commercial agreements favorable to French businessmen.

These agreements were in force for several decades. In the long term, they were part of the causes that led to the arrival of Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico in 1864 with the help of French troops.

On the other hand, the armed confrontations during the conflict produced some 127 dead and 180 wounded.

Increase in the economic crisis

The Cake War further worsened Mexico's delicate economic situation. The naval blockade represented great losses for Mexico, since it prevented the development of commercial activities that represented the highest income for the country. The war meant even more economic losses for Mexico.

To this must be added the payment of the compensation claimed by France and the cost of rebuilding the destroyed areas of Veracruz.

Political return of Santa Anna

Before the war, Santa Anna's prestige among the Mexican people had practically disappeared. Her operation in Veracruz, despite the fact that it was a failure, helped her to regain part of that admiration.

Santa Anna took advantage of the good publicity that his performance in Veracruz brought him to resume his political career. The military man returned to occupy the presidency of the country on several occasions from 1839.

Main characters

Anastasio Bustamante

Anastasio Bustamante was a Mexican military and politician who held the presidency of the country on three different occasions. One of these periods coincided with the development of the War of the Cakes.

Bustamante initially refused to accept the French ultimatum and appointed Santa Anna as military chief. However, he had no choice but to accept the unfavorable peace agreement for the country.

Louis Philippe I of France

This monarch came to the throne in 1830, at a time when industry and the bourgeoisie were experiencing a strong impulse. Given this, Luis Felipe promoted a policy that would allow France to find new markets, including Mexico.

This, plus the complaints of the French businessmen installed on Mexican soil, caused the monarch to send a fleet to Mexico to block the ports and force the Mexican government to accept his conditions.

Charles Baudin

Charles Baudin was a French military and sailor who participated in several of the most important military conflicts of the war. His prominent role during the Napoleonic wars allowed him to access important positions of great responsibility.

In 1838 he was appointed chief of the fleet destined for Mexico. In addition, he obtained full powers to negotiate with the Mexican government.

Antonio López de Santa Anna

Born in 1794 in Xalapa, Antonio López de Santa Anna was one of the most important characters in Mexican history for much of the 19th century. During his political life he held the presidency of Mexico on six different occasions.

Although he had lost part of his prestige, the Mexican government commissioned him to take charge of the defense of Veracruz against the French attack. Before the news of his arrival, Baudin ordered to face him with 1,000 of his men and a battle began without a clear winner.

The French tried to retreat to their ships and Santa Anna began his pursuit. At the dock, a cannon shot stopped Mexican attempts to stop their enemies.

In this maneuver, Santa Anna was injured, which caused him to lose a leg and some fingers of his hand.

The great publicity that this mission provided him allowed him to regain his prestige, to the point of occupying the presidency again in 1839, 1841 and 1844.

References

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4. Klein, Christopher. The Pastry War, 175 Years Ago. Retrieved from history.com
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