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Mexico is the 11th most populous country[br]in the world with 121 million people.

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Mexico is among the world's [br]15 largest economies

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and is the second economy[br]in Latin America.

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Welcome to our animated show of history.

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This episode presents[br]a brief history of Mexico.

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The earliest human artifacts in Mexico[br]are chips of stone tools

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found near campfire remains[br]in the valley of Mexico,

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10,000 years ago.

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Mexico is the site of the domestication[br]of maize, tomato, and beans

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which produced an agricultural surplus.

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This enabled the transition from[br]Paleo-Indian hunter gatherers

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to sedentary agricultural villages

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beginning around 5,000 B.C.

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In the formative era, villages became[br]more dense in terms of population

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and developing into chiefdoms.

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The earliest complex civilization in[br]Mexico was the Olmec culture

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which flourished on the Gulf Coast[br]from around 1500 BC.

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Olmec cultural traits [br]diffused through Mexico

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into their formative era cultures

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in Chiapas, Oaxaca,[br]and the valley of Mexico.

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In the subsequent preclassical period

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the Maya and Zapotec civilizations

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developed complex centers[br]at Calakmul and Monte Albán respectively.

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During this period the first true[br]Mesoamerican writing systems

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were developed in the EPI-Olmec[br]and the Zapotec cultures.

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In Central Mexico, [br]the height of the classic period

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saw the ascendancy of Teotihuacán

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which formed a military[br]and commercial empire

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whose influence stretched South[br]into the Mayan area as well as North.

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After the collapse[br]of Teotihuacan in 600 AD,

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competition ensued between several[br]important political centers

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in central Mexico,[br]such as Xochicalco and Cholula.

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During the early post classic period

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central Mexico was dominated[br]by the Toltec culture.

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Oaxaca by the Mixtec [br]and the lowland Maya area

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had important centers and [br]Chichén Itza and Mayapán.

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The Aztecs, the last of pre-Colombian [br]Mexico's great native civilizations

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rose to prominence in the central valley[br]of Mexico around 1427

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by partnering with the Toltecs and Mayans.

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This triple alliance conquered smaller[br]cultures to the east and west

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until the Aztec empire spanned Mexico[br]from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf Coast.

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The Spanish first learned of Mexico

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during the Juan de Grijalva[br]expedition of 1518.

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The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire[br]began in February 1519

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when Hernan Cortés arrived[br]at the port of Veracruz.

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After taking control of that city[br]he moved on to the Aztec capital.

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In his search for gold and other riches,

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Cortés decided to invade [br]and conquer the Aztec empire.

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The territory became part [br]of the Spanish empire

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under the name of New Spain in 1535.

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Much of the identity, traditions[br]and architecture of Mexico

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developed during[br]the 286-year colonial period.

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Cortés then colonized the area[br]and named it Nueva Espana, New Spain.

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By 1574, Spain controlled[br]a large portion of the Aztec empire

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and had enslaved most [br]of the indigenous population.

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Worse, the diseases brought[br]into the society by the Spaniards

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devastated the indigenous population[br]of Nueva Espana,

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killing an estimated 24 million people

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between 1521 and 1605.

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As a result of its trade links with Asia,

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the West of the Americas, [br]Africa and Europe

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and the profound effect[br]of new world silver,

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Central Mexico was one[br]of the first regions

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to be incorporated[br]into a globalized economy.

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Being at the crossroads of trade, [br]people and cultures,

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Mexico City has been called[br]the First World City.

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The Catholic church's influence[br]was felt in the region

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when missionaries began[br]arriving in 1523.

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The missionaries built many monasteries

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and converted millions of people[br]to Catholicism.

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Concerned about the Catholic[br]church's ever-growing power,

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King Carlos III of Spain expelled[br]the Jesuits from Nueva Espana

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in the late 1700s.

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Inspired by the American and French [br]revolutions,

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Mexican insurgence saw[br]an opportunity, in 1808,

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as the King abdicated[br]in Madrid in Spain

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and was overwhelmed by war[br]and occupation.

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The rebellion began as an idealistic[br]peasants and miners' movement

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led by a local priest, [br]Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla

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who issued the Cry of Dolores[br]on the 16th of September 1810.

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The day is celebrated as Independence Day.

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Mexico's short recovery[br]after the war of independence

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was soon cut short again[br]by the civil wars

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and institutional instability[br]of the 1850s

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which lasted until the government [br]of Porfirio Diaz reestablished conditions

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that paved the way for economic growth.

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Agustin de Iturbide[br]became constitutional emperor

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of the first Mexican Empire in 1822.

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A revolt against him established[br]the United Mexican States.

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Later a Republican Constitution is drafted

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and Guadalupe Victoria became[br]the first president

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of the newly- born country.

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During this time, people had difficulty [br]meeting tax payments

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and resented the central[br]government's actions

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in collecting customs[br]due to limited trade.

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The United States' annexation[br]of the Republic of Texas

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and subsequent [br]American military incursion

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into territory that was part[br]of Coahuila

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instigated the Mexican-American war.

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The war was settled in 1848[br]via the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

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Mexico was forced to give up[br]more than one third of its land to the US

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including Alta California, New Mexico[br]and the territory claimed by Texas.

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In the 1860s, [br]Mexico was occupied by France

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which established[br]the second Mexican Empire

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under the rule of Habsburg[br]Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria

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with the support[br]of the Roman Catholic clergy

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and the Conservatives.

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France never made a profit in Mexico

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and its Mexican expedition[br]grew increasingly unpopular.

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Finally, in the spring of 1865,[br]after the US Civil War was over,

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the US demanded the withdraw[br]of French troops from Mexico.

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Porfirio Diaz was elected the 29th[br]president in the late 19th century

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the period known as the Porfiriato[br]was characterized

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by economic stability and growth,

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significant foreign[br]investment and influence.

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The Mexican Revolution began

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when Madero issued [br]the Plan of San Luis Potosi

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and declared war on the Diaz regime.

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By 1911, Diaz is forced to step aside

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and Madero was elected president

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but conflict and violence continue[br]for the better part of the next decade.

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World War II further stimulated[br]the nation's development

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through the development of roads, [br]the building of factories

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and the establishment[br]of irrigation systems.

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Until the 80s, Mexico[br]remained a poor country

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but experienced[br]substantial economic growth

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that some historians [br]call The Mexican Miracle.

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In recent years, the Mexican economy

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has had an unprecedented[br]macroeconomic stability.

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Its economy has integrated[br]with that of US and also Canada

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after the North American[br]Free Trade Agreement.

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Thank you for watching.

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