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

Mexico is among the world's 
15 largest economies

and is the second economy
in Latin America.

Welcome to our animated show of history.

This episode presents
a brief history of Mexico.

The earliest human artifacts in Mexico
are chips of stone tools

found near campfire remains
in the valley of Mexico,

10,000 years ago.

Mexico is the site of the domestication
of maize, tomato, and beans

which produced an agricultural surplus.

This enabled the transition from
Paleo-Indian hunter gatherers

to sedentary agricultural villages

beginning around 5,000 B.C.

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

and developing into chiefdoms.

The earliest complex civilization in
Mexico was the Olmec culture

which flourished on the Gulf Coast
from around 1500 BC.

Olmec cultural traits 
diffused through Mexico

into their formative era cultures

in Chiapas, Oaxaca,
and the valley of Mexico.

In the subsequent preclassical period

the Maya and Zapotec civilizations

developed complex centers
at Calakmul and Monte Albán respectively.

During this period the first true
Mesoamerican writing systems

were developed in the EPI-Olmec
and the Zapotec cultures.

In Central Mexico, 
the height of the classic period

saw the ascendancy of Teotihuacán

which formed a military
and commercial empire

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

After the collapse
of Teotihuacan in 600 AD,

competition ensued between several
important political centers

in central Mexico,
such as Xochicalco and Cholula.

During the early post classic period

central Mexico was dominated
by the Toltec culture.

Oaxaca by the Mixtec 
and the lowland Maya area

had important centers and 
Chichén Itza and Mayapán.

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

rose to prominence in the central valley
of Mexico around 1427

by partnering with the Toltecs and Mayans.

This triple alliance conquered smaller
cultures to the east and west

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

The Spanish first learned of Mexico

during the Juan de Grijalva
expedition of 1518.

The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
began in February 1519

when Hernan Cortés arrived
at the port of Veracruz.

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

In his search for gold and other riches,

Cortés decided to invade 
and conquer the Aztec empire.

The territory became part 
of the Spanish empire

under the name of New Spain in 1535.

Much of the identity, traditions
and architecture of Mexico

developed during
the 286-year colonial period.

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

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

and had enslaved most 
of the indigenous population.

Worse, the diseases brought
into the society by the Spaniards

devastated the indigenous population
of Nueva Espana,

killing an estimated 24 million people

between 1521 and 1605.

As a result of its trade links with Asia,

the West of the Americas, 
Africa and Europe

and the profound effect
of new world silver,

Central Mexico was one
of the first regions

to be incorporated
into a globalized economy.

Being at the crossroads of trade, 
people and cultures,

Mexico City has been called
the First World City.

The Catholic church's influence
was felt in the region

when missionaries began
arriving in 1523.

The missionaries built many monasteries

and converted millions of people
to Catholicism.

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

King Carlos III of Spain expelled
the Jesuits from Nueva Espana

in the late 1700s.

Inspired by the American and French 
revolutions,

Mexican insurgence saw
an opportunity, in 1808,

as the King abdicated
in Madrid in Spain

and was overwhelmed by war
and occupation.

The rebellion began as an idealistic
peasants and miners' movement

led by a local priest, 
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla

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

The day is celebrated as Independence Day.

Mexico's short recovery
after the war of independence

was soon cut short again
by the civil wars

and institutional instability
of the 1850s

which lasted until the government 
of Porfirio Diaz reestablished conditions

that paved the way for economic growth.

Agustin de Iturbide
became constitutional emperor

of the first Mexican Empire in 1822.

A revolt against him established
the United Mexican States.

Later a Republican Constitution is drafted

and Guadalupe Victoria became
the first president

of the newly- born country.

During this time, people had difficulty 
meeting tax payments

and resented the central
government's actions

in collecting customs
due to limited trade.

The United States' annexation
of the Republic of Texas

and subsequent 
American military incursion

into territory that was part
of Coahuila

instigated the Mexican-American war.

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

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

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

In the 1860s, 
Mexico was occupied by France

which established
the second Mexican Empire

under the rule of Habsburg
Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria

with the support
of the Roman Catholic clergy

and the Conservatives.

France never made a profit in Mexico

and its Mexican expedition
grew increasingly unpopular.

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

the US demanded the withdraw
of French troops from Mexico.

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

the period known as the Porfiriato
was characterized

by economic stability and growth,

significant foreign
investment and influence.

The Mexican Revolution began

when Madero issued 
the Plan of San Luis Potosi

and declared war on the Diaz regime.

By 1911, Diaz is forced to step aside

and Madero was elected president

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

World War II further stimulated
the nation's development

through the development of roads, 
the building of factories

and the establishment
of irrigation systems.

Until the 80s, Mexico
remained a poor country

but experienced
substantial economic growth

that some historians 
call The Mexican Miracle.

In recent years, the Mexican economy

has had an unprecedented
macroeconomic stability.

Its economy has integrated
with that of US and also Canada

after the North American
Free Trade Agreement.

Thank you for watching.

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