¿Por qué celebran el Cinco de Mayo?: Cinco de Mayo in Spanish and English

Bilingual Article: Why Do They Celebrate Cinco de Mayo?

cannon at Loreto Fort
Un cañon del fuerto de Loreto, un sitio de la batalla de Puebla. Luis Romero/Creative Commons.

¿Qué es el Cinco de Mayo? What is Cinco de Mayo? This bilingual feature has been written with classroom use in mind — a grammar guide at the end provides useful tips for Spanish students.

En español: Los orígenes del Cinco de Mayo

Muchos creen que el cinco de mayo es el aniversario de la independencia mexicana. Pero no tienen razón — el día de independencia en México es el 16 de septiembre.

Para familiarizarse con los orígenes de la celebración, es necesario estudiar los sucesos a mediados del siglo diecinueve. Después de la Guerra Mexicana Americana, México enfrentaba una crisis económica. En 1861, Benito Juárez, el presidente mexicano, declaró que México aplazaría por dos años los pagos de deudas exteriores.

Aunque Juárez hubo dicho que se reanudarían los pagos en 1863, la promesa no satisfizo a Gran Bretaña, Francia y España. Se ablandaban Gran Bretaña y España, pero Francia insistió en obtener su dinero por la fuerza. Napoleón III, emperador de los franceses, nombró un pariente, archiduque Maximillian de Austria, el líder de México.

Mientras marchaba hacia la Ciudad de México, el ejército francés enfrentaba resistencia tenaz. El 5 de mayo, 1862, el general Ignacio Zaragoza y su ejército mexicano vencieron el ejército francés en la batalla de Puebla. La victoria mexicana era una sorpresa porque el ejército francés era más grande y tenía materiales superiores.

Según un refrán inglés, es posible ganar la batalla y perder la guerra. Los franceses ganaron otras batallas, y Maximillian se hizo líder en 1864. Pero los franceses, enfrentando resistencia mexicana y presión de los Estados Unidos, retiraron las tropas en 1867.

El Cinco de Mayo es un día para conmemorar el coraje de los luchadores contra la opresión. Quizás por eso este día de fiesta es muy popular dondequiera haya personas de ascendencia mexicana. Por ejemplo, la fiesta hoy día es muy popular en Estados Unidos, donde viven muchas persons con antepasados de México.

In English: Origins of Mexico's Cinco de Mayo

Many people believe that May 5 is the anniversary of the Mexican Independence. But they're mistaken, for the Mexican Independence Day is September 16.

To understand the origins of the celebration, you need to go back to the middle of the 19th century. After the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, Mexico was in a fiscal crisis. In 1861 Mexican President Benito Juárez declared that Mexico was suspending payment on all its foreign debt for two years.

Even though Juárez had said payments would resume in 1863, Great Britain, France and Spain were not satisfied. Although the British and Spanish-backed off, France insisted on using force to secure its debt payments. French Emperor Napoleon III named a relative of his, Archduke Maximillian of Austria, as ruler of Mexico.

As it was marching toward Mexico City, the French Army encountered stiff resistance. On May 5, 1862, General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the French Army in the Battle of Puebla. The Mexican victory was a surprise, for the French Army was larger and better equipped.

There is a saying that it's possible to win the battle and lose the war. The French won other battles, and Maximillian became the ruler in 1864. But facing Mexican resistance and American pressure, the French withdrew their troops in 1867.

Cinco de Mayo is a time to recognize the bravery of those who fight against oppression. Perhaps that is why this holiday is popular wherever there are people of Mexican descent. For example, the fiesta these days is very popular in the United States, where many people who have Mexican ancestors live.

Grammatical Highlights

Differences in uses of the two simple past tenses of Spanish can be seen in the article. In general, the preterite is used here in referring to ordinary events (such as with ganaron for the winning of battles), the imperfect is used to provide background, such as in the use of tenían materiales (literally "had materiel").

Names of the months typically aren't capitalized in Spanish. The name of the holiday is, however. Adjectives such as mexicana and francés derived from names of countries also aren't capitalized, nor are most titles such as archiduque.

Note how reflexive verbs such as familiarizarse and reanudarse (in the form se reanudarían) are used. Alhough the two verbs could be translated literally in this context as to familiarize oneself and to resume themselves, such a translation would be awkward.

In the third paragraph, a comma is used after "France" in English but not after Francia in Spanish. That is because Spanish does not use the Oxford comma before the y ("and") in a series of words.

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Erichsen, Gerald. "¿Por qué celebran el Cinco de Mayo?: Cinco de Mayo in Spanish and English." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/por-que-celebran-cinco-de-mayo-3078091. Erichsen, Gerald. (2023, April 5). ¿Por qué celebran el Cinco de Mayo?: Cinco de Mayo in Spanish and English. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/por-que-celebran-cinco-de-mayo-3078091 Erichsen, Gerald. "¿Por qué celebran el Cinco de Mayo?: Cinco de Mayo in Spanish and English." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/por-que-celebran-cinco-de-mayo-3078091 (accessed March 19, 2024).