Cake Wars – Summary, Causes and

Consequences
The First French intervention in Mexico in 1838 is called the Pastry War .

It was an incursion into Mexico carried out by French troops in the mid-19th century.

This war is known by this name due to a situation involving a very famous claim made by a
French merchant before the embassy of his country for money. Much of that money was
for some cakes that some Mexican officials had consumed in their own business and
not paid for them.

Causes of the Cake Wars

Social and political instability after the independence of Mexico due to the different
political movements that they supported, Centralism and federalism .

Internal disputes for political power in the country after independence.

The political instability brought about a deep economic crisis for the Mexican government,
which resorted to a practice where the country forced citizens to make financial
contributions to the government for public spending, under the threat of intervention by
public forces if they arrived. to refuse.

Origin of War
This war came as a direct result of the economic and political instability that affected the
country during the first years of the Mexican Republic , this after Mexico's
independence in 1821 from the Spanish colonies.

In this period, Mexico was repeatedly subject to rebellion movements carried out by
military officers and by various factions seeking political power in the country.

The presidents of the republic followed one another at a high rate, the majority being men
hungry for power and willing to use the position for their own benefit. Economically, the
external debt was large, mainly due to increased loans with several European countries,
reaching the point that Mexico could no longer meet its commitments.

The various uprisings produced other armed conflicts, more or less intense, which
resulted in the destruction of a significant amount of private property, both national
and foreign (including French).
Furthermore, the government forced citizens to make financial contributions to the
government for public spending, under the threat of intervention by public forces if
they refused.

The affected Mexican citizens could do little, while foreign merchants appealed to the
Mexican government to compensate them for the damage caused, to no avail, so they began
to appeal to their own governments. Although repeated French requests were not met,
the French government would eventually drop this matter.

Development of the cake war

Among the French citizens demanding compensation, there was a pastry chef named
Remontel, established in Tacubaya , Mexico City, who in 1838 claimed to have suffered
a loss of 60,000 pesos in pastries during the fighting. Upon receiving no response from the
Mexican government, he appealed to the king of France.

France then demanded that the Mexican government pay 600,000 pesos in
compensation for the losses that the French had suffered in their territories. This
amount was extremely high, compared to the salary of one peso a day received by a worker.
In addition to this amount, Mexico had a foreign debt with France that it had not been able
to pay.

In early 1838, several French warships under the command of Admiral Bazoche arrived off the
coast of Veracruz , threatening to invade Mexico if the conditions of the ultimatum however
presented by the French ambassador, Deffaudis Baron, were not met.

Then President Anastasio Bustamante refused to give in to the ultimatum and so on April
16 of that same year, French ships blocked the main ports of the port of Tampico and
Veracruz Harbor, chaining several Mexican ships .

This blockade would last 8 months. Mexicans then began to use the ports of Texas to move
goods. Seeing that Mexico continued to move, and despite the loss of its main source of
income, France sent a fleet of twenty other ships, under the command of Charles Baudin,
a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars .

On November 27, 1838, this fleet opened fire on the fortress of San Juan de Ulúa, which
defended the port of Veracruz and the city. Three days later, Mexico declared war on
France .

However, the Mexican army was practically nonexistent at this time and therefore Mexican
opposition never materialized. Veracruz was occupied on December 5.

The role of Santa Anna

However, and without superior authorization, Antonio López de Santa Anna decided to
investigate the situation in Veracruz, leaving his retirement in Xalapa .
After this investigation he requested permission to confront the French, having been
ordered to do so by all possible means. With 3,000 men under his command he headed to
Veracruz, but his troops had neither the capacity nor the numbers necessary to
confront the 30,000 French troops established in the city .

Half of them would be killed or wounded in combat. In a confrontation with the French
rearguard, Santa Anna would be wounded in a leg that would later be amputated. This fact
would be well exploited by Santa Anna to return to power.

Consequences of the Cake Wars

Deep economic crisis due to the blockade of the ports through which most of the
merchandise entered and left, not to mention that Mexico was one of the most important
markets in America.

It is estimated that the total number of wounded and dead was 127 dead and 180
injured.

End of the war

At that time, the United Kingdom moved a police station to the conflict zone in order to
mediate the negotiations between the two parties, since the French blockade prevented the
access of several European countries to one of the most important markets in the Americas.
The two parties met in Veracruz and on March 9, 1839, peace was signed.

Mexico agrees to pay the compensation of 600 thousand pesos demanded by France. For its
part, France withdrew its fleet and returned the Mexican ships that had been captured.

The Cake War summarizes causes and

consequences
The Cake War was a diplomatic and military conflict between Mexico and France that began on
April 16, 1838 over claims for compensation that the French government supported on behalf of
French merchants towards the Mexican government for damages and looting caused to their
business during armed revolts and which ended with the signing of peace between both nations
on March 9, 1839.

This conflict between France and Mexico is also known as the first French intervention in Mexico.

Causes
As already mentioned, the main cause of the conflict was the French government's demand
for compensation from Mexico to French merchants living in Mexico who suffered
damages to their businesses during rebellions; was the claim of a pastry chef living in
Tacubaya named Remontel who gave name to the popular pastry war conflict. The pastry
chef demanded payment of 60 thousand pesos as compensation for the damage to his
business that officials from Antonio López de Santa Anna caused.

The execution of a French citizen accused of piracy also strained the Mexico-France
relationship. Another cause of the conflict has to do with the interest of the French in
making the weight of that nation felt on America, especially in Latin America, trying in this
way obtain advantageous commercial benefits for that nation and its citizens. With Mexico,
around 1827, France signed an agreement of friendship and trade called Provisional
Declarations, which was not ratified.

consequences

In Paris, the claims of the French merchants were known through Baron Deffaudis, who left
Mexico to return on March 21, 1838 with 10 French warships and an ultimatum addressed
to the government of Anastasio Bustamante to liquidate the debt of 600 thousand pesos that
France considered fair to its compatriots, an exaggerated figure as well as inflated in its
monetary figures to those originally claimed, on April 15, 1838 the ultimatum of the
payment of 600 thousand pesos plus 200 thousand for war expenses expired.

The government of Anastasio Bustamante refused to negotiate while French ships

threatened Mexican commercial ports; Finally, Mexico only agreed to pay the 600 thousand
pesos originally claimed; From November 17 to 20, 1838, the payment was negotiated
without reaching an agreement between both nations, breaking out in what is considered the
greatest consequence of the cake war, which was the bombing of San Juan de Ulúa and the
taking of the port of Veracruz by the French and whose defense was in charge of generals
Antonio López de Santa Anna and Mariano Arista, on December 5, 1838 French troops
were stationed in the aforementioned port.

Conclusion

The end of the first French intervention or cake war in Mexico occurred thanks to the
mediation of England in the conflict between Mexico and France, the conflict affected its
commercial interests in America itself in Mexico, and it also mobilized naval forces
resulting in that France began to abandon aggression towards Mexico.

The mediator in the peace signing between both countries was the representative of the
English government in Mexico Richard Pakenham, in the peace signing Mexico would only
pay the 600 thousand pesos that the French government originally demanded, France
forgets the 200 thousand pesos that it demanded as compensation Due to the expenses that
the conflict generated during the naval blockade, finally on March 9, 1839, peace was
signed between both nations.
The Pastry War
The Pastry War
Category: From Independence to Current Mexico
From April 16, 1838 to March 9, 1839, the so-called Cake War or first French
intervention in Mexico occurred.

This brief armed conflict between Mexico and France was due to damage caused to French
merchants, mainly to a French pastry chef named Remontel, who demanded payment for
merchandise and furniture from his premises, which was vandalized by militiamen, claims
sent to Paris. through the French ambassador, Baron Deffaudis, who was carrying out
efforts in the country to lay the foundations for political relations between the two
countries.

Deffaudis left Mexico after failing to reach an agreement on the negotiations for this
agreement, and returned on March 21, 1838, supported by French warships, to demand the
payments that the French merchants requested from the Mexican government, as
compensation for the damage caused to their businesses during the conflicts that occurred
in the country. He also requested privileges from French citizens dedicated to commerce.

Mexican ports suffered a blockade for 7 months, since the government of Anastacio Bustamante
denied any negotiation while national sovereignty was threatened by French cannons, in addition
to the fact that the government had the position of not having the obligation to compensate for
claims made by damage to property during armed conflicts.

San Juán de Ulúa and the city of Veracruz suffered the French bombardment, causing both
cities to capitulate without the approval of the Mexican government, which declared war by
sending Antonio López de Santa Anna as commander of the troops that would confront
the enemy.

Both sides faced each other in a skirmish in the port of Veracruz, which would be the most
serious thing that occurred during the Cake War.

The end of the confrontation between France and Mexico would come when an agreement
was signed thanks to the efforts of the English embassy. In this agreement, Mexico agreed
to pay the 600,000 pesos demanded by France, bringing the Cake War to an end on March
9, 1839.