History knows many unsuccessful rulers who, by the end of their reign, led their countries to complete collapse, ranging from the famous ones like Nicholas II, ending with the odious ones like Francisco Nguema. At the same time, the Mexican dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna is rarely mentioned both in Europe and in Russia, although his personality is significant for the entire world history, and to a much greater extent than the personalities of many European rulers, whose names and deeds we know well … Despite the fact that Mexico has never been able to boast of political stability, Santa Anna managed to plunge it into complete chaos, which almost put an end to the history of the country.
Santa Anna came to power on April 1, 1833, in the wake of the military-patriotic hysteria and popularity that he had earned a few years earlier, when he managed to inflict a decisive defeat on the Spaniards, who made a last attempt to return the rebellious territory under their rule. I must say that the Spaniards by that time had become so weak that it was a simple matter to overturn them on the battlefield, and the entire nineteenth century became the century of the crumbling of the Spanish colonial empire.
Once at the very top, Santa Anna quickly discovered his penchant for conservatism and dictatorship. Freedom of thought and federalism were replaced by Catholic obscurantism and extreme centralism. In addition, Santa Anna adored flattery and loud nicknames: "Napoleon of the West", "Savior of the Fatherland", etc., and his entire reign was marked by two disastrous extremes - amazing foreign policy adventurism (this line is partly indicated by the ardent love of the ruler gambling and love affairs) and a tendency to "tighten the screws" within the country. The tyrant surrounded himself with luxury and women, and also loved when he was flatteringly compared with Napoleon Bonaparte, the resemblance to whom he tried in every possible way to emphasize.
At the same time, he initially did not go well with the management of the country. Dictatorial habits led to riots throughout the vast country. The worst of all events developed in Texas, where the uprising of numerous American settlers resulted in virtually a poorly disguised intervention by the United States, which by that time had entered an era of active continental expansionism and passionarity.
The history of the Texas Revolution is a separate and fascinating question, but in this case the only important thing is that the dashingly started punitive expedition against the insurgent Texans ended in complete collapse: a detachment of government troops was defeated by American settlers, and "Napoleon of the West" himself was taken prisoner. Already in captivity, on May 14, 1836, Santa Anna signed the Velasca Agreements, according to which he, as the ruler of Mexico, recognized the complete independence of Texas, after which the general was sent to the United States. However, the government in Mexico City immediately refused to recognize the agreements, since they were signed by a ruler already captured and deprived of power.
The following year, Santa Anna returned to Mexico, and a year later, the French intervention began in this country. Remembering the past military merits of Santa Anna in the fight against the Spaniards, the current Mexican government again invited the military leader to command the army, with the order to "save the nation."It was not possible to fulfill the order, and as a result of the military defeat, the government of President Bustamante nevertheless agreed to pay France 600,000 pesos, but for Santa Anna himself, the defeat unexpectedly turned into a political victory - he was wounded and lost his leg, but the glory of the defender of the fatherland was with him again. which allowed him to return to power.
Santa Anna's second term was marked by even greater excesses than the first. Dictatorship, personality cult, populism, persecution of any dissent and corruption flourished. In a country with a devastated economy, this naturally could not end with anything good. Riots soon broke out, Yucatan declared independence, and Texas was one step away from being accepted into the United States. Santa Anna again lost political authority, and then power, after which he was forced to leave Mexico.
The chance to return, however, presented itself pretty soon. With the outbreak of war with the United States in May 1846, the Mexican authorities again allowed the "Savior of the Fatherland" to return under the promise that Santa Anna would deal only with military issues, without claiming power. The power-hungry general himself had a different opinion on this matter and, having received the command of the army in his own hands, immediately took advantage of this not to repel American aggression, but in order to usurp the presidency again. By the way, on the eve of his return to Mexico, he secretly promised the Americans to give them the territories they want, but later retracted his words. Obviously, he planned to stay in power even after the already inevitable defeat in the war and to rule the "stub" of Mexico, which the US army would leave him, but fate decreed otherwise. The fiasco on the battlefields again led to a loss of power and a new exile.
A new opportunity to climb to the top turned up in 1853, when, after another coup, no other compromise figure was found, and the hero was again called upon to stand at the head of the country. However, the Mexicans quickly realized that the old horse had completely ruined the furrow.
Petty tyranny, excessive vanity and self-praise (despite the fact that Santa Anna lost most of the wars), blatant incompetence and dictatorship soon became disgusting even to those who had recently called the general into power. Particular indignation was caused by the outright surrender to the United States on the part of the aging dictator, who, despite this, continued to call himself ever louder titles.
Finally, the political career of the gallant general was crossed out by the Gadsden Deal - the sale of another piece of territory to the United States, with an area of, according to various estimates, from 77 to 110 thousand square meters. kilometers. For example, this is the area of a country like Bulgaria. Santa Anna was also going to "in the spirit of the times" (in the words of James Gadsden himself) to sell even larger lands: Baja California, Sonora, and the wasteland south of the Rio Grande, as a result of which the border would move another 700-1200 km south of the current borders, but already this venture fell through at the initiative of the United States itself. However, the Gadsden Deal was enough to fill the cup of patience in Mexican society. The betrayal has become too obvious.
The authority of Santa Anna collapsed to zero and in the course of another uprising he was again overthrown by Mexican liberals - this time finally. He no longer had a chance to return to power, and he passed away in poverty and oblivion.
Santa Anna is a unique example of political survival and return to the highest office amid the simply monstrous results of government. This was due not only to a rare coincidence of circumstances, but also to the influence of conservative circles.
Nevertheless, the results of the rule of a narcissistic dictator are unambiguous: a reduction in territory from almost 5 million square kilometers to 1.9 million (this is only what was directly annexed by the United States, and after all, the zone of American occupation and devastation stretched much further south and included almost the entire country), poverty and devastation, corruption, instability. The country was thrown back in its development hundreds of years ago. It was long and painful for new generations to fix the catastrophe.
