Restored Republic

Mexican Republic
República Mexicana
1867–1876
Anthem: "Himno Nacional Mexicano"
(English: "National Anthem of Mexico")
GovernmentFederal presidential republic
President 
• 1867–1872
Benito Juárez
• 1872–1876
Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada
History 
• Fall of the Second Mexican Empire
May 1867
• Maximilian executed
19 June 1867
• President Juárez re-enters Mexico City
15 July 1867
• Juárez wins re-election
August 1871
• Plan de la Noria proclaimed against Juárez
8 November 1871
• Juárez dies in office; succeeded by Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada
18 July 1872
• Plan of Tuxtepec proclaimed against Lerdo
15 January 1876
• Porfirio Díaz ascends to the presidency
15 February 1876 1876
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Second Mexican Empire
Porfiriato

The Restored Republic (Spanish: República Restaurada) was the era of Mexican history between 1867 and 1876, starting with the liberal triumph over the Second French Intervention in Mexico and the fall of the Second Mexican Empire and ending with Porfirio Diaz's ascension to the presidency. It was followed by the three-decade dictatorship known as the Porfiriato.

The Liberal coalition that had weathered the French intervention split after 1867, to the point of resulting in armed conflict. Three men would dominate politics in this era: Benito Juárez, Porfirio Díaz, and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada. Lerdo's biographer summed up the three ambitious men: "Juárez believed he was indispensable; while Lerdo regarded himself as infallible and Díaz as inevitable."[1]

Juárez was seen by his supporters as the embodiment of the struggle for national liberation against the recent French invasion, but his continuation in office after 1865, when his term as president ended, led to accusations of autocracy, and opened the door to liberal rivals challenging his hold on power. In 1871, Juárez was challenged by General Porfirio Díaz under the Plan de la Noria, which objected to Juárez's hold on power. Juárez suppressed the rebellion, but died in office, after which Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada succeeded him as president. When Lerdo ran for a second term, Díaz once again rebelled in 1876, under the Plan de Tuxtepec. A year-long civil war ensued, with Lerdo's government troops waging war against the guerrilla tactics of Díaz and his supporters. Díaz triumphed in 1876 and began the next political era, the Porfiriato.

  1. ^ Knapp, Frank A. Jr. Life of Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, 1823-1889. Austin: University of Texas Press 1951, 120