Агустин де Итурбиде: Мексиканың бірінші императоры

Mexican army general and politician, 1st emperor of Mexico

Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu(aɣusˈtin de ituɾˈbiðe; 27 September 178319 July 1824), commonly known as Agustín de Iturbide and later by his regnal name Agustín I, was the first Emperor of Mexico from 1822 until his abdication in 1823. An officer in the royal Spanish army, during the Mexican War of Independence he initially fought insurgent forces rebelling against the Spanish crown before changing sides in 1820 and leading a coalition of former royalists and long time insurgents under his Plan of Iguala. The combined forces under Iturbide brought about Mexican independence in September 1821. After securing the secession of Mexico from Spain, Iturbide was proclaimed president of the Regency in 1821; a year later, he was proclaimed Emperor, reigning from 19 May 1822 to 19 March 1823, when he abdicated. In May 1823 he went into exile in Europe. When he returned to Mexico in July 1824, he was arrested and executed.

Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu was born in what was then called Valladolid, now Morelia, the provincial capital of Michoacán, on 27 September 1783. He was baptized with the names of Saints Cosmas and Damian at the cathedral. The fifth child born to his parents, he was the only male to survive and eventually became head of the family. Iturbide's parents were part of the privileged landed class of Valladolid, owning agricultural land In the Spanish colonial era, racial caste was important to advancement, including military rank, and having some indigenous ancestry was often a disadvantage. Iturbide insisted throughout his life that he was criollo (native born of Spanish descent). Agustín studied at the Catholic seminary called Colegio de San Nicolás in Valladolid, enrolled in the program for secular officials, though he was not a distinguished student. In 1806, he was promoted to full lieutenant. Iturbide had a longstanding friendship and had business dealings with the wealthy Mexico City beauty María Ignacia Rodríguez, known as La Güera Rodríguez ("Rodríguez the Fair"), who supported the insurgency for independence.

In the early 19th century, there was political unrest in New Spain. One of Iturbide's first military campaigns was to help put down a mutiny, headed by
Gabriel J. de Yermo. He quickly grew in popularity amongst the royalists, whilst becoming a feared foe for the Insurgents. A peerless horseman and a valiant dragoon who acquired a reputation for achieving victory against numerical odds, his prowess in the field gained him the nom de guerre of "El Dragón de Hierro" or "The Iron Dragon", in reference to his skill and position in the army. He was given an important charge in the army. However, he was accused by locals of using his authority for financial gain although he was recognized as valiant in combat. It is known by his and Hidalgo's documents that he was a distant relative of Miguel Hidalgo, the initial leader of the Insurgent Army. Hidalgo wrote to Iturbide, offering him a higher rank in his army. Iturbide writes in his memoirs that he considered the offer, but that ultimately turned it down because he considered Hidalgo's uprising ill executed and his methods barbaric.

After the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1810, leader of the insurgency, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, offered Iturbide the rank of lieutenant general in the insurgent forces, which Iturbide rejected, remaining firmly a royal army officer at the outbreak of the war. From the start, Iturbide was ambitious and compiled a brilliant record of victories against the insurgents, often against far larger numbers. He was also well known by contemporaries of all factions for his cruelty against his opponents, the insurgents themselves as well as their families, including women and children. One of Agustín's first encounters with the rebel army was in the Toluca Valley in 1810 as it advanced toward Mexico City from Valladolid. Royalist and rebel forces engaged on the east bank of the Lerma River at the end of October in what is now known as the Battle of Monte de las Cruces. Royalist forces, under the command of Colonel Torcuato Trujillo, withdrew from the area, allowing rebels to take Toluca. Despite the loss by his side, Iturbide distinguished himself in this battle for valor and tenacity. As a captain, he pursued rebel forces in the area, managing to capture Albino Licéaga y Rayón, leading to another promotion. Iturbide and other Spanish commanders relentlessly pursued Morelos, capturing and executing him in late 1815. Iturbide was also criticized for his arbitrariness and his treatment of civilians, in particular his jailing of the mothers, wives, and children of known insurgents. As for corruption, the Count of Pérez Galvez extensively testified that profiteering by many royalist officers, of whom Iturbide was the most visible, was draining the effectiveness of the royal army. Iturbide acquired a large personal fortune before 1816 by questionable dealings. That led to the disintegration of viceregal authority in Mexico City, and a political vacuum developed that the Mexican nobility sought to fill, seeking limited representation and autonomy for themselves within the empire. The hastily negotiated a treaty, called the Treaty of Córdoba. Iturbide began to live extravagantly. He demanded preference for his army and also personally chose ministers. Poinsett also took advantage of the opportunity to proposition Iturbide's government on the issue of the US wish of acquiring Mexico's northern territories but was soundly refused. Famed Mexican author José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, El Pensador ("the Mexican Thinker"), the author of El Periquillo Sarniento, wrote about the subject at the time: "If your excellency be not the Emperor, then our Independence be damned. We do not wish to be free if your excellency will not be at the lead of his countrymen." Timothy E. Anna points out that in the months between the achievement of Independence and his crowning as Emperor, Iturbide already practically ruled the nation, as he was president of the Regency, and the junta had granted him command over all land and sea forces. He was appointed protector of commerce, navigation, local order and ports and was given the right to expedite passports and navigation licenses even after the Emperor had been instated (and according to the Emperor's wishes). Iturbide had what he could have possibly wanted before becoming Emperor, Anna notes, and so it is not probable that Iturbide conspired to appoint himself Emperor. Iturbide himself notes in his memoirs written in exile: "I had the condescension–or, call it weakness—of allowing myself to be seated in a throne I had created for others." Historians point out that Iturbide had quite possibly all the power, influence, and support he needed before redacting the Plan of Iguala, to crown himself Emperor, and he still wrote the Plan with the clear intention of creating a throne meant for a European noble. Most historical accounts mention the crowd that gathered outside what is now the Palace of Iturbide in Mexico City shouting "Viva Iturbide!" and insist for him to take the throne of Mexico in May 1822. The crowd included Iturbide's old regiment from Celaya. Some detractors of Iturbide insist that this demonstration was staged by Iturbide himself or his loyalists. From a balcony of the palace, Iturbide repeatedly denied his desire for the throne. One interesting twist to the story is reported by Mexico City daily La Jornada, which states that Iturbide held the first popular referendum in Mexico. According to the article, Iturbide sent out a questionnaire to military and civilian leaders as to whether the people preferred a republic or a monarchy. The answer came back in favor of a monarchy. Iturbide asked the demonstrators that night to give him the night to think it over, and to respect the wishes of the government. The Congress convened the next day to discuss the matter of Iturbide's election as Emperor. Iturbide's supporters filled the balconies overlooking the chamber. The Congress confirmed him and his title of Agustín I, Constitutional Emperor of Mexico, by a vast majority. because by 1823 the local patriots, both liberal and conservative, made a move for total and absolute independence from Mexico and Spain.

The republicans were not happy with Iturbide as emperor. While the Catholic clergy supported him, As a response to this claimed threat to his life and to combat the resistance, Iturbide dismissed the Congress on 31 October 1822 and two days later created a new junta, the National Institutional Junta, to legislate in its place, answering only to himself. Liberal or republican ideas would continue to be embraced by people outside the Mexico City elite. These came out of Bourbon Reforms in Europe that were based on the Enlightenment. Attacks on the Catholic Church by liberals in Spain and elsewhere in Europe were in Mexico during the Liberal Reform period in the mid nineteenth century. Ideals of the Constitution of Cadiz would find expression in the 1824 Constitution of Mexico. This constitution would influence political thought on both sides of the Mexican political spectrum, with even Iturbide bending to it when he created the first congress of an independent Mexico. After Iturbide, there was wide general consensus, even among the landed elite, that some form of representative government was needed. The question was how much power would be in legislative hands and how much in an executive. about Iturbide's aristocratic friend, Doña María Ignacia Rodríguez de Velasco, Iturbide was cast in the novel as her paramour, having an illicit affair with her. Although the portrayal of her was as a libertine, the notion was based on uncorroborated rumors and innuendo, with nothing ever proven, and then exaggerated in fiction. As her post humous reputation as a "heroine of Mexican independence" has risen beginning in the late twentieth century, Iturbide's has continued to be something much less than that of Mexico's Liberator. A two volume work on Mexican independence contrasts Hidalgo and Iturbide, with the subtitle "the glory and the oblivion". Iturbide's strategy of defining a plan and using the military to back it began a tradition in Mexican politics that would dominate the country' history. He can be considered Mexico's first "caudillo," or charismatic military leader, using a combination of widespread popularity and threat of violence toward opposition to rule and would be followed by army generals Antonio López de Santa Anna and Porfirio Díaz, who came to dominate their respective eras. Given that Obregón himself was a military strong man, his 1921 commemoration of Mexican independence and Iturbide was an opportunity for him to assert his own state building vision by appropriating a piece of Mexico's history. By overseeing the ceremonies, Obregón could shape and consolidate his own position in power, which was then relatively weak. The Mexican Army benefited from the celebrations with new uniforms and equipment, and there was even a re enactment of Iturbide's triumphal entry into Mexico City. Mexico owes the country's name "Mexico" to Iturbide, as opposed to "United Mexican States." While the latter is considered the official name, the inhabitants of the country refer to it by the name of Mexico. Another legacy that Iturbide left to Mexico was its modern flag, still used today. The three colors of red, white, and green originally represented the three guarantees of the Plan of Iguala: Freedom, Religion, and Union. In the place of the Spanish emblem for Mexico, he resurrected the old Tenochtitlan symbol for Mexico City, an eagle perched on a nopal cactus holding a snake in its beak. With it, he hoped to link Mexican empire with the Aztec one.