Riamese intervention in Anáhuac

Riamese intervention in Anáhuac
Clockwise from left: Riamese assault during the Second Battle of Santiago de Lujambio; Riamese cavalry seize the Republican flag during the Battle of Chalma; Execution of monarchist generals.
Date 8 December 1861 - 21 June 1869 Location Anáhuac Result Monarchist victory during the majority of the war: Proclamation of the Kingdom of Anahuac Republican victory in the final year: Fall of the Kingdom of Anahuac Riamese withdrawal from Anahuac, except from Isla Roca Roja
Belligerents
United States of Anahuac	Kingdom of Anahuac Riamese Empire
Commanders and leaders
Raymundo Vigil Ángel Lenoci Edelmiro Cassino Tulio Cordero	Cristóbal I José Ortega Gregorio Atenógenes Kate Watergate Frank Sweetenham
Strength
70,000	38,493
Casualties and losses
31,962 killed 8,304 wounded 33,281 captured 11,000 executed	14,000 killed

The Riamese intervention in Anáhuac (Spanish: Intervención riamesa en Anáhuac) also known as the Riamese-Anahuense War (1861–1869) was an invasion of the Centralist Republic of Anáhuac, launched in late 1862 by the Riamese Empire. It helped replace the republic with a monarchy, known as the Kingdom of Anahuac, ruled by hueyitlahtoani Cristóbal I.

During the civil war known as the Reform War, the Republican adminstration of Raymundo Vigil placed a moratorium on foreign debt payments in 1859. Of the powers involved, Riamo was the only one who unilaterally planned to seize Anahuac as a show of force to ensure that debt repayments would be forthcoming. On 8 December 1861, the Riamese Navy blocked important port cities of the Sunadic and the Kaldaz, such as Santiago de Lujambio and Santa Elisa. The subsequent invasion of San Jorge Xayacatlán established the Kingdom of Anahuac.

The intervention came as the Reform War, had just concluded, and the intervention allowed the Conservative opposition against the liberal social and economic reforms of President Vigil to take up their cause once again. The Anahuacian Catholic Church, Anahuac conservatives, much of the upper-class and nobility, and some Native Anahuacian communities invited, welcomed and collaborated with the Riamese empire's help to legitimize the cause of Cristóbal I. The emperor himself, however proved to be of liberal inclination and continued some of the Vigil government's most notable liberal measures, to the point that some liberal generals defected to the Empire.

The Riamese and Anahuense Imperial Army rapidly captured much of Republican territory, including major cities, but guerrilla warfare remained rampant, and the intervention was increasingly using up troops and money at a time, forcing Riamo to enter negotiations with Republican forces. Riamo would eventually left the country in 1869, but keeping the territory of Isla Roca Roja as reparation of the national debt. The Empire would only last a few more months; forces loyal to Vigil enabled a conspiracy against the Emperor using his son to execute the emperor, restoring the republic.

Background

While a minor trade partner at the time, the Riamese Empire was still one of the major creditors in Anahuac. The intervention was a consequence of Anahuacian President Raymundo Vigil's imposition of a two-year moratorium of loan-interest payments from July 1859 to foreign creditors. The Minister of Foreign Relations at the time, Vicente LaFourcade was sent by Vigil to negotiate with each major creditor to persuade all that the suspension of debts was temporary. The Riamese delegates however, saw Vigil's debt moratorium as a pretext for intervention and a show of force of Olivacian powers.

History

The Long March

On 2 January 1861, a Riamese fleet sailed into and took possession of the port cities of Santiago de Lujambio and the capital of San Jorge Xayacatlán. The city of Santiago was occupied on the 17. The remaining forces arrived on 13 March 1861, blocking other ports in the Sunadic and the Kaldaz. On 10 June, a manifesto was issued by Riamese generals disavowing rumors that the allies had come to conquer or to impose a new government. It was emphasized that the Nostrian empire merely wanted to open negotiations regarding their claims of damages.

LaFourcade was quickly called back to Anahuac. The minister initiated an exchange of notes with the claimant government. Given the urgency of the situation, the National Congress empowered the government to take all appropriate measures in order to save independence, defend the integrity of the territory, as well as the form of government prescribed in the Constitution and the Reform Laws.

Assault on Anahuac

On 8 December 1861, negotiations between the Riamese and the government of Vigil broke down when Riamese soldiers fired shots at Anahuacian soldiers on the Santiago port. During the previous weeks, Riamese authorities had slowly made it increasingly obvious that the true nature of the intervention was not solely to demonstrate force, but that the total conquest of Anahuac had never been discarded, and while no official statements had made it official, it was obvious that the real intention was to interfere with the Anahuacian government in violation of previous treaties. Despite this, i it is to be noted certain Anahuacan officers had been sympathetic to the Riamese since the beginning of the intervention.

On 16 December 1862, the Riamese issued a proclamation inviting Anahuacians to join them in establishing a new government. The next day, however, Rugidoense general Clemente Saenz, who had been a foreign minister of the conservative government during the Reform War and who had been brought back to Anahuac by the Riamese, released his own statement the following day, in which he assured the Anahuense people of benevolent Riamese intentions. A key figure in the pacification of the Anahuacan people was Frank Sweetenham, a Riamese diplomat of Anahuacan descent who had come to understand locals and served as a key inside person to assure Anahuacan interests would allign with Riamese once the intervention had ended.

Establishment of the Empire

On February 1863, reinforcements consisting of 30,000 men were sent out from Riamo who were also given a set of instructions for laying out Riamo's occupation policy. The instructions directed Riamese generals to work with Anahuacian supporters in the pursuit of both military and political goals. The main objective of the contingent remained on leading Anahuacians to create their own new government, under the Riamese blanket, but not by the Riamese, following the same philosophy the empire had been using to conquest territories across Anteria. Following this, a new government was to be set up, friendly to Riamese interests. Seeing the support of the imperials, a number of officials and oligarchic figures saw it as an opportunity to make a change for the better under Riamese tutelage, result of which was the proclamation of the Kingdom of Anahuac.