IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 141552 accession number: CM.1458-2009 DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Saturday 6 August 2011 updated: Monday 15 January 2024 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: The young state of Mexico relied heavily on foreign loans, but in 1861 President Benito Juárez suspended interest payments on loans from France, Spain and Great Britain. All three powers united in action to recover their money. Ordinarily European operations on the American coast would have been internationally impossible, but the ongoing United States Civil War gave the European powers scope for direct intervention. The power most interested in the campaign was France, whose developing intentions of conquest caused the British and Spanish to withdraw in April 1862. Initial Mexican resistance soon faltered before the efficiency of the French army and by June 1863 Mexico City had fallen, President Juárez fleeing north. The French installed a Habsburg Archduke, Maximilian, as head of a new liberal and constitutional monarchy, but he enjoyed little support. Resistance continued and by 1865 the military tide had begun to turn, as the re-United States began to supply the Mexican Republicans with arms. The French finally began to withdraw in 1866, leaving King Maximilian to defend himself; he was captured and executed in June 1867. Early in the campaign, Emperor Napoléon III instituted a campaign award for its soldiers, and this continued to be issued until 1869 to veterans of the episode. The medal is distinguished by the elaborate design of the suspension ribbon, which shows an eagle fighting a snake. This medal is unnamed, and it cannot now be known to whom it was awarded. Although the medal is part of the Watson Collection, Lester Watson's own lists give no provenance for it. title: Médaille de Mexique NOTES ----- type: history note value: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, no provenance. LICENSING --------- text license status: CC0 image license status: CC-BY-NC-SA OWNERSHIP --------- instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum department: Coins and Medals collection: Lester Watson Collection creditline: Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009 STABLE URL ---------- url: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141552 TECHNIQUES ---------- struck CATEGORIES ------ category: medal DATING ------ creation date: 1863 - 1869 creation date earliest: 1863 creation date latest: 1869 CREATORS -------- maker: Paris maker: Napoleon III (1852-70) maker: Barre, Albert-Désiré maker: Colmar, Paris DIMENSIONS ---------- dimension: Diameter units: mm value: 30.4 dimension: Weight units: g value: 14.56 CITATIONS -------- French Orders and Decorations British and other Campaign and Gallantry Medals From the Collection of Lester Watson (d. 1959) --- IMAGES surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0341_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 165 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0341_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 165 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0341_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 165 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0341_281_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 165 pixels surrogate: large format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0341_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 163 pixels surrogate: mid format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0341_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 163 pixels surrogate: original format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0341_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 163 pixels surrogate: preview format: jpeg location: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0341_282_29.jpg height: 365 pixels width: 163 pixels