When coupled with the issues inherited from her colonial period, Mexico’s War for Independence further hampered her development. Beginning with the War of Spanish Succession, the futures of Spanish and French Empires were joined. Bourbon kings ruled both empires. Spain, and her empire, suffered greatly as the French Revolution and then Napoleon constant war which drain Spain’s treasury. Trade was disrupted, further stunting economic development in the colonies, especially in Mexico. Spain’s ability to govern her colonies weakened as the empire’s two stabilizing institutions, the monarchy and the church, fought to maintain their existence and influence against revolution and Bonapartism. Some Bourbon reforms, initiated in Spain, proved problematic for colonial Mexican society. Charles III’s expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767 interrupted educational activity in Mexico. Many Mexican’s believed that for Mexico to secure a prosperous future significant political change needed to occur. Serious differences existed over the nature of those needed changes. As Spain’s troubles deepened Mexican patriots, loyalists, and opportunists entered a struggle for dominance. Although Mexico’s War for Independence ended in 1821 the struggle to establish a stable political system continued for many years.
