United States Invasion of Veracruz, Mexico Photo Postcard Collection

The United States invasion of the city of Veracruz took place during the Mexican Revolution from April 21 to November 23, 1914. In 1910, Mexico was under the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, and in 1911 Francisco Madero was elected president. Two years later, in February 1913, General Victoriano Huerta together with the United States Ambassador to Mexico, Henry Lane Wilson, staged a coup d'état against Madero and had him killed along with Vice President José María Pino Suárez. The President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson did not approve the intervention of his representative in Mexican politics and prohibited any shipment and sale of arms to the Mexican government. On April 9, 1914, the “Tampico Affair” occurred, in which Victoriano Huerta’s officers arrested nine United States sailors picking up gasoline in a restricted area of the port of Tampico. President Woodrow Wilson demanded their release and a salute to the United States flag, Mexico released the sailors but refused to salute the U.S. flag. The United States government used the Tampico incident as a pretext to invade Mexico.

On April 21, 1914, the German ship Ypiranga was bound for Veracruz with weapons for Victoriano Huerta. President Wilson ordered the U.S. troops to invade Veracruz, seize the custom-house, and prevent the delivery of arms supplies to Huerta's government. Mexican soldiers, cadets from the Naval Academy, civilians, volunteers, and freed prisoners fought against the United States troops. The invasion lasted for seven months and ended with the negotiation from a coalition of ministers of foreign affairs from Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, known as the “ABC Powers”.