Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín de Iturbide won Mexican independence by changing sides, and ruled as emperor for ten months. Born in Valladolid, now Morelia, in 1783 to a Spanish father and a creole mother, he joined the royalist militia and spent a decade fighting the insurgency that Hidalgo began in 1810. He was an effective and notably harsh commander against Morelos and other rebels, and refused a commission from Hidalgo. He was removed in 1816 amid accusations of corruption and profiteering, and cleared. The situation changed in 1820 when a liberal revolt in Spain restored the constitution of 1812, which alarmed Mexican conservatives, the church and the landowning creoles far more than independence did. Iturbide was given command against the last insurgent leader, Vicente Guerrero, and instead negotiated with him. The Plan of Iguala of February 1821 united both sides on three guarantees: independence, the Catholic religion as sole faith, and equality between Spaniards and creoles. It offered the throne to a European prince. The coalition was broad enough to end the war within months, and the last Spanish viceroy signed the Treaty of Córdoba in August 1821. When Spain repudiated the treaty and no prince came, Iturbide was proclaimed emperor by a crowd of soldiers in May 1822 and crowned in July. He dissolved the congress that opposed him, issued paper money that lost value, and could not pay the army. Antonio López de Santa Anna revolted in December 1822, and Iturbide abdicated in March 1823. He was exiled with a pension, returned in 1824 unaware he had been declared an outlaw, and was shot.
- Lived: 1783 CE – 1824 CE
- Nationality: Mexican
- Roles: military_leader, emperor, independence_leader
