Q 01/05

Within Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is a full day off work only in Puebla and which neighboring state?

A) Oaxaca

B) Tlaxcala

C) Veracruz

D) Morelos

Answer · why

C) Veracruz

Elsewhere in Mexico the day is mostly ceremonial, marked by military parades and battle reenactments; the city of Puebla itself stages festivals and a...

Q 02/05

In what year did the Battle of Puebla take place?

A) 1848

B) 1857

C) 1862

D) 1876

Answer · why

C) 1862

Four days later the anniversary was declared a national holiday; a year on, a larger French army took the city anyway and marched into Mexico City.

Q 03/05

Which two European powers joined France's 1861 Mexico expedition but pulled out before the fighting?

A) Britain and Spain

B) Prussia and Austria

C) Portugal and Italy

D) Belgium and the Netherlands

Answer · why

A) Britain and Spain

The three-power agreement collapsed at Orizaba weeks before the battle, once it became clear France meant to overthrow the government rather than coll...

Q 04/05

Who was the Mexican general who led the victory at the Battle of Puebla?

A) Antonio López de Santa Anna

B) Porfirio Díaz

C) Benito Juárez

D) Ignacio Zaragoza

Answer · why

D) Ignacio Zaragoza

He was just 33 at the time; the state of Coahuila was renamed Coahuila de Zaragoza in his honor in 1864.

Q 05/05

Cinco de Mayo is often confused with which other holiday, the most important on Mexico's calendar?

A) Day of the Dead

B) La Candelaria

C) Mexican Independence Day

D) Revolution Day

Answer · why

C) Mexican Independence Day

The Puebla victory was a morale boost rather than a war-winner: a year later a larger French force took the city and then occupied Mexico City.