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What was the War of Reform?

The War of Reform (1858–61) was a civil war (conflict among citizens of a nation) in Mexico that began three years after the collapse of the government. In 1855 revolutionary leader Ignacio Comonfort (1812–1863) became president of Mexico when he helped overthrow the dictatorship (government under the absolute control of one ruler) of President Antonio López de Santa Anna (1794–1876). Two years later Comonfort and his supporters drafted a constitution (a document specifying the laws of a nation) that removed property from the control of the Roman Catholic Church and reduced the privileges of the army. Comonfort's government faced bitter opposition to these policies, and the War of Reform broke out the following year. Giving in to political pressure, Comonfort fled the country and Benito Juárez (1806–1872), former minister of justice and minister of the interior, became president. Faced with...

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