For right-wing Francophiles, Cinco de Mayo serves as a poignant reminder of a lost opportunity for French imperial grandeur in the Americas, embodying a day of regret over the failure of Napoleon III’s Second Mexican Empire. The Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, where Mexican forces under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the French, marked a symbolic setback for the French vision of a monarchist, Catholic empire under Emperor Maximilian. Francophiles with conservative leanings, who admire the elegance of French culture, monarchy, and centralized authority, might see this defeat as the beginning of the end for a project that could have reshaped the Western Hemisphere. Had the French prevailed, they could have established a sophisticated, French-aligned empire that promoted aristocratic values, Catholic tradition, and a counterweight to the democratic, Protestant United States. The holiday, celebrated as a triumph of Mexican resilience, stings as a moment when the dream of a Francophone New World—potentially aligned with the Knights of the Golden Circle’s vision of a vast, slavery-based empire—was dealt a blow, leaving these Francophiles to mourn the collapse of a culturally refined alternative to Anglo-American dominance.
 

The reflection on Cinco de Mayo for right-wing Francophiles also carries a sense of what might have been had Napoleon III’s ambitions endured. A successful French Mexico could have created a powerful southern neighbor to the U.S., blending French governance with Mexican resources and labor, potentially fostering a society that upheld hierarchical order and resisted the egalitarian, industrializing trends of the U.S. post-Civil War. This empire might have appealed to conservative Francophiles who value monarchy and cultural sophistication over republicanism, offering a bastion of French language, art, and Catholicism in the Americas. The defeat at Puebla, though not decisive in itself, galvanized Mexican resistance and foreshadowed the empire’s downfall in 1867, when Maximilian was executed. For these Francophiles, the holiday prompts introspection on a missed chance to extend French influence, imagining a world where Paris’s reach could have rivaled Washington’s, with a vibrant French-Mexican culture flourishing across the border, perhaps even influencing the U.S. South through shared aristocratic and pro-slavery ideals.
 

Yet, Cinco de Mayo also stirs a complex regret for right-wing Francophiles, as it underscores the fragility of imperial dreams against populist resistance. The French defeat highlights the challenges of imposing a foreign monarchy on a nation with deep republican and indigenous roots, a lesson that resonates with conservative anxieties about cultural imposition in modern contexts. While they may admire Napoleon III’s boldness, the holiday forces a reckoning with the hubris of his venture, which underestimated Mexican nationalism and overestimated European support. The celebrations of Cinco de Mayo, especially in the U.S., where it has become a broader cultural festival, can feel like a further dilution of the French legacy, transforming a moment of imperial ambition into a commercialized caricature. For these Francophiles, the day is less about festivity and more about lamenting a lost empire that could have elevated French conservative values—order, tradition, and cultural supremacy—in a region now defined by very different historical currents.