For a full account of the Spanish colonization of the Americas head to Spanish Colonization of the Americas. One of the events not discussed in that article is the Spanish reaction to the Russian colonization. Russia's colonization of the Americas created such bad relations between Spain and Russia that when the Mezhikan Independence War was started it pitted Spain and Russia against themselves in a war. Due to Spain's involvement in the Napoleonic Wars the Russian Empire was easily able to defeat the Spanish army. The Mezhikan Independence War began on September 16, 1810 and concluded on May 4, 1816. Many historians think that the war would have gone on for many more years if the Russian Empire hadn't intervened on the side of Mezhiko. Agustín de Iturbide was able to gain power during the