When Texas won its independence in 1836, the US and Mexican governments fought politically over the status of the new Republic of Texas. France, the United States and Iberia had already recognized it, while Mexico, Britain, Russia, and Austria all refused to recognize the state. The Americans had also made very powerful pushes west, in a spirit they called Manifest Destiny, and they were threatening Mexico's land. The Mexican government of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna clung to power by a slim thread as his political enemies gained ground, and he needed a scapegoat by which his government could hold onto power. He decided to turn his country's anger towards the expansive Americans.