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New script! Mexico: Superpower
🕑 Added 2024-01-10 23:14:26 +0000 UTCMexico. Home to a great and vibrant culture, beautiful landscapes, and of course immense sums of gold, silver, oil, copper, and a healthy quantity of coal too, not to mention a good bit of cropland. But despite all that, Mexico is also home to 7 out of 10 of the most murderous cities in the world, while dozens of millions of citizens have fled to the United States for better opportunities. None of this was inevitable. If history had gone differently, Mexico could have been a great power…
So what if it was? What if Mexico was rich and successful, like America?
Well this is What Why How, and that’s what the video’s about. If you like this sort of thing, subscribe.
First off, let’s rewind back to the late 1700s. The Spanish Empire, which rules over the gigantic colony of Mexico, is fraying. Spain has lost its wealth and power, giving Mexico the opportunity for independence. But Mexico doesn’t just need independence—it needs reform. The lands of Mexico are solidly under the control of the Catholic Church and the Spanish-born aristocracy. If Mexico is to succeed, it needs liberal reform.
What stopped Mexico from implementing those reforms in real life? Well, Mexico’s war of independence, unlike America’s, lasted a decade. Leadership of that revolution passed from commoners out for blood, to liberal reformers, to conservative monarchists [Emperor Agustin de Iturbide]. After the liberals and monarchists beat Spain, they turned against each other; Mexico’s first chapter of independence is civil war—the game was rigged from the start. [Imagine if America’s Revolutionary War lasted ten years and only ended when Cornwallis declared himself Emperor of America.] By the time Mexico implemented liberal reforms in the late 1800s, it already lost to the United States.
So, if we want Mexico to be rich and powerful, then you need to change how the Mexican War of Independence went.
First, even though the radical peasant revolutionaries almost won, I don’t think they had a good program to develop Mexico—Mexico doesn’t need a French Revolution and a reign of terror. The need an American revolution. The liberal democrats of course had the best plan for Mexico: a constitutional government, private property—you know, the key stuff to build a country.
In real life, after Spain beat the radicals, the liberals under the leadership of Ignacio Lopez Rayon and Jose Maria Morelos took up the reins of revolt. The revolutionaries organized an elected Congress, formally declared independence, established a constitution, and soon abolished slavery as well. Mexico was well on its way to success. But in December 1813, a Spanish force of about 1,000 men under command of Agustin de Iturbide [Battle of Lomas de Santa Maria] surprised Morelos’s camping Mexican army of about 6,000 men. The rebels panicked and were eviscerated. Morelos lost his right-hand man [Mariano Matamoros], while Spain gained access to a list of supporters of the revolution. Afterward, Congress panicked and took control of the military, stripping Morelos of power.
This defeat outside the city of Valladolid ultimately doomed Mexico. So, how could it have gone differently?
Well, if the army received proper training, like Steuben trained the disorganized Americans, then the Mexican army would’ve had the discipline needed to orderly retreat from Spanish soldiers when they needed. Morelos’s camp was also infested with spies—there was a lot the revolutionaries could’ve done better.
Alternate History of Mexico
Let’s say they did those things. They don’t win the war immediately, but they keep fighting long enough for Spain to suffer one of its very common coups. Spanish forces withdraw, surrender, or crumble, and Mexico secures its independence.
What happens next?
Well, the early government of Mexico, like that of the United States, would have serious challenges. For one, the big personalities of the army would clash frequently. The key would be for Congress to balance power between the generals and maybe distract them with responsibilities: certainly, Mexico would have to fight off rebels in Texas and Central America early on.
The government would also need to reform the constitution. In real life, the first Mexican constitution split executive power between a triumvirate of men. Mexico needs a unifying figure—a George Washington. Morelos would be great in this role; maybe after he defeats a revolt in Central America, Congress agrees to a new constitution with a strong president and a federal government. [1819]
From 1820 to 1828, Morelos guides los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. He negotiates between the feuding liberals and conservatives, gets a loan from Britain, and discourages any rebellions. In 1828, the elderly priest-turned-revolutionary-turned-statesman steps down and his vice president wins a democratic election. The next couple presidents repel invasions from a weakened Spain and continue to develop the institutions of a new country. They also forge close ties with Britain, signing major commercial treaties.
In 1840, the liberal Valentín Gómez Farías is elected president. He’s confronted by a major problem: skyrocketing debt, mostly to Britain. In order to gather cash, Farias seizes church lands and sells them to independent farmers. He also directs government funds to develop domestic infrastructure. These actions piss off conservatives, who rebel against him after losing the 1844 election—but Farias crushes them and secures a new constitution with an empowered federal government. [Mexican Republic]
When Farias crushes a pro-slavery revolt in Texas, the United States declares war on Mexico. Britain comes to the aid of its Mexican ally, since it’s also arguing with the US over Oregon, and together the two successfully stalemate the United States. Mexico keeps ahold of California and Texas and Farias directs large numbers of Mexicans to settle there to dilute out the Americans.
Meanwhile, the stability of Mexico attracts plenty of immigrants from Europe—not just Spaniards, but also Frenchmen, Italians, and Irishmen who see Mexico, a fairly well-off Catholic country, as a more attractive option than anti-Catholic America.
Rise of Mexico
Over the next twenty years, Mexico continues to develop, even outpacing the increasingly unstable United States. In 1868, crisis occurs in America: the northern states, enraged at another pro-slavery move by the South, secede from the Union and forge the American Federation. Mexico and Britain, both opposed to slavery and interested in a divided America, aid the northerners. After four years of war, the north routes the Southern army and secures independence.
After the American Civil War, Mexico is the most powerful state in North America; foreign investment rushes to Mexico, funding railroads, factories, and of course a modern navy. Plus, Mexico solidifies its alliance with Britain, getting the breathing space it needs to go on adventures in the Caribbean.
In 1877, the Dominican Republic, scared of Haiti and the US, asks to join Mexico. [In real life it asked the US.] Mexico eagerly agrees. The titanic republic also sends its marines to several countries to safeguard its interests during rebellions. This imperialism builds up to 1896, when Mexico confronts Spain over its abuse of Cuba; Spain refuses to back down and war begins between the old enemies.
Though Mexico fears Spain, it turns out the old empire is a paper tiger; Mexican steamships sink the Spanish navy beneath the waves, while Mexican marines storm the shores of Cuba, liberate the island, and promptly annex it. Out in the Pacific, an ambitious Mexican fleet reaches the shores of the Philippines and seizes control of Manilla. Though it fights Filipino revolutionaries for another generation, Mexico cements its control of those islands. With that, la Republica Mexicana enters the 20thCentury as a major empire.
Great Power
There are plenty of more opportunities for Mexico to gobble up land. It snatches Panama from Colombia and Hawaii before Britain can grab it.
The European imperial powers, unable to keep these feuds outside of Europe, plunge into a World War in 1911. Mexico remains neutral at first, growing rich from loans and industrial sales to Britain and France. But Mexico gets pulled into a war between the Federation and the United States—Mexican and Southern soldiers clash in Louisiana. Overwhelming the South, Mexico sieges New Orleans and captures the city in 1913, freeing enslaved workers. The South explodes under the pressure of invasion, with a socialist revolution washing across the plantations. In the 1915 Treaty of Washington, Oklahoma becomes an independent native-run country under Mexican protection, Mexico gains a large sum of cash, while the Federation regains control of the old national capital. But back in Europe, France loses the war to Germany.
After an economic depression in 1928, Mexicans vote into office the left-wing Labor Party. Over the next years, the Labor Party swats off competition from the communists, liberals, and conservatives while directing government funds to rebuild the economy; Mexico recovers from the depression faster than the American Federation, which crumbles into revolution and war. Notably, Mexico sends peacekeepers to America.
As North America tumbles into war again, so too does Europe and Asia. Mexico sends gun and volunteers to fight against the German and Japanese Empires, but does not get directly involved, since Japan opts to invade communist Russia instead of attacking Mexico. So, the two imperial powers triumph, becoming regional hegemons.
The Cold War
Entering the 1950s, Mexico is in a three-way Cold War against Germany and Japan. All three develop and test nuclear weapons, stockpiling hundreds of bombs. While it doesn’t match Germany’s powerful land army and Japan’s navy, Mexico does outpace its rivals in prosperity, innovation, and building alliances—Mexico sponsors workers’ movements across the world and forges the International Socialist League with likeminded governments in Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Germany and Japan, meanwhile, are joined by Brazil, a powerful new rival for Mexico in Latin America.
The two Latin American powers butt heads in 1964 over war in Colombia; soon they’re at each other’s throats, and war begins: the Mexican navy bombs coastal cities and storms the ports. They’re soon joined by local revolutionaries, and by 1972 Brazil gains a new socialist government allied with Mexico. The remaining right-wing governments of Latin America topple and join Mexico’s Socialist League. So, by the 70s, Mexico is the dominant world power, with the Americas and Africa at its back. And you know what, by the end of the decade they’ve landed on the Moon too, because they’re just that good.
The most dramatic moment of the Cold War comes in 1984, when civil war erupts in Spain. Mexico sends peacekeepers to its old imperial master, but Germany does the same. Mexican and German troops nearly exchange gunfire, threatening to bring the whole of the world into nuclear war—but both sides, step by step, back down. After the near crisis, the German Empire loses the support of its population and gradually succumbs to democratic reform. Japan remains mostly authoritarian, but without an ally in Europe it doesn’t try anything dramatic.
The Present Day
Entering the present day, Mexico is the hub of the world: Spanish is the worldwide lingua franca, Mexican soap operas dominate television, and the smartest students across the world apply to Mexican universities.
Mexico is still the strongest country in the world too. Mexican aircraft carriers patrol the key chokepoints of international trade, while Mexican-led peacekeeping missions try to provide stability to the war-torn corners of the world, for better or for worse.
Plenty of countries don’t respect Mexico’s authority; Japan leads the anti-socialist alliance of India, China, Egypt, and the Federation of America, for example. America, denied its place in the stars, is in a sorry state; the South is a hotbed of cartel violence, while the North is home to the husks of once hopeful cities barely kept together by manufacturing cheap consumer products for wealthier Mexicans. Millions of American migrants sneak past walls and outposts in the Rocky Mountains or the forests of Texas for the opportunities south of the border.
Is there hope for America? Will Mexico stay the most powerful country in the world?
Comment below to let me know, and if you like this video subscribe and check out my Patreon. For a buck a month you too can get my thanks, like USERSEQ, MARKLIN, SHIBA, and the SOCIALIST LION. Adios.
Comments
Hi
Britain takes Alaska during the Crimean War, and the United States never formally takes control of Oregon, though American settlers do reach the Pacific
Dorothy Vivian
I'm additionally curious on Oregon and Alaska. Does America ever reach the pacific ocean, and did Russia ever give Alaska away?
Hi
Great point on Brazil -- didn't want to let the video get too long, but I'll add some more info on it
Dorothy Vivian
I find the idea of the North seceding from the Union interesting and original. Personally, I would have had at some point, Texas serve as purhaps some kind of buffer state between the United States and Mexico, although Mexico outright owning it still makes sense. I do wonder if the war in Brazil was covered to quickly. I feel like more could have been done with that, at least another paragraph, honestly.
