Mexican Empire

[Mexico]

The Empire of Mexico
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Government

Executive Branch-
Head of State: Emperor Custodio I
Head of Government:
De facto Emperor Custodio I
De jure President Francisco Javier Echeverría
Government Type: Absolute Monarchy
Royal House: Casa de las Montañas

Legislative Branch: Las Propiedades Del Imperio (The Estates of the Empire). This is made up of the Primero Propiedad, Segundo Propiedad, and Tercero Propiedad. El Primero Propiedad and el Segundo Propiedad are the two that hold real power in decision-making, while el Tercero Propiedad is another attempt to cover up the lack of real democracy in Mexico (keeping the general liberales in line; the true brains of the liberales movement are quite aware of this, but speaking out tends to mean death. Therefore they tend to keep quiet. Some ‘disappear’). El Primero Propiedad is made up of clergy elected by the clergy to represent them, the Emperor, and the Kings of the various kingdoms within the Empire. El Segundo Propiedad is made up of aristocracy elected by the aristocrats to represent them and the Royal Family. El Tercero Propiedad is made up of secretly appointed individuals who the people ‘elect.’ Results of these ‘elections’ are predetermined by the Emperor and his advisors, keeping the aristocrat-friendly conservadores, and the more conservative elements of the Centralist Party, in power. Occasionally liberales are thrown in from extremely liberal areas to keep the public thinking they are actually making the choices (even though the votes go into the boxes and then are used by the elites as fuel for fireplaces in their lavish palaces and such).

Judicial Branch: The Judicial Branch is really a wing of the Executive Branch and is mainly decentralized to the local authorities. Laws are generally based on the principal of ‘We have guns and you don’t. We are the law.’ Whatever the local feudalistic lord says, goes; unless a higher feudalistic lord is in town, in which case whatever he says, goes. ‘Trials’ tend to be quite short and the efficiency of the court system is praised by politicians across the nation. Approx 99.99% of cases end in convictions, if that gives any hints. Common punishments are public whippings, stocking, indentured servitude, and public executions (which draw a large crowd and are an excellent social event in most areas). The powers that be are even more omnipresent on the vast plantations of the aristocracy, the siervos that work the land for their lords can expect justice to be swift and harsh, whether or not this ‘justice’ was really ‘just.’ The rights of these people are rarely considered or protected and they are often little better off than slaves.
Administrative Divisions:

La Provincia imperial de México [I]Controlled directly by the Imperial Government. Includes all lands of modern day Mexico.

El Reino de Nuevo México [Kingdom of New Mexico] Controlled directly by King Francisco de Montaña (younger brother of the Emperor). Includes all of the modern USA which is under Mexican control.

El Reino de Belice [Kingdom of Belize] Controlled directly by King Christopher Bradford de Montaña (English aristocrat leftover from the British colonial era, adopted by the Emperor of Mexico so that he could legally become a King). Includes all of modern Belize.

El Reino de Honduras Controlled directly by King Carlos Hernando de Montaña (cousin of the Emperor). Includes all of modern Honduras.

El Reino de Nicaragua Controlled directly by King Ricardo de Montaña (younger brother of the Emperor). Includes all of modern Nicaragua.

El Reino de Costa Rica Controlled directly by King Juan Ponce de Montaña (cousin of the Emperor). Includes all of modern Costa Rica.

El Reino de El Salvador Controlled directly by King Carlos Diego de Montaña (nephew of the Emperor). Includes all of modern El Salvador.

El Reino de Guatemala Controlled directly by King Rafael de Montaña (younger brother of the Emperor). Includes all of modern Guatemala.

[Mexico]

History:

In 1810, the peasants of Mexico began secretly fomenting revolution from their colonial overlords. Despising the aristocratic rule of the 'white devils' the Mestizo masses soon joined the movement. By the end of the year, the revolution was officially underway. However, after 5 years of fighting, the revolutionary forces failed to take the ever-important Mexico City. This sparked a mass of defections and the once-united masses soon turned into isolated guerrilla warriors. By 1820, the revolution was ready to collapse due to systematic defeats by the Spanish and loyal Mexicans. The peasant's revolution was crushed at last by the leadership of Agustín de Iturbide, and the conservative victory was complete.
However, drastic changes in Spain meant drastic changes in her overseas colony. The outrageously liberal Ferdinand VII caused conservatives throughout Mexico to suddenly be pro-independence, and with their enemies-turned-allies the liberal revolutionaries, a massive revolutionary easily defeated the weak Spanish forces (who had previously depended on the private armies of the conservadores for support). The Revolution was complete; ironically enough a conservative revolution against the now-liberal mother country.
However, the question now was how to structure the new government? The "Plan de León" created by the most powerful, respected, and loved of the petty lords in Mexico (Estéban de Montaña) called for a system which was reminiscent of the Ancien Régime in France [later the legislative branch would be named in honor of the connection]. This plan was hailed as wonderful by the conservadores and it placated the liberales' demand for democracy and equality among races. The plan gained massive support from both sides when it was approved by the Pope himself, and now none in their right mind stood against it publicly. The Pope had once reservation - he suggested against taking a European as Emperor, as he felt the Mexicans would be better suited with one of their own in control. So, in compliance with the suggestion (which may as well have been an official Bull, as the passing comment was taken in such context, even though it wasn't meant to be) the well-distinguished and popular Estéban de Montaña took the post. He was considered to have the Divine Right like the Kings of Europe, due to the taken-out-of-context Papal support of such an action.
The reign of the new Emperor was one more of development than growth. A stable political system supported by the aristocracy and clergy was built, all the while keeping liberal elements of the country in line with the mask of democracy that didn't really exist. The Emperor set up a sprawling system of feudalistic land control, decentralizing the power somewhat while still keeping a firm control over the common man. For the first few years corruption was rampant, but soon the power structure was fully developed and the Emperor and his elite group of aristocrats kept petty lords in line. An effective tool was the strongly pro-Imperial clergy that was used to great effect against political enemies of the Emperor. The 'Mexican Inquisition,' as critics called it, purged the government (both local and national) of any anti-Imperialists. However, this was pre-empted by the excommunication of any anti-Imperial clergy (in violation of Papal support for the Empire, thereby an automatic excommunication for heresy) in order to keep the Church as a useful tool and disable it from any rebellious activities (the idea of the Catholic masses being turned into rebels by their priests was extremely frightening to the established order) and to ensure they would go along with the persecution of the anti-Imperialists in the government.
By 1825, Mexico began growing instead of just developing its systems of government and power. Large parts of the sparsely populated Tejas were sold to American immigrants on the assurance that they would become 'Mexicanized.' This, however, was ignored - to the angst of the Emperor. For now, though, he did nothing and hoped they turned around.
Due to the earlier failure with Americans, all other immigrants from America were denied access to the lands of the Mexican Empire, and they were instead set to be settled - slowly, but surely - by Mexican families. The newly appointed King of New Mexico asserted that this be the way, and enforced the anti-immigration laws to the best of his ability, only a few areas were unable to be stopped from settlement by rogue Americans, and these were unknown to the government.
In 1830, the government was given its first real test. A rebellion in Nicaragua threatened to incite rebellion all across Central America. The Imperial Mexican Army, in conjunction with local forces, was sent to quell the revolutionaries. The rebels were numerous, nearly 3,000 up in arms. The Imperial Mexican Army, with far superior equipment and training, easily defeated the ragged rebels in the Battle of Rivas (a small town about sixty miles south of the capital) was a decisive Imperial victory, and scattered the rebels. They kept fighting for another year and half, but never saw any major victories and were eventually crushed completely by local forces. The victory was hailed as proof that the Empire was blessed by God to reign over the lands for eternity. Mexican nationalism skyrocketed and people became quite content with the way of things. Even the serfs who worked the vast fields of the aristocracy seemed to have a sense of purpose. This feeling soon cooled, but never fully went away and a new-found national pride infected the masses.
In 1834, the loved Emperor Estéban I fell ill and just after Christmas was dead. His successor and eldest son, Héctor de Montaña, was coroneted before the New Year's celebration.

Héctor I was not the awe-inspiring, supremely popular man that his father was, but was an able administrator. Under his rule, the Mexican economy grew by leaps and bounds, and the Industrial Revolution made its way to Mexico, although not being as revolutionary as in other places. Agriculture was still the mainstay of the Mexican economy, but budding industrial centers in Mexico City, Veracruz, and other major cities were set up. Controlled mainly as just another wing of aristocratic money-making ventures, they did not yield the middle class that they created in many other nations and the wealth stayed centralized in the elite few. However, power was shifting a bit, and the common man did benefit somewhat in the growth of the economy and introduction of industry.
Héctor also saw the importance of diversifying the economy beyond agriculture. He did not believe industry would be able to take hold in Mexico, and instead looked to its great wealth of natural resources to draw wealth from. The old, abandoned mines from the colonial period were re-energized with Imperial grants and takeovers. More mines were opened in areas known to have important mineral resources. These efforts were somewhat shackled by the poor transportation system, but also provided capital for the Emperor's plan to bring the wondrous technology of Europe to the Empire. The railroad was especially popular, as it would allow even more yield from the mines and would make shipping of goods less expensive - which was very agreeable to the aristocracy who were counting their new profits already.
In 1841, Héctor I created the new Imperial Railways Company to build and maintain his dream of a trans-Imperial rail system that would stretch from the Californian frontier to San José. However, it would start with the currently-important connection of Mexico's major cities. Work started quickly with determination, but soon bogged down in the mountains. The railway was costing a lot of money, and the aristocrats were starting to anger that they weren't getting the quick results they wanted. A vote in Las Propiedades to end the railway construction was narrowly defeated, but the blow had been dealt. Construction slowed, and the project would have surely died if it had not been for the dogged determination of the Emperor.
In 1845, the American 'Texans' began a rebellion. The movement was fairly small at the start, but it was tough to contain. The Mexican King of New Mexico asked for Imperial support and received a few divisions from the Imperial Army, but it was generally ignored by the Imperial government due to its small size and scope.
It soon turned into a guerrilla war, with Mexican forces and holdings being harassed while pursuing the rebels.
In 1848, Héctor I died of a stroke and his brother, Custodio, took the throne due to the absence of male children.
Custodio promoted the railway like his brother, but decided to temporarily hold off on its creation. However, in 1849, the need for one was greatly reinforced by the California Gold Rush. Shiny metal had been found by a few Mexican farmers in a river near their homes, Rio de Montaña. They talked about it in church the next day, and word soon spread. A government official was the first on the scene (shockingly enough;)), and confirmed it was indeed gold. The finding caused a wave of immigration to California, of peasants and agents of the aristocrats in search of gold. Railways seemed to build and fund themselves during this rush, and one spanning the distance of Mexico City to San Francisco was soon in place. California soon became a populated area instead of just a frontier land.
However, this new feeling of greatness was dampened by an increasing of tensions in Texas. After being constantly attacked by Texan rebels operating out of a small town, frustrated Mexican soldiers looted the city, killed everyone inside, and burned it to the ground. This caused shock and outrage throughout the American settlers, and the once-small insurrection turned into full scale rebellion by 1853. Imperial forces were deployed, but beaten badly in the Battle of San Antonio. Texas rebels thwarted many other attempts by the Imperial forces to control the situation and by 1854 were flush with victory. They declared independence in March of 1854, while beating back Imperial Mexican forces. Now the Emperor was very concerned. A large scale invasion of Texas was planned, and by the summer of 1854, Texan forces were faced by a massive Imperial force. The Texans fought hard, but were routed at the Second Battle of San Antonio. They fell back, only to be surrounded and crushed in the Battle of Austin.
However, it was not over. A very large [and surprisingly well-equipped...] Texan force descended on the victorious Imperial Mexican Army. The main force had continued off to put down a rebellion in southeast Texas, but a small force had been left to garrison Austin and San Antonio. The Texan force defeated the Austin garrison, which barely was able to send a call of distress back to headquarters. The main Imperial army turned back to meet the Texans, but would not reach it by the end of the year. The defenders at the city of San Antonio took refuge in the Alamo Mission in San Antonio. The Texans laid siege, and a two week siege began, during which time the Mexicans refused to surrender to the superior Texan force, as they had heard stories of the barbaric Texans eating Mexicans alive and cutting out their hearts with the frightening Bowie Knives they all seemed to have. The Mexicans held out and when the Texans attacked were met with tremendous defensive spirit. The Mexicans fought to the last man, and even when they ran out of powder, they fought hand to hand with the Texans. The Texans took the city before Christmas, but it cost them dearly. The Mexicans also gained the rallying cry, 'Remember the Alamo.'
By the beginning of 1855, the main Imperial force still has not reached the Texans, who are holed up in Austin and San Antonio. The fight continues, while back in Mexico a new Imperial Army, dubbed the Second Imperial Army, is being trained and equipped for a new offensive.

The situation in Texas is dire for the Mexican Empire, as the Texans hold most major cities and almost all of the countryside. The will to fight in Mexico is also beginning to dwindle, and thoughts of allowing Texan independence have been discussed.