Shall Eagles not be Eagles? An American Timeline

Chalchuapa, El Salvador 1885
The heat of battle, this is what Justo Barrios both loathed and loved. It reminded him of being at the heart of the revolution in his native Quetzanalgo. But this was a new kind of warfare. One where men threw themselves into long barreled cannons before falling to the ground. Very much unlike the romantic liberal revolution of his young adulthood.This kind of war disgusted him. But Barrios had no time for such trivial nostalgia now Barrios needed to win this fight. The walls of Chalchuapa, the gateway to El Salvador were in front of him and soon as The Salvadorans gave in it was his. A messenger arrives from the front. “Sir, another officer is believed to have been hit by our guns.” “Then let us rally the cavalry boy!” exclaimed Barrios. He was going to personally make sure they did it right. The Salvadoran guns took a toll on his men, the ground here was uphill and lined with thick walls giving a good advantage for The Salvadorans. Each shot of a Krupp Gun or a mitrailleuse made him wince. But when the cavalry hit the line the enemy quickly fell apart. The Salvadorans scattered about leaving much of their weaponry including several mitrailleuse’s behind. Barrios took the rest of the day to reorganize and rest. One more day to San Salvador. One more day to the more perfect union.

Julias Sandana, A history of Liberalism in Latin America (Morazán University Press 2007)
After The Battle of Chalchuapa Justo Barrios faced little resistance on the march to San Salvador. Knowing that he would be killed otherwise Rafael Zaldivar the rebellious President of El Salvador surrendered The Nation to Guatemala, now known as The United Provinces of Central America. In the city Barrios met Francisco Menéndez a Salvadoran liberal who was exiled to Guatemala due to a disagreement with President Zaldivar. Barrios had found much in common with the 55 year old politician and appointed him the new governor of The El Salvadoran Province. Menéndez, a talented speaker was able to cool many peoples qualms with the new federation. Luis Bográn the President of Honduras soon joined the federation. But the newly minted federation still had trouble in the south and west in the forms of Declarations of War from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Mexico. But conflict from within in the forms of Conservatives and The Catholic Church. This period will be covered in the next chapter.

Justo Rufino Barrios (July 19, 1835 – May 4, 1910) was a President of Guatemala and later The United Provinces of Central America known as “The Bismarck of Central America” Barrios was the key figure in forming The United Provinces of Central America and reforming much of Central America into a modern nation. He with Domingo Santa María and José María Pino Suárez are considered to be the leaders most exemplary of the “era del pueblo”.

Hello all! This is my first timeline and any feedback is appreciated. I will be focusing on the effects of a reunited Central America in The 1880's and by extension more liberalism in Latin America and it' effects on the rest of the world.

Questions, comments, criticisms?

He used the Villistas tactic of swarming the enemy with cavalry until one side is dead I see.

It will be interesting to see what a relatively little-known figure (outside of Central America) will have on Central America. I still have doubts as to whether they'll actually be able to resist American influence. The way I see it, Central America is geopolitically destined to be under the control of either America or a much stronger (than OTL) Mexico. I am interested though.

*Minor nitpick* In terms of writing style, I like the idea of using scenes, but try to use good grammar if possible. Also, maybe more of a sense of urgency in the battle scenes could be made with a sense of pace.

Don't take those criticisms as malicious, it's looking very promising (far better than my first attempt at a TL).

Kome said:

He used the Villistas tactic of swarming the enemy with cavalry until one side is dead I see.

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LoL Barrios is the original Villa. But soon we'll see him learn that swarming the enemy won't alway's work.

Hrvatskiwi said:

*Minor nitpick* In terms of writing style, I like the idea of using scenes, but try to use good grammar if possible. Also, maybe more of a sense of urgency in the battle scenes could be made with a sense of pace.

Don't take those criticisms as malicious, it's looking very promising (far better than my first attempt at a TL).

Click to expand...

Thank's for the advice! I'll try to work on my pacing as The TL goes on. Right now it's a bit off due to me not having much resources on turn of the century warfare in The America's. And the ones that are, are in another language and I have to read the badly translated version. As we get to the bigger wars of the 20th century you'll hopefully see it improve! Also do you any specific way's to improve my grammar I don't want to burden you or anything it would just be helpful!

It will be interesting to see what a relatively little-known figure (outside of Central America) will have on Central America. I still have doubts as to whether they'll actually be able to resist American influence. The way I see it, Central America is geopolitically destined to be under the control of either America or a much stronger (than OTL) Mexico. I am interested though.

Click to expand...

At this point in time America is guaranteed great power status. But we'll see the effect's of it being joined in that league by some of neighbor's at least for a little while.

Captain 'Merica said:

LoL Barrios is the original Villa. But soon we'll see him learn that swarming the enemy won't alway's work.

Click to expand...

He definitely will have his work cut out for him, surrounded by hostile neighbors (and America). It'll be interesting to see how you handle this.

Intresting, will follow.