¡Mexicanos! Valientes Seguid - A Mexican Empire TL

[The] Security of the Empire will be the responsibility of the Mexican Armed Forces, with the Inquisition of the Mexican Empire working as the investigative judicial branch of the Empire dedicated to enforce the laws and the good moral norms, and under direct orders of the Emperor. These worked like a charm most of the time. On the frontier it was a bit more complicated, especially in the north due to its low population. For that part of the country, there were the Comanches, which served as a paramilitary force and as the northern border guard for the Empire. The southern borders were guarded by a single Legion of the Imperial Army.

Nobody expected the Mexican Inquisition!

Ok, ok, Monty Python jokes aside, the Inquisition is to become the equivalent to OTL PGR?

Excellent update, and yeah, the Gran Colombia was mainly fueled by fear of a Spanish reconquista and that fear ignited the start of its end...
 
Nobody expected the Mexican Inquisition!

Ok, ok, Monty Python jokes aside, the Inquisition is to become the equivalent to OTL PGR?

Excellent update, and yeah, the Gran Colombia was mainly fueled by fear of a Spanish reconquista and that fear ignited the start of its end...
Talking about Gran Colombia, that will be the subject of my next update. I think you'll enjoy it in some way or another. Though, because I think I'm going to use a POD that has been yet unused. Which is a successful Conspiración Septembrina.

As for your question, yes, it will be the equivalent of the PGR with a religious tinge. Though, by the 20th century, it will become largely irrelevant... until we get to the 2004-2012 period, and you'll see why.

Good update! Yay!
Thanks a lot for that! :D

Also, I didn't realize until now that this thread has gone past the 100 post mark! Yeah!
 
Talking about Gran Colombia, that will be the subject of my next update. I think you'll enjoy it in some way or another. Though, because I think I'm going to use a POD that has been yet unused. Which is a successful Conspiración Septembrina.

As for your question, yes, it will be the equivalent of the PGR with a religious tinge. Though, by the 20th century, it will become largely irrelevant... until we get to the 2004-2012 period, and you'll see why.

Oh boy, this week is going to have an interesting turn of events ;)

Thanks a lot for that! :D

Also, I didn't realize until now that this thread has gone past the 100 post mark! Yeah!

Congrats on your milestone ;)
 
Vault Boy, I have to say this is great! The last two updates were awesome overall, and your sarcastic writing style is pure genius. I'm really looking forward to see where you end up taking this. Although I do have some concerns, because in your descriptions, you say that the Liberals will end up being nothing more than terrorists in the 20th century, does this mean the world you are building is a much more conservative one? I'd love to see a reformed Mexican Empire that does end up being democratic open and liberal.

But whatever you choose I will be following the TL.
 
Awesome update!
Thanks!

Vault Boy, I have to say this is great! The last two updates were awesome overall, and your sarcastic writing style is pure genius. I'm really looking forward to see where you end up taking this. Although I do have some concerns, because in your descriptions, you say that the Liberals will end up being nothing more than terrorists in the 20th century, does this mean the world you are building is a much more conservative one? I'd love to see a reformed Mexican Empire that does end up being democratic open and liberal.

But whatever you choose I will be following the TL.
Thanks!

And about your question, values-wise it's going to be a bit more conservative, mostly because the Catholic Church will still have a very strong influence in the cultural development of Mexico up until the late 19th century, in which due to immigration and the lack of willingness to let the northern frontier go unpopulated, this will be rendered irrelevant; however, the modern Mexican Empire is more or less like OTL modern day UK in terms of political freedom. Even though, in today's Imperial!Mexico, any serious discussion about wanting to see Mexico as a republic is a political suicide and will turn you into a laughingstock (especially considering Mexico's troubled relations with their northern neighbours).

Though, that may also have to do with the narrator's posturing in regards to the history of Mexico.
 
Alas, my apologies for my last absence. I got (dis)graced by having a girlfriend for 2 weeks, in which I went away from my computer, until we broke up, due to the fact she was a complete collection of unpleasant mental disorders and jealousy, and she also demanded a lot of my free time and my money, things that are scarce on these wild and uncivilised times (though, at least we remain friends). Then training on my new job struck, and then my own life has been going through a lot of interesting changes which are better off on a different post (or if one day I dare to spill it out). This is the reason why this chapter took too long to properly conclude. It still includes the same humour as always, though.

As a reminder, I'm writing this from the perspective of someone in this timeline who is a bit... nonlinear in his way of thinking. And with a rather unique approach on narrating history.

And now for something completely different, we will now talk about a country that has been ignored in most alternate history tales due to being in South America. Enjoy!

Chapter 9
An Undying Union: Post-independence Gran Colombia


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The Flag of Colombia.
Until the Great War. Where the Neo-Bolivarists replaced it for something extremely tacky.

Simón Bolívar barely made it out of Perú in 1826, and this worsened his standing with the few lieutenants that he still had back home, a problem instigated partly by the desire of everyone to stop the war as soon as possible, and the Libertador just going crazy about the Iberia Maldita. Even after being hailed as the Libertador [1] by the men who fought, not out of compensation or glory, but out of personal loyalty to him, he had all sorts of political factions unifying to get him off from power. His failure in Callao when the Platinean troops abandoned the Libertador more or less caused the cancellation of his victory tour throughout all of the newly-liberated Latin America and instead ran off to Bogotá, first by sea, and then by land. He was less than keen to show off the disaster that his expedition was, and more into ruling his newly liberated country with an iron fist.

However, some other military commanders, such as Francisco de Paula Santander, were less than keen of his ruthless methods of keeping order and his constant fear-mongering to keep the Colombian Union under his command. However, things were about to change for good, at least once in the history of the República de la Gran Colombia.

This came to be in September 1828. On the 25th day of this month, a group of armed men, composed of 30 soldiers and at least a dozen more malcontents, and all sympathizers of Santander, broke into Bolivar’s mansion. There was nobody at home who warned the Libertador about the certain death that he was about to get. [2] And while Simón Bolívar fought bravely for his life against all of them, killing two and wounding another one, but a fight using a sword against half a dozen men armed with pistols, clubs and swords is bound to end in death for the recipient of this beating, Bolívar becoming a cross between a pincushion, human target practice, a chopping board and a human piñata. Plus, his personal room got a new paintjob, the colour being Bolivar Red. We must remember that this is not like the story of Samson.

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Approximate reconstruction of the place in which Bolívar spent his last hours.
The original site was bombed with rockets from the Brazilian Imperial Armed Forces during the Great War.
However, while this action may have been done on Santander’s orders or not (I don't really know; most discussions on this topic in the Datosphere end up with people banned all over the place, indiscriminate use of image macros, conspiracy theory drivel and rather creative uses of the Spanish language), this man expressed later on his disapproval for the methods and had some of the murderers hanged for the crime of murdering the Libertador. Of course, a savvy head of government knows that it’s a terrible idea to give any kind of incentive or make people think that they can go around murdering their own president and get away with it. Besides, Santander was the President now, and the Federalist faction finally was without any strong opposition. The time to get rid of Bolivar’s fear-mongering against Spain ended, and the time to start fixing up the country began.

First of all, there was the issue the establishment of a federalist constitution in the Gran Colombia. All states had equal rights, which pleased the elites from the eastern part of the country, and made them feel more equal to the central government in Bogotá. And unlike most people may think, the only people who really disliked this were the elites in Bogotá, and quite a few who supported Bolívar.

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They also established this memorial sometime after his death.
That sometime being after the end of the Great War, as the original mausoleum was blown up by Peruvian-Brazilian forces.
However, there were people who did stage up some uprisings against Santander, and managed to fail epically. That’s why they are mostly glossed over in most modern Colombian history books and why we won’t talk about them. Or at least not myself.

As a final note, the new constitution of Colombia opened up a new can of worms in regards to how federalism had to be applied. Some viewed it as in the United States, in which the states were bound together by a central authority (which in the case of Colombia, it was in Bogotá), or some other ones viewed it as in the case of the Platinean Federation, which was more confederal in paper and in which the government was highly decentralized. Santander went with the second one, and for quite some time, it worked, until his tenure ended in 1832.

After that, then-president Joaquín Mosquera faced a coup from the general Rafael Urdaneta, with the aim of later on splitting off the provinces of the former Captaincy of Venezuela to himself. While the coup failed, it left in evidence that the confederal laws were not going to keep Colombia united, and if something similar happened during a Spanish invasion, the country would never be able to last; thus, the confederal laws began to be modified slowly to allow a stronger central government while attempting to avoid treading over state laws. Nevertheless, the union endured, and the Spanish Empire attempted to not get destroyed from within. As for Mosquera, as of today, he’s recognized as one of the greatest presidents that Gran Colombia has ever had, and in any Colombian historical forum on the Datosphere [3] will tell you so. Urdaneta is not so lucky, and he is seen now as a rebellious traitor in Colombian historiography, in addition to his less-than-stellar military endeavours during the wars against the Spaniards.

Finally, like the Republicans in Mexico, Colombia had its own fair share of problems with the Bolivaristas, which, as time went by, it became an irredentist, hispanophobic, anti-democratic and militaristic faction within the Colombian political scene, which advocated to a never-ending crusade against the Spanish until they were all kicked out of South America, and then to absorb all of Latin America into a single federal nation, all while perverting the initial ideals that Simón Bolívar fought for. A faction that became the main source of problems to all subsequent governments until they seized power at the end of the Six Year War in 1956, and which during the times they participated in elections, became increasingly violent with every passing year that they weren’t elected. [4]

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Thus... this doesn't get dissolved. Do note also that they do not recognize the Spanish dominion of Perú, still claiming that is a repressed republic under Spanish occupation.
Until the Great war, when Colombia lost quite a few territories.


-----------------------------------------NOTES-----------------------------------------
[1] The title Libertador would later on gain a nastier connotation after the end of the War of the Six Years.
[2] In this timeline, due to the failure of Bolivar’s expedition to Peru, he never meets Manuela Sáenz in Quito, the woman who saved the Libertador’s life in this fatidic day. There were just no military parades to receive Bolivar’s victory, only a bunch of angry landowners that lost sons/fathers/slaves in this bellical quagmire.
[3] In Spanish, it is known as Datósfera. It is this timeline’s equivalent of the Internet.
[4] I think I might have thrown a massive spoiler over here, but alas, this is going to be the most violent period in the history of the Gran Colombia, and one of the most brutal civil wars in this timeline, which will finally spill over the rest of the world in rather unexpected ways.
Until the Great War...
 
Awesome job keeping Gran Colombia together, you hardly see that happen around these parts :D I personally enjoy the writing style you use here, it's very entertaining (and it makes reading about Bolivar's gruesome exit extra interesting...I imagined his last stand to be bloodily epic) :p

It's really interesting that you have the Bolivaristas turn militaristic and the like, as well as the irridentism felt towards Peru!

Sorry to hear about your girlfriend man, I don't blame you for slowing down on the timeline. I know for myself sometimes life makes it difficult to follow through with your creative pursuits. With that said I'm glad to see this back, can't wait for the next update! :)
 
Yay!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Ahem, ok. I can't hide my emotion to see the surviving Gran Colombia, and the change between Bolivarian and Santanderist politics. (In fact, in OTL Colombia, Bolívar is seen as, well, the Liberator and the ultimate example of what a Colombian/Venezuelan/Ecuadorian -and maybe Panamanian- governor and president should be, while Santander, well... amm... has its sympathizers and in some circles is seen in a bad light.) That change should mean a very very big impact in Colombian culture in general. And given that not only OTL Colombia but the Great Colombia had a big variety of cultures and ways of life (ultimately, the "lack" of sources and the big amount of situations/ways of life is what have been keeping me to update USofC in an usual fashion), the question is: What will be the Government of the Great Colombia to deal with the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, the Guajira and the rest of States and National Territories?

Wow, that has been the longest post I have written here that is not an update! Excellent Job!

EDIT: BTW, don't worry about the thing with your girlfriend. Relationships come and go, but epics are Soulbound
 

Deleted member 67076

So Colombia stays together. Well done. Although with a change that late in the game Colombia has an insane amount of rebuilding to do and debt to pay off. Quito's tiny industry is still probably thrashed, the countries agricultural output is at the lowest point since the 1750s, labor shortages are an ever pressing issue and the Venezuelan economy is likely in deep depression, but hey, the worst is over. :D
 
Gran Colombia stayed together, that's actually good! I still wonder if they'll adapt a federal system of government...


If this TL continued until the 20th century, we'll see an alternate Colombia that was well known for its beauty queens and telenovelas.
 
Gran Colombia stayed together, that's actually good! I still wonder if they'll adapt a federal system of government...

I hope so! IOTL centralism not only didn't work but it led to decentralize government (something that a federalist stance would have solved since long ago)


If this TL continued until the 20th century, we'll see an alternate Colombia that was well known for its beauty queens and telenovelas.

Ummm... "Betty la fea" done in the Venezuelan telenovela style? Decidedly AWESOME
 
OTL Texas (which will probably remain Mexican ITTL) has a lot of oil under it.

This will make things interesting, to say the least, when it is eventually discovered.
 
Awesome job keeping Gran Colombia together, you hardly see that happen around these parts :D I personally enjoy the writing style you use here, it's very entertaining (and it makes reading about Bolivar's gruesome exit extra interesting...I imagined his last stand to be bloodily epic) :p

It's really interesting that you have the Bolivaristas turn militaristic and the like, as well as the irridentism felt towards Peru!
Indeed, I was going through some literature of that time period, and I realized that once Bolívar is out of the picture, Colombia's breakup would be delayed or avoided altogether.

And about the Bolivarista ideology, it will keep getting worse and worse due to the fact that they are going to get more daring in their attempts to convince the population of Colombia to go to war against Spain, to the detriment of Colombia's budding relations with the rest of Latin America and Spain. And in Perú they are going to be branded as terrorists.

Sorry to hear about your girlfriend man, I don't blame you for slowing down on the timeline. I know for myself sometimes life makes it difficult to follow through with your creative pursuits. With that said I'm glad to see this back, can't wait for the next update! :)
Alas, this is further complicated with the fact that I get lazy some times...

So Colombia stays together. Well done. Although with a change that late in the game Colombia has an insane amount of rebuilding to do and debt to pay off. Quito's tiny industry is still probably thrashed, the countries agricultural output is at the lowest point since the 1750s, labor shortages are an ever pressing issue and the Venezuelan economy is likely in deep depression, but hey, the worst is over. :D
Indeed they have. Santander, Urdaneta, and their likes want to really get out of the cycle of revenge that the Bolivarists badly want, due to the fact that right now Colombia is in no shape at all to wage a war.

Found this only today...

Interesting - will follow
Thanks! :cool:

Gran Colombia stayed together, that's actually good! I still wonder if they'll adapt a federal system of government...


If this TL continued until the 20th century, we'll see an alternate Colombia that was well known for its beauty queens and telenovelas.
Hmm, a Federal Colombia with Telenovelas and an over-abundance of nice-looking gals... I do approve :D after the Great War.

OTL Texas (which will probably remain Mexican ITTL) has a lot of oil under it.

This will make things interesting, to say the least, when it is eventually discovered.
Probably yes. Even though, it will take some time since some of it is on Comanche territory. Or... we'll have Comanche-run refineries... :cool:
 
Probably yes. Even though, it will take some time since some of it is on Comanche territory. Or... we'll have Comanche-run refineries... :cool:

The Mexican Empire's version of indian run casinos? I'm in! Or maybe the Imperial Mexican Petroleum Company with Comanches having lots of percentage in their shares... I'm also in!
 
In before someone thinks I ditched this timeline like the last one...

No, I'm still alive. I am still working on the next chapter.

However, due to myself getting a new job (and promptly getting kicked out from another for pissing off a supervisor), and also due to my ideas right now being way too scatterbrained right now (as in writing entire chapters completely out of order). Oddly enough, I haven't finished what it is supposed to be the next chapter (which deals with Mexico during the 1830's), but the one that follows (which deals with Asia, more specifically, Korea) has been finished.
After this, only spoilers follow... I have also finished a few chapters that will deal with the First Mexican-American War, a couple of chapters detailing the celebration of Mexico's centennial of the end of the Independence War, a few chapters detailing combat operations of the Great War, and the world by 2014

So yeah, that is the current state of affairs right now.

The Mexican Empire's version of indian run casinos? I'm in! Or maybe the Imperial Mexican Petroleum Company with Comanches having lots of percentage in their shares... I'm also in!
Just now I noticed this. It will actually go more with the latter in the case of indigenous-run enterprises, with the indigenous cultures of Mexico taking on entrepreneurship and things like that. A few will go for the Casinos, though.
 
Oh man, I just found this TL and the updates have dried off.

I love it. It's nice to see my Mexico being other than the United States' concubine, ready to please her master whenever he wants.
 
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