¡Por la Patria, Viva México Fuerte! A Mexican TL
- Thread starter Arkhangelsk
- Start date
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- Tags
- strong mexico
Let's hope for more Mexican awesomeness soon.
Haha gracias! Once I get around to Mexico things should begin to take a level or two in badassery...hopefully I can properly show that to you all but we'll see.
Hey guys, just wanted to update y'all on what's up. I want to apologize for this most recent bout of inactivity...in all honesty I've hardly worked on the timeline at all in the last week or so, as I've been dealing with this bad wrap of depression and it's left me utterly incapable of writing or doing anything creative for that matter. I won't bother you guys with the specifics but let's say things haven't been peachy with some people very close to me. I know I'll get over this bump in due course, I just figured you guys deserved to know the reason for my lack of activity.
Arkhangelsk, I'm really sorry to hear about that. Absolutely don't work on this at all unless you want to. You're a great guy and I hope you feel better shortly.
Cheers,
Ganesha
Arkhangelsk
Sorry to hear about that. Hope things get better for you. Its not a good place to be.
Agree with others, we can wait. Concentrate on getting better.
Steve
Cinco años de sangre y muerte: The Spanish Civil War of 1831
I want to thank you guys for your kind words and for entertaining my mopiness, it truly means a lot.
I'm happy to say I feel significantly better, though that's not all. I've brought along the next update with me. Thanks so much for your patience guys, I know I'm horrible with updates.
Anyway, next up is a look at Europe, and sowing the seeds for Spain's resurgence.
By the latter half of the 1820’s the political order set up following the Peace of Vienna was beginning to show its first cracks. In the United Netherlands, an abortive attempt at secession by Liberals and Catholics in the south was nipped in the bud by the swift action of Dutch troops led by Willem, Prince of Orange, as well as pleas by the United Kingdom to maintain the Netherlands united.[1] In France, The ultraconservative King Charles X was forced to contend with his own mounting Liberal opposition, which finally blew into rebellion in July 1830. The July Revolution managed to remove Charles X and replace him the more Liberal-minded Louis Philippe d’Orléans, leader of the junior branch of the Bourbon Dynasty. Ascending to the French Throne as Louis Philippe I, King of the French, the new government instituted limited constitutional changes in order to appease the various Liberal movements throughout the country. Despite sporadic bouts of rebellion, France would remain relatively quiet for nearly two decades. However, the same could not be said for its southern neighbor.
Despite his regime’s heavy hand against Liberal opposition, Carlos V of Spain did not foresee the risings of November 1830 in Andalusia and those in Catalonia in February 1831. The seeds for Spain’s unrest over the course of the 1830’s were first sown in the aftermath of the abortive Liberal experiment of the early 1820’s. The unrest generated by the Liberal Triennium and the death of Fernando VII caused an extreme conservative reaction in the form of the apostólico faction dominating Carlos V’s ministries over the course of the 1820’s.[2] Despite some moderate voices from within Carlos V’s court (and over the course of the decade those voices would grow smaller and weaker), the apostólicos continued to gain the King’s favor, allowing them to purge the military and government of many Liberal sympathizers, as well as the reinstitution of the Inquisition, among other things. The purges also negatively affected many moderates in Spanish politics, alienating them from Madrid and giving them common cause with the Liberals.
Spanish invasion of Oran
Sensing the center giving way, Carlos V, on the advice of some of his ministers, approved for the seizure of Oran, along the Barbary Coast of Africa. Utilizing past claims to the region by the Spanish crown, Spain assembled an invasion force led by the “Defender of Perú” José de Canterac and proceeded to land several thousand troops northwest of Aïn el-Turk in late May 1828. After taking Aïn el-Turk with relative ease, the Spanish proceeded to march east towards Oran, before meeting stiff resistance from the native Arabs and Berbers near Mers el-Kebir. The Spanish made breakthroughs on 1 June, and proceeded to attack the Fort Santa Cruz, which overlooked Oran and presented an advantageous position from where to take the city. The fort fell to Canterac’s forces after two days of fighting, as the Spanish found it a challenge to push the defenders of the fort from atop the hill it was situated on. All the while the Bey of Oran, Bey Hassan, having done as much as possible to prepare for the Spanish invasion, commanded a force of nearly 3,000 warriors due west of Oran. The ensuing Battle of Oran proved an utter failure for Hassan Bey, as the Spanish won the day, proclaiming dominion over Oran for the first time in 36 years. The euphoria of Spanish victory so soon after the Spanish American Wars of Independence was short lived, however, as Canterac struggled in his eastward push towards Algiers. After Hassan Bey’s defeat, Dey Hussein of Algiers organized nearly 7,000 Arab and Berber warriors, as well as a sizable contingent of Ottoman Janissaries, among others, to repel the Spanish. The invasion soon devolved into a bloody fiasco, as Canterac slowly crawled his way along the coast, dependent on Madrid to send more troops and supplies. The Spanish flag would fly over the Casbah of Algiers early in December 1829, giving Spain effective control of the Algerian coast, though periodic attacks from the Arabs and Berbers of the interior would plague the Spanish authorities for years to come.[3]
The Spanish invasion of Algeria, while gaining for Spain a new colony so soon after losing most of its holdings in the Western Hemisphere, only made the political situation in Spain much worse. The invasion all but exhausted the Spanish treasury, already mismanaged over the course of Carlos V’s reign. The rise in food prices, as well as the unpopularity of the war in Algeria (while it lasted, though some bitter feelings would remain beyond 1829) and the extreme policies of Carlos V and his ministers pushed Spain over the brink. At first the uprisings were deeply disorganized, only managing to sustain themselves in pockets throughout Spain, but the apparent successes of the July Revolutions in France gave the rebels in Spain new life, though it was not apparent at first. Liberal failures at Toledo, Seville and Cordoba through the course of 1831 and into 1832 seemed to mark the death of Spanish Liberalism yet again. A Liberal victory outside the port of Valencia at Llíria spearheaded General Baldomero Espartero’s rise to fame, and the Liberal’s chances for victory. Roughly one month after Espartero’s win at Llíria, on 10 April 1833, the exiled “leader” of the Spanish moderates, Francisco Martínez de la Rosa, made his way from France to Catalonia, . Soon after, both Martínez de la Rosa and Espartero met in Barcelona, and after a series of tense negotiations, both men agreed to present a unified front against the reactionary conservative Carlos V. Renewed pressure was mounted on the Ultraconservatives, as the Moderate-Liberal alliance, with added support from the new regime in France, slowly began to make headway into Andalusia, capturing Cordoba in August, followed by another victory in October at Seville. As the Liberal army gained momentum in the late fall of 1833, making headway as far north as Toledo, Carlos V felt he had no other choice but to flee Aranjuez, doing so with the rest of his court and a military escort, traveling north. The Liberal army would enter triumphantly into Madrid on 3 January 1834, holding much of southern and western Spain at their will. The Liberals, as a compromise with Martínez and the other Moderate factions, sought only to reform the kingdom from total authoritarianism, and something more analogous to the new regime in France. Meanwhile, Carlos V and his forces settled in Bilbao, rallying much of Northern Spain to support his return to Madrid. The king refused to legitimize the revolutionaries, stating he would never forfeit his rights as King of Spain. To that end he sent an army of over 15,000 troops from the Basque country and elsewhere to push back the Liberals, in the spring of 1834. Led by famed Basque general Tomás de Zumalacárregui, the Carlists engaged the Liberals near Saragossa in early June to a stalemate. The summer and fall of 1834 proved to be more inconclusive, as the Liberals failed to reign in the north. An attempt by the Liberal general Mina the Elder to take León via Valladolid in September did not amount to much, as did Torjillos’ attempt to take Burgos. The lauded Carlist successes of seemingly stopping the Liberals in their tracks did not amount to much, as they were unable to make headway south themselves. International aid to the Liberals from the United Kingdom, France and Portugal aided in turning the tide for the Liberal cause, though one event in particular would facilitate the end of the second civil war Spain had undergone in a generation.
Rumors had circulated for years that the exceptional circumstances Carlos V inherited Spain in demanded his mind and body to the core, and his ministers inability to improve the kingdom’s precarious situation were thought to make anyone—even the King—go unhinged. Evidently demonstrating more erratic behavior after being forced to flee Madrid, the King made it paramount to keep close watch over his designated successor, the seventeen year old Infante Carlos. While they were walking next to one another in a Bilbao park before midday on 17 June 1835, a heavily disgruntled laborer from Catalonia by the name of Francesc Coma approached the monarch and his son and lunged at them with a blade. Coma was swiftly subdued by nearby guards, but the damage was done. The King suffered only a mild gash on his left cheek, but the Infante proved most unfortunate, as Coma had cut a deep laceration into the young man’s neck, severing the main arteries of the neck and causing him to effectively bleed to death on the ground. Carlos V succumbed to insanity, understandably after witnessing such a macabre scene, and was secured by his generals and advisors in his temporary home in Bilbao, where he would eventually die in early 1836.
Carlist General Tomás de Zumalacárregui and Liberal General Baldomero Espartero
The deaths of both the King and Infante coincided with the death of Zumalacárregui near Pamplona in mid-November 1835. The Liberals under Espartero, Torrijos, and both Mina the Elder and Mina the Younger quickly gained the upper hand in the north, capturing León in February 1836, Santander in March and Bilbao in late May. As the civil war that had ravaged Spain for nearly 5 years began to settle, the Liberal government in Madrid quickly arranged for the sole surviving heir to the Spanish throne, the fourteen year old Infante Juan, to be transported from England back to Spain. With the young prince’s arrival to Madrid in July 1836 to much fanfare, a regency council was formed by General Espartero to rule the Kingdom while Juan came of age and was properly prepared for the role of King. There was little opposition to Espartero’s actions, as he was seen as the main victor emerging out of the war. This caused some within the coalition, Martínez among them, to mind the growing ambitions of the famous general for fear that war was still looming in the shadows.
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[1] Mostly butterflies, but yes, no Belgium for you.
[2] Name given to the the extreme conservative faction in Spanish government at the time. They never amounted to power OTL because Fernando VII did one decent thing and appointed moderate ministers who knew a thing or two on running a fucked up country. Carlos's reactionism blinds him from doing this, and things go to hell.
[3] I can haz Spanish Algeria. :3
Europe's not my strong suit, so hopefully it didn't come out too horribly ASB here, please let me know what you guys think.
Next update will see us back in Mexico, Iturbide Presidency anyone?
I'm happy to say I feel significantly better, though that's not all. I've brought along the next update with me.
Thanks so much for your patience guys, I know I'm horrible with updates. Anyway, next up is a look at Europe, and sowing the seeds for Spain's resurgence.
Cinco años de sangre y muerte: The Spanish Civil War of 1831
Carlists and Liberals engage in battle
Carlists and Liberals engage in battle
By the latter half of the 1820’s the political order set up following the Peace of Vienna was beginning to show its first cracks. In the United Netherlands, an abortive attempt at secession by Liberals and Catholics in the south was nipped in the bud by the swift action of Dutch troops led by Willem, Prince of Orange, as well as pleas by the United Kingdom to maintain the Netherlands united.[1] In France, The ultraconservative King Charles X was forced to contend with his own mounting Liberal opposition, which finally blew into rebellion in July 1830. The July Revolution managed to remove Charles X and replace him the more Liberal-minded Louis Philippe d’Orléans, leader of the junior branch of the Bourbon Dynasty. Ascending to the French Throne as Louis Philippe I, King of the French, the new government instituted limited constitutional changes in order to appease the various Liberal movements throughout the country. Despite sporadic bouts of rebellion, France would remain relatively quiet for nearly two decades. However, the same could not be said for its southern neighbor.
Despite his regime’s heavy hand against Liberal opposition, Carlos V of Spain did not foresee the risings of November 1830 in Andalusia and those in Catalonia in February 1831. The seeds for Spain’s unrest over the course of the 1830’s were first sown in the aftermath of the abortive Liberal experiment of the early 1820’s. The unrest generated by the Liberal Triennium and the death of Fernando VII caused an extreme conservative reaction in the form of the apostólico faction dominating Carlos V’s ministries over the course of the 1820’s.[2] Despite some moderate voices from within Carlos V’s court (and over the course of the decade those voices would grow smaller and weaker), the apostólicos continued to gain the King’s favor, allowing them to purge the military and government of many Liberal sympathizers, as well as the reinstitution of the Inquisition, among other things. The purges also negatively affected many moderates in Spanish politics, alienating them from Madrid and giving them common cause with the Liberals.
Spanish invasion of Oran
Sensing the center giving way, Carlos V, on the advice of some of his ministers, approved for the seizure of Oran, along the Barbary Coast of Africa. Utilizing past claims to the region by the Spanish crown, Spain assembled an invasion force led by the “Defender of Perú” José de Canterac and proceeded to land several thousand troops northwest of Aïn el-Turk in late May 1828. After taking Aïn el-Turk with relative ease, the Spanish proceeded to march east towards Oran, before meeting stiff resistance from the native Arabs and Berbers near Mers el-Kebir. The Spanish made breakthroughs on 1 June, and proceeded to attack the Fort Santa Cruz, which overlooked Oran and presented an advantageous position from where to take the city. The fort fell to Canterac’s forces after two days of fighting, as the Spanish found it a challenge to push the defenders of the fort from atop the hill it was situated on. All the while the Bey of Oran, Bey Hassan, having done as much as possible to prepare for the Spanish invasion, commanded a force of nearly 3,000 warriors due west of Oran. The ensuing Battle of Oran proved an utter failure for Hassan Bey, as the Spanish won the day, proclaiming dominion over Oran for the first time in 36 years. The euphoria of Spanish victory so soon after the Spanish American Wars of Independence was short lived, however, as Canterac struggled in his eastward push towards Algiers. After Hassan Bey’s defeat, Dey Hussein of Algiers organized nearly 7,000 Arab and Berber warriors, as well as a sizable contingent of Ottoman Janissaries, among others, to repel the Spanish. The invasion soon devolved into a bloody fiasco, as Canterac slowly crawled his way along the coast, dependent on Madrid to send more troops and supplies. The Spanish flag would fly over the Casbah of Algiers early in December 1829, giving Spain effective control of the Algerian coast, though periodic attacks from the Arabs and Berbers of the interior would plague the Spanish authorities for years to come.[3]
The Spanish invasion of Algeria, while gaining for Spain a new colony so soon after losing most of its holdings in the Western Hemisphere, only made the political situation in Spain much worse. The invasion all but exhausted the Spanish treasury, already mismanaged over the course of Carlos V’s reign. The rise in food prices, as well as the unpopularity of the war in Algeria (while it lasted, though some bitter feelings would remain beyond 1829) and the extreme policies of Carlos V and his ministers pushed Spain over the brink. At first the uprisings were deeply disorganized, only managing to sustain themselves in pockets throughout Spain, but the apparent successes of the July Revolutions in France gave the rebels in Spain new life, though it was not apparent at first. Liberal failures at Toledo, Seville and Cordoba through the course of 1831 and into 1832 seemed to mark the death of Spanish Liberalism yet again. A Liberal victory outside the port of Valencia at Llíria spearheaded General Baldomero Espartero’s rise to fame, and the Liberal’s chances for victory. Roughly one month after Espartero’s win at Llíria, on 10 April 1833, the exiled “leader” of the Spanish moderates, Francisco Martínez de la Rosa, made his way from France to Catalonia, . Soon after, both Martínez de la Rosa and Espartero met in Barcelona, and after a series of tense negotiations, both men agreed to present a unified front against the reactionary conservative Carlos V. Renewed pressure was mounted on the Ultraconservatives, as the Moderate-Liberal alliance, with added support from the new regime in France, slowly began to make headway into Andalusia, capturing Cordoba in August, followed by another victory in October at Seville. As the Liberal army gained momentum in the late fall of 1833, making headway as far north as Toledo, Carlos V felt he had no other choice but to flee Aranjuez, doing so with the rest of his court and a military escort, traveling north. The Liberal army would enter triumphantly into Madrid on 3 January 1834, holding much of southern and western Spain at their will. The Liberals, as a compromise with Martínez and the other Moderate factions, sought only to reform the kingdom from total authoritarianism, and something more analogous to the new regime in France. Meanwhile, Carlos V and his forces settled in Bilbao, rallying much of Northern Spain to support his return to Madrid. The king refused to legitimize the revolutionaries, stating he would never forfeit his rights as King of Spain. To that end he sent an army of over 15,000 troops from the Basque country and elsewhere to push back the Liberals, in the spring of 1834. Led by famed Basque general Tomás de Zumalacárregui, the Carlists engaged the Liberals near Saragossa in early June to a stalemate. The summer and fall of 1834 proved to be more inconclusive, as the Liberals failed to reign in the north. An attempt by the Liberal general Mina the Elder to take León via Valladolid in September did not amount to much, as did Torjillos’ attempt to take Burgos. The lauded Carlist successes of seemingly stopping the Liberals in their tracks did not amount to much, as they were unable to make headway south themselves. International aid to the Liberals from the United Kingdom, France and Portugal aided in turning the tide for the Liberal cause, though one event in particular would facilitate the end of the second civil war Spain had undergone in a generation.
Rumors had circulated for years that the exceptional circumstances Carlos V inherited Spain in demanded his mind and body to the core, and his ministers inability to improve the kingdom’s precarious situation were thought to make anyone—even the King—go unhinged. Evidently demonstrating more erratic behavior after being forced to flee Madrid, the King made it paramount to keep close watch over his designated successor, the seventeen year old Infante Carlos. While they were walking next to one another in a Bilbao park before midday on 17 June 1835, a heavily disgruntled laborer from Catalonia by the name of Francesc Coma approached the monarch and his son and lunged at them with a blade. Coma was swiftly subdued by nearby guards, but the damage was done. The King suffered only a mild gash on his left cheek, but the Infante proved most unfortunate, as Coma had cut a deep laceration into the young man’s neck, severing the main arteries of the neck and causing him to effectively bleed to death on the ground. Carlos V succumbed to insanity, understandably after witnessing such a macabre scene, and was secured by his generals and advisors in his temporary home in Bilbao, where he would eventually die in early 1836.
Carlist General Tomás de Zumalacárregui and Liberal General Baldomero Espartero
The deaths of both the King and Infante coincided with the death of Zumalacárregui near Pamplona in mid-November 1835. The Liberals under Espartero, Torrijos, and both Mina the Elder and Mina the Younger quickly gained the upper hand in the north, capturing León in February 1836, Santander in March and Bilbao in late May. As the civil war that had ravaged Spain for nearly 5 years began to settle, the Liberal government in Madrid quickly arranged for the sole surviving heir to the Spanish throne, the fourteen year old Infante Juan, to be transported from England back to Spain. With the young prince’s arrival to Madrid in July 1836 to much fanfare, a regency council was formed by General Espartero to rule the Kingdom while Juan came of age and was properly prepared for the role of King. There was little opposition to Espartero’s actions, as he was seen as the main victor emerging out of the war. This caused some within the coalition, Martínez among them, to mind the growing ambitions of the famous general for fear that war was still looming in the shadows.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Mostly butterflies, but yes, no Belgium for you.
[2] Name given to the the extreme conservative faction in Spanish government at the time. They never amounted to power OTL because Fernando VII did one decent thing and appointed moderate ministers who knew a thing or two on running a fucked up country. Carlos's reactionism blinds him from doing this, and things go to hell.
[3] I can haz Spanish Algeria. :3
Europe's not my strong suit, so hopefully it didn't come out too horribly ASB here, please let me know what you guys think.
Next update will see us back in Mexico, Iturbide Presidency anyone?
Last edited:
Arkhangelsk
Good to hear you're feeling better. Hope it continues.
Interesting with Spain rather than France in Algeria. Along with comments about a Spanish resurgence I wonder how much of N Africa they might end up with.
Glad the Liberals win, as opposed to OTL. Spain could definitely benefit from better rule and might make things interesting, especially since a more powerful Spain poses potential problems for both Britain and even more so France.
Steve
Good to hear you're feeling better.
Hope it continues.Interesting with Spain rather than France in Algeria. Along with comments about a Spanish resurgence I wonder how much of N Africa they might end up with.
Glad the Liberals win, as opposed to OTL. Spain could definitely benefit from better rule and might make things interesting, especially since a more powerful Spain poses potential problems for both Britain and even more so France.
Steve
Nice to see an update, and glad you're feeling better! I'll read it when I get back from my weekend away.
Cheers,
Ganesha
Thanks Ganesha.
Certainly, I look forward to anything you have to say about the update, and I hope you weekend was fun filled. Arkhangelsk
Good to hear you're feeling better.
Interesting with Spain rather than France in Algeria. Along with comments about a Spanish resurgence I wonder how much of N Africa they might end up with.
Glad the Liberals win, as opposed to OTL. Spain could definitely benefit from better rule and might make things interesting, especially since a more powerful Spain poses potential problems for both Britain and even more so France.
Steve
Thanks Steve.
Spain will wind up with a significant chunk of North Africa TTL, after it stabilizes in the next generation or so it will be able to deal the power projection needed to expand its new empire, both in Africa and elsewhere. Indeed, for the most part the rest of the century will be a lot kinder to Spain, and you're right that Britain and especially France will be weary eyed when it comes to Spain's new rising star.
I enjoyed the update.
Heh thanks dude!
I agree.
Thanks guys, you're right Vault that in a lot of TL's Spain just get's shafted into obscurity after the Independence Wars, usually with a fate not too far removed from OTL. I figure a powerful Mexico contending with a powerful Spain on the world stage in a few decades makes for an awesome TL (and I can't take the credit for the awesome ideas here, I got help
). Awesome! Glad to hear you're still out and about as it were
The butterflies in Europe - I can't imagine how they'll intersect with the butterflies in North America. A fascinating TL
Hehe yup, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon
thanks Zinc!Indeed, now that the world is really starting to diverge and show real differences, things will begin to really get fun. Thank you as always Zinc!
How will the liberal government deal with Spain's African holdings? They probably will want to give rights to some of the upper classes and integrate them into Spain proper. This idea will probably only cause problems in colonies like Cuba where the planters will also want to be part of Spain, but the Spanish liberal government won't want to bring in all the slaves.
And how will Spain deal with France and Italy's interests in North Africa? Sounds like a bit of a clash is coming. No matter what happens, the Ottomans will get the short end of the stick.
Nice update! Looking forward to the next!
Cheers,
Ganesha
And how will Spain deal with France and Italy's interests in North Africa? Sounds like a bit of a clash is coming. No matter what happens, the Ottomans will get the short end of the stick.
Nice update! Looking forward to the next!
Cheers,
Ganesha
Very very interesting Arkhangelsk. I am very much looking foward to see where you'll be taking this.
Spain with a liberal government, holding in Africa and a loyal Peru certainly has potential. Not to mention it also has the lead in Asia with the Philippines, which I guess they will start paying more attention to soon.
Cuba is part of the US by now. But nevertheless it will be interesting to see how Spain wil try to integrate its new holdings.
Spain with a liberal government, holding in Africa and a loyal Peru certainly has potential. Not to mention it also has the lead in Asia with the Philippines, which I guess they will start paying more attention to soon.
How will the liberal government deal with Spain's African holdings? They probably will want to give rights to some of the upper classes and integrate them into Spain proper. This idea will probably only cause problems in colonies like Cuba where the planters will also want to be part of Spain, but the Spanish liberal government won't want to bring in all the slaves.
And how will Spain deal with France and Italy's interests in North Africa? Sounds like a bit of a clash is coming. No matter what happens, the Ottomans will get the short end of the stick.
Nice update! Looking forward to the next!
Cheers,
Ganesha
Cuba is part of the US by now. But nevertheless it will be interesting to see how Spain wil try to integrate its new holdings.
Whoops, forgot to respond to you jycee
Thanks for that though!Indeed, Spain, though losing most of her empire, managed to retain a little, and even made some gains. It won't stop at Algeria either, hence why it will be known as the "Second Empire."
After I wrap up the Mexican American War, I'll post on things in Peru...things will get interesting there regarding their association with Madrid. Also thanks for your input Ganesha, you're right, as time goes on Spain will have to address growing demands for rights from the Peruvians, and eventually from the Philippines and Algeria. Your also right about the other European powers in the Mediterranean watching with weary eyes as Spain takes it's own chunk of the North African coast. And yes, the Ottomans will be getting the short end of the stick...as far as Africa is concerned.
Thanks guys, I'll try to have the next update up soon!
Whoops, forgot to respond to you jycee
Indeed, Spain, though losing most of her empire, managed to retain a little, and even made some gains. It won't stop at Algeria either, hence why it will be known as the "Second Empire."
Also thanks for your input Ganesha, you're right, as time goes on Spain will have to address growing demands for rights from the Peruvians, and eventually from the Philippines and Algeria. Your also right about the other European powers in the Mediterranean watching with weary eyes as Spain takes it's own chunk of the North African coast. And yes, the Ottomans will be getting the short end of the stick...as far as Africa is concerned.
Thanks guys, I'll try to have the next update up soon!
A Spanish African empire? Sounds like what was French Africa will become Spanish Africa instead. Hmmm!
Say, I was thinking about Mexico's progress and was wondering ITTL how long it will take Mexico to develop a sizable heavy industry, assuming the M-A war goes in Mexico's favor this time around. I imagine the trickle of black slaves escaping the South would help provide bodies for agriculture and some light industry, but the railroad era is soon to come, and a larger Mexico is going to need those rails!
A Spanish African empire? Sounds like what was French Africa will become Spanish Africa instead. Hmmm!
Say, I was thinking about Mexico's progress and was wondering ITTL how long it will take Mexico to develop a sizable heavy industry, assuming the M-A war goes in Mexico's favor this time around. I imagine the trickle of black slaves escaping the South would help provide bodies for agriculture and some light industry, but the railroad era is soon to come, and a larger Mexico is going to need those rails!
It could be sooner than you think. If Mexico is stable the bid to build a railroad from Veracruz to Acapulco will come very soon - it is too useful not just for Mexico but for everyone else - if managed properly this should give Mexico enough investment to kick start some industry.
As far as labor, Mexico should receive more immigration through out the 19th century than it did in OTL - probably stealing a bit of the Catholic immigration that landed in the us in OTL. Maybe even some Cubans fleeing the US controlled island.
It should be interesting.