AHC: Mexico as a Great Power

BlondieBC

Banned
With a few other jiggles, probably by having Mexico join the Allies in WWII and benefitting from Lend Lease and increased economic ties to the USA, then we could see Mexico achieve a First World economy and an important member of the anti-communist democracies in the second half of the 20th century.

Lend Lease is an interesting idea. FDR looked hard for the biggest/best way to aid the UK. With good USA/Mexico relations and some realpolitik by the Mexican President, Mexico could be seen as a great way to get aid to the UK. Perhaps even moving some factories to Mexico or licensing agreements to help get more arms to the UK.

Or with the personnel demands of WW2, the USA could be looking for Mexico to help keep the Latin America areas stable.

And it might also help Mexico if they can capture some of the UK war spending in WW1.
 
Very likely. If the Aztec Empire survives, it will mean that colonization has failed, for whatever reason. If it is because the Aztecs overpowered the Spanish, then it is entirely likely that they will do the same to the British and conquer the future US before independence. Of course, that's just one of the possibilities

If the Aztecs survive, they'd have the same general power base as modern Mexico. Keep in mind that OTL Mexico had an exceedingly hard time projecting power over modern-day California and Texas, and only really inherited them from the Spanish in the first place. Even the best case scenario for the Aztecs would keep them a long way away from the Eastern Seaboard or even most of the Mississippi in all likelihood.

None of that's to say that they wouldn't butterfly the USA just by being there, but it wouldn't be so direct.
 
I don't think the Mexicans annexing swathes of Central America is the way to go. I like the idea of Mexico getting more Lend-Lease during WWII.

Given a more stable and prosperous Mexico going into the Cold War, they could become the US's main proxy in Latin America, propping up all the minor tinpot dictators that the CIA doesn't want to waste time/money on. That would give Mexico significant influence in Latin America, possibly enough for them to be recognized as a Great Power on the same level as Italy.
 
1. Have a more stable leadership than OTL about 1900-1910.
2. Encourage international investment, especially from UK, USA, and Germany
3. Develop local educational structure
4. Reduce the power of the Catholic church and, if possible, the birth rate
5. Work with the USA to pacify/control Central America (possibly annexing everything north of and including Costa Rica in the process)
6. Work closely with the UK in both world wars early on
7. Work to develop international banking capacity and become the financial capital of Latin America
8. Earlier free trade arrangement with USA
9. Work to establish socialist democracy (or otherwise reduce the class divide somewhat)
10. Promote development of agriculture resources in the northern area of the country along with mining interests
 
Very likely. If the Aztec Empire survives, it will mean that colonization has failed, for whatever reason. If it is because the Aztecs overpowered the Spanish, then it is entirely likely that they will do the same to the British and conquer the future US before independence. Of course, that's just one of the possibilities
I thought England and France had settlements in the New World before the Spanish conquered the Aztecs. If that's the case, England/Britain could help the Aztecs if the Spanish tried to conquer them again.
 

trajen777

Banned
A good book on this is (i think this is the title) A battle of eagles -- compared how the USA and Mexico pre the Mex American war were pretty equal -- Mex army much larger then the USA -- econ not to much different -- and basically the issues that allowed the USA to grow were
1. Racism in Mex between the 32 classes of Indian / Spanish etc
2. The corruption -- (buying bad powder and officers pocketing the difference)
3. Training and Machismo in the Army (ie: the officers required double loading of powder in the muskets which created a massive kick and powder blast which forced the Mex troops to poorly aim ---etc)

Anyway basic - corruption / racism / almost all wealth held by a few

These are endemic problems that take a reordering of society to make the changes --- thinking of Mexico (i do alot of business there - road const - Tequila export to Japan - etc) the corruption and unemployment that are structural (education - class - etc) would be very difficult to overcome - but is.
 
Mexico did join the Allies in WW2.

turn Mexico into a pro-U.S. great power (i.e.: similar to OTL U.K.). By 2012, Mexico’s citizens have to have a high standard of living (no cartels!) and the nation is supposed to have important economic, military, cultural and industrial clout on the global stage but is a “U.S. lapdog”/”firm ally” (depending on your point of view). Having low corruption rate would be good too. Bonus points if you find a way for people to justify the close U.S.-Mexican relationship via cultural reasons (OTL, I read people making subjective statements reasoning that U.K. and U.S. share close cultural links and “are part of the same family” and therefore the two nations have to be tied at the hip for all time).

In bold is the things that can be argued are already there. So you would only need a PoD to change corruption and related things (crime, standard of living, etc.).
 
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Incognito

Banned
In bold is the things that can be argued are already there. So you would only need a PoD to change corruption and related things (crime, standard of living, etc.).
What's Mexico's global "clout"? You also need to find a way for them to have a significant military (the challenge here is to make Mexico more like UK in terms of global importance and relationship with USA).

Also, for those of you interested in a bigger challenge, I also have a thread called AHC: Revers the situations of Canada and Mexico where the goal is to get a rich, 1st-world Mexico and a corruption-riddled, crime gang-plagued Canada.
 
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I remember I had thought up a scenario like this where the US is a superpower and Mexico is a great power and both countries end up with a "special relationship" with both trying to kick Europeans out of the Americas, they don't own the northern states (the first Independence war fails but the USA helps them the 2nd time and end up annexing those places from the spanish) but they keep Central America and even develop their own kind of Manifest destiny where they're destined to unite the spanish colonies and end up annexing Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela and even the Phillipines.
 
Keep Central America. Build Canal

That should help it get on par with Italy or Spain. I don't know if they count as Great Powers
 
Technically correct, but Huerta was able to seize power precisely because Madero and Diaz had to militarily fight it out and the country was already dangerously destabilized. It would have been better to avoid the initial fights between Diaz and Madero to begin with.

I agree with azander 12 that the best departure would be Diaz not running for another term and allowing Madero to become President. He puts Mexico on the path of reform that eliminates the problems it has, but in a measured way that keeps the country at peace and not at war for the next twenty years. Land reform is going to be a giagantic issue, but if armed rebellion never happens against Diaz, then Zapata may never take up arms against the government and be willing to accept a slower pace of reform.

If we assume that Madero and Zapata are able to agree on a compromise on land reform, then in about ten years Mexico should be out of the danger zone and be able to progress through the rest of the twentieth century in peace with a stable democratic government.

With a few other jiggles, probably by having Mexico join the Allies in WWII and benefitting from Lend Lease and increased economic ties to the USA, then we could see Mexico achieve a First World economy and an important member of the anti-communist democracies in the second half of the 20th century.

I like this scenario.

Especially if later on in the Cold War you get a lot of tension in Central America. If Mexico takes a big role in containing Cuban adventurism in that region...

If you have Mexico in WWII, could we see Mexico in NATO?

After all, the Caribbean is NORTH of the equator.
 
Lend Lease is an interesting idea. FDR looked hard for the biggest/best way to aid the UK. With good USA/Mexico relations and some realpolitik by the Mexican President, Mexico could be seen as a great way to get aid to the UK. Perhaps even moving some factories to Mexico or licensing agreements to help get more arms to the UK.

Or with the personnel demands of WW2, the USA could be looking for Mexico to help keep the Latin America areas stable.

And it might also help Mexico if they can capture some of the UK war spending in WW1.

Why would Mexico be better than just shipping the aid from the US?
 
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