An Alternate History of the Mexican Empire (1821-)

Mexican Nobility
Interlude: Mexican Nobility

After the Mexican Empire was first proclaimed, one of the issues with which Imperial Congress concerned itself was the recognition of previously existing noble titles. In the wake of independence, existing nobility was a mixture of ruling elites from the precolonial era recognized as such by Spanish authorities and elites who had been granted noble titles by Spanish authorities during the colonial period, though less than a few hundred entitled nobles lived in the Mexican Empire at that time.

Shortly after the coronation of Emperor Charles in 1824, he worked together with an Imperial Congress commission in order to reform the peerage of empire — older titles were to be recognized, but expected to be soon outnumbered by the new set of Imperial titles, which were honorary in so far as they did not imply financial obligations by the state, and in fact, required an ascertainable minimum of wealth or lands to keep, being more of a badge of distinction and honor which could in turn secure the title holder certain social privileges. The Imperial titles could only be granted by the Emperor of Mexico, but had to be confirmed by Imperial Congress, and there were five different ranks: Baron, Viscount, Count, Marquess, and Prince; members of the Imperial Family were granted the title Prince of Mexico, title which indicated seniority over all other members of the noble class.

Additionally, several different Knightly orders were created, including the Imperial Order of the Knights of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the Imperial Order of the Mexican Eagle, but unlike other titles, the ones granted to members of these orders were not hereditary, though depending on the specific circumstances, members could be granted a pension.
 
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Some things:
  • I will rewrite/retcon some parts regarding the 1824 Constitution, and will be making it somewhat more conservative. Reading through it now, I made it a bit too liberal before, when the Mexican Empire is supposed to be a bulwark of European conservatism in the Americas.
  • Also I will be standarizing names and terms, and will exclusively refer to them in English (i.e. Emperor Charles, instead of Emperor Carlos). For consistency.
  • Also the official spelling ITTL will be Habsburg, not Hasburg or Hapsburg.

No Dukes? Bah. :D

Neither the Spanish nor the Austrian system granted Dukes, though I might go ahead and edit that too.
 
Some things:
  • I will rewrite/retcon some parts regarding the 1824 Constitution, and will be making it somewhat more conservative. Reading through it now, I made it a bit too liberal before, when the Mexican Empire is supposed to be a bulwark of European conservatism in the Americas.
  • Also I will be standarizing names and terms, and will exclusively refer to them in English (i.e. Emperor Charles, instead of Emperor Carlos). For consistency.
  • Also the official spelling ITTL will be Habsburg, not Hasburg or Hapsburg.

Cool. I'll admit I'm a sucker for a Mexico timeline, but most of them go for a more liberal direction, so it's nice to see Mexico going in the opposite direction. At least initially.
 
Northern Settlements
Northern Settlements

In the wake of independence from Spain, the Texas province of the Northeastern Territories already harbored a substantial amount of colonists as a result of previous colonization laws, which granted land to Spanish subjects in exchange for them taking charge the recruitment and colonization of that land.

This laws were expanded with the 1824 Colonization Act, which for the first time allowed foreigners to purchase land in the northern territories of the Empire. Those interested would be able to purchase up to 80 square miles each; the land would be sold considerably cheaper than what it would cost elsewhere, and settlers would be extent from paying taxes for a period of fifteen years. In exchange, they would be required to acquire a Mexican citizenship before they could move in, which in turn entailed conversion to Catholicism and learning either the Spanish or the German language.

The government considered these measures radical but necessary, as the continent-spanning Empire was underpopulated for its size, and the northern frontier in particular was defenseless against other powers such as the United States. An American filibuster, James Long, had already tried to seize control of Texas in 1819-1820 — even though he was defeated by the Spanish authorities at the time, that event had demonstrated the threat that the United States’ growing population posed to the territorial integrity of the Empire.

prince-ferdinand.png

Prince Ferdinand of Austria

The Emperor’s reforms and the (temporary) defeat of the Comanche had contributed to the restoration of law and order in Texas. While Col. Santa Anna still lacked enough manpower to evict the squatters already living there, he proved more than capable to patrol the border and deter more from moving in. In addition, to counter the influence of American colonists the government counted on German ones, whose migration was intended to be eased both through language and religion requirements and through the good relations that Emperor Charles maintained with his brother.

Subsequently, Emperor Francis, despite Metternich’s opposition, allowed his firstborn son and heir apparent at that time, Prince Ferdinand, to travel to Mexico. It is no secret that the youth had certain mental health issues which would render him unable to govern one of Europe’s foremost powers, and the move was basically him being sidelined so someone else could eventually take the reins, but in 1826, it helped encourage tens of thousands to make the journey across the Atlantic themselves. Prince Ferdinand would remain in the care of his uncle in Mexico City, but Germans would begin settling the Empire’s northern territories in large numbers, reaching as far as San Francisco in Alta California.
 
Interesting. This is going to carry big effects down the road. Not only is going to affect the US' westward expansion since now they're not going to become the majority for those that still move there to make them targets of adquisition; but also, many of those people were likely to have moved to the US in OTL, but now they no longer did here. A lesser German immigration to the US during these times would also carry consequences there, specially since they mostly settled in the North. Although, I don't quite remember well the full extent of their impact. While the difference is likely to not be big now in the 1820's, if the trend continues then it most likely will make an impact.
 
Oh, right, I just remembered, with the latest update being about northern settlement. What was the fate of Richard Fields' trip in this timeline? Was he succesful with the different Mexico he found himself traveling to or things went like OTL?
 
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