DBWI: Spanish Colonize Mexique?

Dorozhand

Banned
What if the Spanish, rather than the French, had ended up colonizing Mexique? Ever since Alexander Amadeus landed at the mouth of the San Lorenzo, founding Abenaquia colony for Castille, the Spanish were mostly preoccupied with fur trading and were relatively friendly with natives that they encountered. Might this attitude have come into play if they had instead found the Aztec Empire, and the fate of that empire not sealed by the infamous brutality and gold-lust of the French Vainqueurs?
 
What if the Spanish, rather than the French, had ended up colonizing Mexique? Ever since Alexander Amadeus landed at the mouth of the San Lorenzo, founding Abenaquia colony for Castille, the Spanish were mostly preoccupied with fur trading and were relatively friendly with natives that they encountered. Might this attitude have come into play if they had instead found the Aztec Empire, and the fate of that empire not sealed by the infamous brutality and gold-lust of the French Vainqueurs?

It's possible, I suppose. Do remember that the Aztecs were seen as barbaric, while the Haudenosaunee were respected, due to how Europeans in general viewed their respective cultures. I feel that largely the same outcome probably would have happened in our world with a switch of the two powers.

In any case, the Spanish might be able to do a better job holding Mexique than the French would: France's Quebec colony was a little more successful, but they just didn't have what it took to become a major power in the New World.

I also wonder how the Carolina Confederation, if it, or even any English(now British) colony would still exist, might handle Mexique as well; remember, Carolina's attempts at conquering the area(and much of the rest of the southern half of North Amadesia for that matter) were very much based on the truly terrifying descriptions of the Aztecs that the French gave to the rest of the world; after Mexique overthrew the Viceroy's government in 1808, that only intensified. The Carolinians saw them as nothing more than savages.....might the Spaniards possibly have been less over the top?
 
Spain colonizing Mexique would really create butterflies. I imagine they couldn't have done that and still have enough forces left to conquer Argeria and Marueccos. Would North Africa still be Muslim? Now that would be weird to think about.
 
Spain colonizing Mexique would really create butterflies. I imagine they couldn't have done that and still have enough forces left to conquer Argeria and Marueccos. Would North Africa still be Muslim? Now that would be weird to think about.

Well, firstly, Morocco and Algeria weren't even targeted for assimilation by Spain until the early 1800s; Mexique was first colonized in the 1570s.

Now, I do suppose the Spaniards might run into trouble if they push too hard; the English fought a few wars with the Shawnee and the Cherokee early as the 1680s, and had some trouble beating them back at times.....and this was with home-raised militias, too. So Spain's difficulties might be substantially worse in that regard. As it is, the Spaniards already had their hands full with New Castille, Monteverde, and Abenaquia in our world, and the natives were mostly friendly, too.
 
Interesting question OP. I wonder how my state of New Mexique would have turned out differently. Perhaps Sainte-Foi would be called "Santa Fe?" instead.
 
Interesting question OP. I wonder how my state of New Mexique would have turned out differently. Perhaps Sainte-Foi would be called "Santa Fe?" instead.

Possibly. And would Val De Moulin be called "El Paso" or something similar? I mean, the Carolinians didn't rename *every* little thing just because it wasn't "Anglo" or whatever, and this was even during the time of a major anti-French cultural backlash. Unless the Spaniards or their successor in North America finds themselves on that receiving edge I don't think that there would be many name changes, either, except if asked for by the locals themselves.
 
What would have happened in South America. The Spanish did end up conquering the Incas but it was a long and costly fight and it was a near run thing as they say. Would Spain have been able to handle both the Incas and the Aztecs?
 
What would have happened in South America. The Spanish did end up conquering the Incas but it was a long and costly fight and it was a near run thing as they say. Would Spain have been able to handle both the Incas and the Aztecs?

I would doubt it. They had too many troops pinned down already and the Azteques were a pretty strong fighting force. Any Spanish expedition to Mexique would have had to be pretty small, and unlikely to succeed.
A key to France's later success was that it had greater manpower at its disposal, due to its larger population.
 
Ooc: "Mexique" requires a Spanish "Mexico" first. If the French were indeed the colonizers it would be more like "Mechiqueau" or some such.

But the Spanish could have visited/named it first and just not colonized it, as in the case of Guadeloupe, Martinique, or Saint-Domingue for that matter. All three of those names are Gallicized versions of earlier Spanish names (Guadalupe, Matinica, Santo Domingo).
 
But the Spanish could have visited/named it first and just not colonized it, as in the case of Guadeloupe, Martinique, or Saint-Domingue for that matter. All three of those names are Gallicized versions of earlier Spanish names (Guadalupe, Matinica, Santo Domingo).

OOC: Makes sense to me.

IC: Speaking of Santo Domingo.....what if the Carolinians hadn't annexed it in 1893?
 
Spain did not have the resources to commit to conquering like France did.

France had pushed the English out recently and Burgundy had been vanquished. However France had no other avenues of expansion, the Tuscan League (rather surprisingly) prevented any expansion in Italy, the Empire was off limits, and England was too strong, and there was nothing to gain in Spain. It was pretty natural that France turn to conquering territory.

Now compare this to Spain.

Spain united all of the peninsula very recently ( first Castile, then Aragon, then Portugal ), and then started to expand the reconquista into North Africa. Then Spain and England got pulled into Continental Wars in the Low Countries, Burgundy, and Germany because they both wanted to maintain a balance of power.

If Spain didn't have troops fighting in Apulia, Naples, Sicily, Tuscany, and North Africa from Tripoli to Morocco, then it could focus on the New World.

After all the Spanish had every opportunity to expand in the New World, Mexico was NAMED by them, Columbus discovered the New World sailing for Spain. The gap between these early discoveries and Spain's involvement in continental affairs needs to be widened, perhaps prevent the Portuguese Union and the wars in North Africa.

At the same time making the French more involved in European affairs (no Tuscan League? France gets into an Italian War instead of Spain?) will do wonders.

Then you get the reverse, a colonial power conquering land in the form of Spain and a mainland power with colonies on the periphery looking for money.
 
But the Spanish could have visited/named it first and just not colonized it, as in the case of Guadeloupe, Martinique, or Saint-Domingue for that matter. All three of those names are Gallicized versions of earlier Spanish names (Guadalupe, Matinica, Santo Domingo).

Ooc: good point
 
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