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[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Welcome to my new TL!
This is a reboot of my old "Order and Progress" story. After seeing the approach the amazing "Barbarossa 1905" took I got inspired to take this up again.
So, after some more research and retooling the story, I believe it's ready to see the light of day. Without further ado, here's the story. Comments and questions are very welcome.

From Mexico to the World: A TL

One

The roots of Mexico's rapid change from the object of international ridicule to a power courted by both sides before the Great War began are, unsurprisingly, in the United States.
After the disastrous First Mexican-American War in1846-1848 [1], Mexico had to endure several attempts from Americans who felt they had been cheated out of more land, especially Baja California. There were two official attempts, in 1859 by President Buchanan and 1881 by President Garfield.
Then there were the filibusters. In 1851 Joseph Morehead landed La Paz before being beaten back; two years later the infamous William Walker declared the “Republic of Baja California” [2]. in 1855 Jean Napoleon Zerman tried his luck and ended in his arrest and trial in Mexico City, a much better fate than California Senator Henry Alexander Crabb, whose 1857 expedition resulted in his men dead and his head in a jar of alcohol.
Yet none of these filibusters cause more than protests and weak threats. It wouldn't be until the final attempt to seize land, in 1890, that Mexico finally began its transformation.


The person behind the Baja California War, as the conflict would come to be known, was Augustus Merill, editor of the San Diago Informant. In early 1890 he gathered other members and, backed by the Mexico Land and Colonization Company (also known as the English Company) came up with a rather simple plan: to conquer the territory of Baja California, declare its independence, then quickly seek annexation by the United States [3].
The plan was almost canceled when one of the conspirators, Captain John E. Jones, falsely believed he was being cut out of the profits and tried to expose them. His death by a fall, however, allowed the plan to go ahead [4].


On September 15, while Mexico celebrated its Independence Day and the birth of President Porfirio Diaz [5], the conspirators struck.
That night the majority of the Mexican officials in Baja California were at the Iturbide Hotel, owned by one of the conspirators. At the signal, a fireworks show at midnight, the takeover began. The many “workers” the English Company had brought to Mexico quickly grabbed the guns and ammunition from the “warehouses” quickly surrounded the hotel and arrested all officials, most too drunk to notice what was happening.
Though the conspirators had bribed Enrique Nieto, Captain of the Guard, many troops resisted valiantly. They were, however, outnumbered and outgunned, and were forced to surrender. Of the loyal Mexican troops only Colonel Manuel Ferrer managed to escape and inform the Mexican government [6].


[1] You can't have a TL about Mexico without multiple Mexican-American Wars.

[2] Yes, the William Walker tried to work his magic in Mexico.
[3] Pretty much what California did during the Mexican-American War.
[4] POD. In reality he exposed everyone and the plan was abandoned.
[5] The Grito de Dolores, marking the beginning of the Independence War, was actually on the 16th but Diaz changed it to a day before, because why not.
[6] OTL Ferres challenged William Smith to a duel after the plot was uncovered. That was pretty cool so I wanted to give him something to do ITTL.

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