unprincipled peter
Donor
Richter,
You hit the nail on the head on a few points:
Almost all countries which have to force their way to independence start off broke. The parent country isn't going to willingly leave them with money, or they have to spend their money to gain independence through payments, or through financing a revolution. The trick is having an economy strong enough to recover from this. If you've destroyed your economy in the revolution, or if you simply don't have a strong enough economy before the revolution, it's going to be tough to form a strong/stable gov't.
On top of that, there's often a social fabric that needs breaking in order to foster prosperity. Most third world countries/colonies have in common a small rich sector and a massive poor sector, with little middle class. This isn't conducive to prosperity or stability. Or, there's no real consensus on how to govern/structure the country, so internal strife plays havoc. The US seems to be pretty rare in being able to walk that fine line of having difference of opinion while still forming somewhat of a consensus (which later broke down in the civil war, but at least the strife held off long enough for a nation to be built. Most countries have that strife and hostilities break out right off the bat).
Mexico seems to have had neither a strong economy or a stable social/political environment, which is really why it never developed as a power.
Texas only becomes the Alsace-Lorraine, though, IF Mexico truly becomes a power later on. IF Mex becomes a power early, Texas doesn't gain independence, and the US doesn't see Mexico as easy pickings and we don't have the Mex-American war. IF Mexico becomes a power afterwards, they have to become a heck of a power to even fathom taking on the US. France OTL talked the talk about regaining A-L, but ultimately, they held no illusions about retaking it. Germany and France were two cats in a much smaller yard, so conflict was almost taken for granted. A strong Mexico and the US would be two cats in a much larger yard, so conflict can be avoided.
You hit the nail on the head on a few points:
Almost all countries which have to force their way to independence start off broke. The parent country isn't going to willingly leave them with money, or they have to spend their money to gain independence through payments, or through financing a revolution. The trick is having an economy strong enough to recover from this. If you've destroyed your economy in the revolution, or if you simply don't have a strong enough economy before the revolution, it's going to be tough to form a strong/stable gov't.
On top of that, there's often a social fabric that needs breaking in order to foster prosperity. Most third world countries/colonies have in common a small rich sector and a massive poor sector, with little middle class. This isn't conducive to prosperity or stability. Or, there's no real consensus on how to govern/structure the country, so internal strife plays havoc. The US seems to be pretty rare in being able to walk that fine line of having difference of opinion while still forming somewhat of a consensus (which later broke down in the civil war, but at least the strife held off long enough for a nation to be built. Most countries have that strife and hostilities break out right off the bat).
Mexico seems to have had neither a strong economy or a stable social/political environment, which is really why it never developed as a power.
Texas only becomes the Alsace-Lorraine, though, IF Mexico truly becomes a power later on. IF Mex becomes a power early, Texas doesn't gain independence, and the US doesn't see Mexico as easy pickings and we don't have the Mex-American war. IF Mexico becomes a power afterwards, they have to become a heck of a power to even fathom taking on the US. France OTL talked the talk about regaining A-L, but ultimately, they held no illusions about retaking it. Germany and France were two cats in a much smaller yard, so conflict was almost taken for granted. A strong Mexico and the US would be two cats in a much larger yard, so conflict can be avoided.