With the ascension of the boy Emperor Maximillian II at age 10 in 1951, the monarchy in Mexico looked shakier than ever. Emperor Agustin and Empress Maria had ruled by the sheer force of their will and French guns, but young Maximillian II lacked both of these. The French had suffered greatly had the hands of the Soviet Union and the various Communist forces that had spread across Europe in the 30s and 40s. Japanese threats in Asia also tied up French attention.
In addition, drought and famine had struck Mexico, particularly in the areas of southern Mexico in and near the Valley of Mexico. The peasants and poor farmers of the area grew discontented with the government especially in the person of the emperor. Increasingly, Mexicans educated in Moscow came back to Mexico as communist agitators, forming clandestine Peasants' and Workers' Leagues and stockpiling weapons. However, of all of these agitators and intellectuals, Juan Pablo de Montoya would have his name etched into the fabric of history.
Montoya was born in 1910 in a small town in the state of Morelos. His parents were some of the better off peasants in the community, but still not very wealthy. The public school system created under Maximillian I gave him an opportunity to excel though. He excelled in all of his classes, gaining high marks. He received a scholarship to the University of Mexico and attended classes there for a year and a half, but grew disgusted and disenchanted with the conservative and Catholic enivironment that pervaded the school. In 1930, he came into contact with the Society for the Advancement of Mexico, a secretive group of young socialist and communist intellectuals. He quickly became ingrained within the group, becoming one of the leading members there.
A Soviet agent by the name of Vasily Baranov, sent by Moscow to be the contact within the SAM, quickly noticed the young Montoya. Seeing his potential, Baranov recommended that he be sent to Moscow for education. In 1932, Montoya was given the offer and he quickly accepted. His studies in Moscow went very well, and he even became good friends with Trotsky, who saw Montoya as the best man to lead the communists in Mexico. In 1937, Montoya finally returned to Mexico with Soviet training and education, plus full Soviet backing.
Montoya began meeting again with the SAM, whose leaders he had kept a correspondence with while he was in Moscow. The SAM began to develop into the de facto main communist party of Mexico, as the membership of the Society began to radicalize. Montoya was established as the Chairman of the Society in 1939, and he moved quickly to expand its power and influence.
Local branches of the society were established in several major cities, but increasingly, Montoya saw the poor farmers as the path to the revolution in Mexico. The SAM began to expand its base to farmers and peasants in the 40s, establishing many branches in rural, isolated areas, spreading anti-government literature, and fomenting communist ideals.
However, progress was difficult, as the 40s were a dangerous time to be a communist. The total war being waged in Europe between the communist nations and the democratic nations had swung the opinion of many against communism and socialism. While backwater Mexico wasn't as in touch with these shifts in public opinion, the government, the CSA and the US were, and the SAM quickly came under the suspicion of the government. When the US entered the European war, it became even more dangerous, as the US was now overtly acting against communist forces. Several attempts were made on Montoya's life by who appeared to be American agents, and the Imperial government began to arrest many communists who were too overt in their opposition to the government. Montoya tried to keep a low profile, as the Soviets would not be able to help him and the SAM while they were tied up in Europe.
In 1947, the war ended with Europe in shambles. Democratic forces had suceeded in pushing the Russians and Germans out of France and even pushing into the Rhineland, but then the front stalemated, devasting many parts of Germany. Peace talks held in Switzerland led to a ceasefire and a division of Germany, but now Europe was an armed camp. France and Germany were the most devastated, and Britain came out the strongest with little of the British Isles being affected by the war. The Soviets had taken massive casualties, but the war had served as a catalyst for the buildup of Soviet industry.
Montoya soon asked Trotsky, who had since solidified his rule in the USSR, for more direct aid in the form of arms shipments. These would mainly be sent through Nicaragua, which had gone communist after a revolution in 1948. The Peasants' Army of Mexico (ECM) was formed as the armed wing of the SAM in November of 1948, and many poor farmers were soon given basic military training to form the communist cadres that would lead the revolution forward. ECM arsenals and stockpiles were established across the countryside, and Montoya was beginning to feel in a position of strength.
We have now reached the present situation. Trotsky and the Soviets had increasingly been putting pressure on Montoya to launch some kind of attack or actions against the Imperial government, as they had grown impatient seeing the ECM hoard and stockpile the weapons given to them. Montoya remained firm, maintaining that the revolution would be launched when the ECM and SAM were ready.
The countdown began in November of 1951 with Maximillian II's coronation. Montoya would give him one year, betting that he and his advisors/regents would mismanage the country more, angering the people further. Less so then government mismanagement, than further natural disasters occured over the year, and as the month of October grew old, the time for the revolution grew near.
The offensive was planned to start in the early morning of the Day of the Dead, November 1. The increasingly atheistic Montoya saw the day as day not only to liberate the country, but to hit the Catholic Church. However, these views would often come into conflict with the devoutly Catholic peasants who made up the majority of the ECM, so he attempted to keep those inclinations out of sight.
November 1 began, and so did the revolution. ECM battalions were spread from the Valley of Mexico, to Acapulco, to Veracruz, with practically no presence in the northern areas of Mexico. Poorly trained and motivated Imperial Mexican troops simply melted away in the opening hours of the offensive, as ECM cadres infiltrated into the heart of major cities, such as Mexico City, where a mortar barrage was opened up on the Imperial palace.
However, in other areas, Imperial troops held firm, especially in Veracruz and Oaxaca, where the firepower and training of the Imperial forces paid off against the poorly trained but highly motivated ECM forces. Still, 1 week into the offensive, most of the countryside was in SAM/ECM hands, and all of the major cities were under heavy attack. Imperial forces in the north were quickly being redeployed into Southern Mexico, and the Mexican government asked for immediate aid from the French especially, but the US and the CSA were also asked.
The two French carriers, Joffre and Weygand, two very modern vessels recently refitted with angled decks, sailed into the Gulf of Mexico with accompanying escorts to provide aid. Sea Mysteres began launching airstrikes on ECM forces around Veracruz as the French began to move more landbased aircraft into their leased bases in the CSA near Mexico.
(map on next post.)
at Uberhessen. Or Turbo-Mongols. Or gilded lettering. Or something other than "ooh, pretty sword".
