Mexican Empire conquers Confederate Lands

Given the recent thread about a Mexican-Confederate War, I thought this was a fun idea.

Let's say the CSA secedes successfully with the 11 states plus Arizona Territory (Perhaps Buchanan drops dead, Breckinridge is president for a few months, and he aids the seceding states while in power).

The Confederates, high on their own self-aggrandizement, pick a fight with a surviving Second Mexican Empire. Mexico, with France's and America's aid, curbstomps Dixieland and reclaims Texas and Arizona. The US uses the opportunity to occupy the rest of the CSA.

What now? I imagine Maximilian would be looked fondly upon by Mexicans as the man who restored a certain amount of prestige. Texas is territory full of folks that'd need to be occupied, but at the time it wasn't the most densely settled place and much of west and central Texas is Germans (who might like Maximilian) and Tejanos.

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I do not think that the USA would specifically aid the Mexican Empire in invading and retaining Texas and the Gadsden Purchase.

USA might prop up Mexican Empire if they would assist out west but it would be known beforehand that the 1860 border between USA and Mexico would be the final border after CSA is conquered.
 
I do not think that the USA would specifically aid the Mexican Empire in invading and retaining Texas and the Gadsden Purchase.

USA might prop up Mexican Empire if they would assist out west but it would be known beforehand that the 1860 border between USA and Mexico would be the final border after CSA is conquered.


I'm thinking more that the Mexicans and French are whooping the Confederacy and the Americans opportunistically join in. It's a fait accompli that Mexico occupies Texas and Arizona by the end of this war.
 
The US uses the opportunity to occupy the rest of the CSA.
USA, aka the North, would still want total control of the Lands on either side of the Mississippi, and the Red River area, so would want some of Texas, and the Route for railroad to California
transcontinental-railroad-map-2.jpg
from the Southern Pacific RR in California to the Texas and Pacific RR, the line going the Fort Worth/ Dallas, though in this TL, might be slightly North, not going thru El Paso.

I disagree with the CSA ever getting any of Arizona in the first place
 
I'm thinking more that the Mexicans and French are whooping the Confederacy and the Americans opportunistically join in. It's a fait accompli that Mexico occupies Texas and Arizona by the end of this war.

... at which point Washington tells Maxy quite pointedly that it would be in his best interest to pull back if he dosen't want guns "going missing" on the frontiers again and turning Texas and the former Juareztas and Porfireos into burning ulsers on his countery. France is too far away and will invariably have something pop up in Europe that takes her attention to prop up the Empire forever against active US opposition,and I'm sure there's no shortage of former CSA soldiers ready to hop the border with a gentle nudge to provide gurellia soldiers for a "2nd Republic of Texas"
 
USA, aka the North, would still want total control of the Lands on either side of the Mississippi, and the Red River area, so would want some of Texas, and the Route for railroad to California
transcontinental-railroad-map-2.jpg
from the Southern Pacific RR in California to the Texas and Pacific RR, the line going the Fort Worth/ Dallas, though in this TL, might be slightly North, not going thru El Paso.

I disagree with the CSA ever getting any of Arizona in the first place


I can potentially see a cession of lands east of the Brazos river where most of the Americans and the significant cities of Houston, Dallas, Galveston, etc were anyway.

Looking at the bits of that map that say "Primary federal land grants to railroads", it doesn't look it it'd be an issue for a railroad from Kansas City to follow the Santa Fe trail, cut through American New Mexico, and then get to California.

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Deleted member 67076

If the relationship is similar to the Porfiriato and the US (and the US has given up on taking back the Confederate states), then I'm not sure why the US would really care too much about Mexican expansion north so long as it doesn't take New Orleans. Mexico at this point was opening itself up to investment, and their conquest of Texas and the Confederate Southwest just means American commercial access to these areas without paying the bill for pacification, reconquest, etc and with cheaper local labor.

If anything, American businessmen benefit the most from a bigger Mexico here and greater US/Mexican commercial integration facilitate that.
 
If the relationship is similar to the Porfiriato and the US (and the US has given up on taking back the Confederate states), then I'm not sure why the US would really care too much about Mexican expansion north so long as it doesn't take New Orleans. Mexico at this point was opening itself up to investment, and their conquest of Texas and the Confederate Southwest just means American commercial access to these areas without paying the bill for pacification, reconquest, etc and with cheaper local labor.

If anything, American businessmen benefit the most from a bigger Mexico here and greater US/Mexican commercial integration facilitate that.

In this scenario the US is pretty much occupying 90% of the Confederacy and gradually integrating it.

The government of Mexico is Maximilian's Empire. Given how he was a liberal, I could see him being more or less similar to Juarez and Diaz in economic policy, so the US might not be too annoyed. When you get down to it, most of the lands west of the Brazos and east of California are pretty barren.
 
Honestly, I think a more interested scenerio is to have the US wash their hands of the situation. The CSA after a major loss like thst is going yo be a basketcase and the US might figure it's just in their best interest to let the Confederates sort out their own mess and make a deal with the most amiable party. Cheaper than spending buckets of blood and just as economically beneficial or not more so.

This would also mute any real US anger at Mexico reclaiming Texas and Arizona.
 
I think the Mexicans give back more of Texas in exchange for additional bits of New Mexico or Arizona and maybe bits of California. Texas would come with more angry and unruly Anglo inhabitants and they don't want that.

OTOH, by giving the Second Mexican Empire such a victory, you just gave it legitimacy! A stable monarchy with French investments would attract more Catholic European settlers, and more industrialization. By the early 20th Century it would be a very different country than OTL and change the history of Latin America as a whole.
 
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