No, at the time of the attack, he was interviewing troops stationed in France of their experiences during the recently ended Operation Totenkopf.
Photos from Featherston's Confederacy/ TL-191
- Thread starter Alternatehistoryguy47
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Flag used by various black guerrilla resistance movements (1935-1944) in the CSA.
Confederate troops of the battered Army of Kentucky withdrawing across the Ohio River into Kentucky; circa late-February, 1943. The damage to Cincinnati (caused by bother warfare and Confederate damage) is evident in the background. These men are the luck survivors, as many of their comrades perished in Pittsburgh, or were cut off and taken prisoner following the U.S. liberation of Ohio.
Last known image of Hugo Black, a senator from Alabama and Whig candidate for Vice President in the 1933 Confederate States presidential election, before his "disappearance" in 1937.
Black was among the last Whigs in the Confederate senate following the 1933 and 1935 elections. Black tried to keep the Whigs strong after their defeats in 1933 and 1935; rumors came around that he'll run in the 1939 presidential election. Some historians believed that Black was assassinated by the Freedom Party as Black, while weaker than the Radical Liberal Governor of Louisiana: Huey Long, was a rising star in the Whig Party, and the fact that his disappearance happened in the Spring of 1937, the same time as Huey Long's assassination. A special election was held in the Spring of that year in which a Freedom Party man had taken Black's seat. Black's disappearance caused the beginning end of the Whig Party's holdings in both houses of Congress. And in 1939, the Whig Party had lost all seats in the House and Senate.
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A painting of the crew of the USS Mackerel loading a torpedo on preparation for a war patrol into the Atlantic from New London in Connecticut, circa 1942.
Parade in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, 2022, celebrating the state's liberation from the Confederacy.
Flyer distributed by the London Communist Party for the battle of Cable Street.
The battle of Cable Street was a protest against the Sliver Shirt and the Conservative coalition government in East London after Oswald Mosley announced a rally in East London on October 4, 1936. The protest hoped to start a massive uprising in the UK against the Churchill-Mosley government; unfortunately, it failed, as many were killed and or arrested.
London police arresting a protester, October 4, 1936.
A commemorative plaque in Dock Street put up years later (ignore that it says blackshirts).
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Picture of Cordell Hull, 1941, after giving his famous "Confederate patriots" speech.
After the 1933 Confederate States presidential election, Hull tried to fade into obscurity like all other Radical Liberal presidential candidates before him; unfortunately, fate had other plans. After the 1939 Confederate States presidential election, which saw Featherston being elected to an unprecedented second term and the Whigs and Rad Libs losing all of their remaining seats in Congress, Featherston announced that all political parties in the CSA are now banned and requested that the now former Whigs and Rad Libs fall in line with the rest of the Confederacy. Hull, along with most Rad Libs, fled to the United States. By the eve of the Second Great War, Hull was in Indianapolis, Indiana. When Operation Blackbeard began, Hull gave a speech against Featherston and supported the United States. In that speech, he also called for "Confederate patriots" to rise against Featherston. Unfortunately, in the summer of 1941, Hull was killed in a bombing raid over Indianapolis. The CSA never heard Hull's speech due to censoring by Featherston's regime. However, black resistance fighters partly realized Hull's dream of Confederate resistance to Featherston.
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The Dodge automobile where Doroteo Arango, the 1915 Radical Liberal Party Presidential Candidate, was assassinated in 1923, in a museum in Chihuahua, United States.
While Arango faded into obscurity after the 1915 Confederate States Presidential election, he was shot by a gang of Freedom Party Stalwarts in 1923, a time when the Freedom Party was rising in Chihuahua and Sonora while he was driving home. Arango's death was an accident as he was mistaken for another politician in Chihuahua.
Arango with his wife: Luz Corral, at his estate in 1923, a few months before his death.
General Charles de Gaulle leading a parade in Paris in 1941, celebrating Alsace and Lorraine's readmission to France.
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Flag of the Confederate State of Cuba (ca. 1870s to 1944).
Flag of the Cuban resistance during the Second Great War. It would be used as the state flag when Cuba was admitted to Union on January 1, 1958.
General Charles de Gaulle giving a speech to boost morale, 1944, Paris, days before the atomic bombing of the city.
So I guess publishers will accept books from anyone after the Second Great War.
Actionist Mexico
*This is an addition to one of my previous posts describing the general history of Mexico in TL-191. It does not follow Turtledove's original version, so you'll read some head-canons and a few retcons.
Banner of the Mexican Actionist Party (1920-1943)
Since the 1860’s, Mexico had been an empire with the support of Imperial France, Hapsburg Austria, and the Confederacy. Always worried about Republican-led overthrows, the Mexican Empire reformed itself under the care of Maximilian in order to keep its existence stable. The empire's connections with France and the Hapsburgs allowed it to gain financial trust from European investors. This caused Mexico to industrialize and modernize more so than it would have if it had continued on as weak republic. In North America, the Confederacy and Britain were its closest significant allies and all three shared a strong animosity towards the Union, albeit for different reasons. Despite being on the side of the victors during the War of 1881, Mexico began to suffer economic hardship and increasing social inequality due to the mismanagement of Maximilian’s descendants, most specifically, Agustín III. As the 20th Century dawned on Mexico, it was apparent to the Imperial government that a global powder keg of secret alliances between national rivalries would soon explode. The main question was when and where it would start.
Mexican machine gunner shooting from a building during the Battle of Tijuana, August 1914
On June 28th, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the then-Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by a Bosnian Serb, triggering the First Great War. One month later, the entire world began to declare war against each other based on their alliance to the Entente Powers or the Central Powers. Mexico, along with the Confederacy, France, Britain and Russia, declared war on the Union on August 4th, 1914. Most of the fighting done by the Mexican military would be limited to sporadic regions of the Basin and Range campaign. However, Mexican soldiers were also present in Confederate Sequoyah and Western Texas. Mexican soldiers successfully defended Baja California from falling into the hands of the Union, transforming the U.S.-Mexican border into an urban, mountainous, desert no-man's land. They fought fiercely alongside their Confederate allies against the Unionites throughout the American front. The early industrialization and European investment of Mexico allowed it to be involved in the mass production of barrels, aero-planes, machine guns, and poison gas. All of these helped increase casualties against the Union. However, the war would end on September 9, 1917, in favor of the Central Powers. The Mexican Empire found itself on the losers’ side. Another loss against the United States was seen by the Mexican public as a humiliation toward their national honor not seen since 1848.
North America Before and After FGW
All of the Imperial propaganda promising another victorious war against the pinches yanquis since 1882 was for naught. Around half a million Mexican soldiers died in what appeared to have a been a vain war to the average citizen in the empire. The major Entente Powers were severely punished: Britain and France were kicked out of North America and its territories were either incorporated into the Union or became independent. Russia lost eastern territories in Europe, but still kept Russian America. War reparations were imposed on the Entente. The Confederates also lost territory and shared a similar fate in paying severe war reparations. Much to the Imperial Mexican government’s surprise, the Union’s separate treaty of surrender with Mexico did not include reparations or territory lost. Relieved at first, Mexican government officials soon began to worry when rebellions sprang around the empire in late 1917. At first, they were limited and easily put down. However, by 1920, major groups began to gain influence and convince an increasingly dissatisfied population that change had to occur in Mexico. The most influential ones were mainly divided on the question of the monarchy. Some wanted to reform it. Others wanted to destroy it and install a republic again. Fringe groups wanted to see an extreme socialist government appear through revolution in a similar manner that almost occurred in Russia. A smaller group even advocated anarchy.
Throughout all this chaos, one man emerged to unite the reformist Imperialists under one ideology. Inspired from France, he would create his own version of Actionism and impose it upon his nation once he attained the necessary position of Prime Minister. He would become even more powerful than the Empress; calling himself El Jefe Maximo. He would align himself with Featherston during the Second Great War; a fatal move that would grant him guilt by association.
His name was Tomás Garrido Canabal
Photograph of Tomás Garrido Canabal, Prime Minister of Imperial Mexico (1925-1943)
Garrido was born on September 20, 1891, in the Mexican Imperial province of Chiapas. Influenced by socialism, Garrido was involved in underground anti-Imperialist organizations that sought to bring about a socialist government to Mexico. When the First Great War began, he was adamantly opposed to the war but was forced to fight under the strict laws of conscription that the Imperial government had at the time. He was sent over to Western Texas where he fought against Union troops in the trenches alongside the Confederates. He was severely injured more than once during his service and earned several awards for his bravery. The loss of the war and his injuries affected his psyche and his viewpoint on life. After the war, he returned to his home in Chiapas a changed man. When the Mexican Civil War began, Garrido briefly fought alongside socialist revolutionaries and other types of Republicans but became disillusioned with socialism after the Bolsheviks lost. He sought a new type of ideology that would help his country unite and recover from all the violence that threatened to tear Mexico apart. Looking towards Europe, Garrido saw a rising ultranationalism in Britain and France due to discontent with the peace treaties between the Entente and Central Powers. Influenced by the followers of Charles Maurras and Oswald Mosely, Garrido studied the methods in which they tried to connect with the people. If the French wanted to restore their monarch and the British to keep theirs, then maybe he should follow their example.
Photograph of dead republicans in Mexico City during the Mexican Civil War
The Union sent supplies to the Republicans, while former members of the Confederate army joined in the civil war to help out the Imperialists. While the former was sponsored by the Unionite government, the latter was done freely by private citizens of the Confederacy. Garrido would later remark that he was told that a rising Confederate politician encouraged his supporters to fight in order to keep an ally close to them. The civil war reached a high point when Agustín III passed away in 1925. His heir, Maria, became Empress of Mexico. Alongside his allies and wearing red shirts, Garrido marched toward the Imperial District of Mexico between April 4th-9th and demanded to see Empress Maria if she wanted peace throughout the empire. It appeared that the Imperialists would lose, but clever political scheming allowed Garrido to become a main negotiator with the Empress. Garrido allowed the Empress to continue to rule Mexico, on the condition of a few political favors.
Garrido in his charro suit with his family after becoming prime minster ca. 1925
Instead of choosing Cardenas or Madero to become Prime Minister, Empress María chose Garrido in exchange for placating the people with reforms to the Imperial government. The reforms helped Mexico improve its economy and infrastructure. Poverty was reduced but still remained a difficult pest to completely eradicate. He hired artists to re-orient Mexico towards its Indigenous past more so than its European influence. Laws were passed, reformed, or abolished. Garrido was a militant teetotaler and banned the sale, manufacture, and possession of alcohol. This was in sharp contrast to its northern neighbors, which was delegated as a state issue. Education was standardized but it was to be done under a strict viewpoint of the National Mexican Party, a political party that Garrido co-founded with Gustavo Sáenz de Sicilia during the early 1920's. It was later renamed to the Mexican Actionist Party after 1930, becoming the only political party available in Mexico. Members of the party were called Red Shirts, due to their distinctive clothing. Despite this increasing control over the country, the Mexican people adored him.
Two young members of the Bloc practicing their march, ca. 1930
Under the watchful eye of Garrido, the Mexican Actionist Party's influence in Mexico permeated throughout all layers of society. Garrido encouraged citizens of the empire to join the party from an early age. Junior branches began to form, including the Bloc of Revolutionary Youth of the Imperial District. Young members wore uniforms and were required to march toward the Imperial District once a year to show loyalty to the nation, the Empress, the party, and Garrido. All junior branches related to the Mexican Actionist Party had their own flags, but shared similar colors: Red, Black, White, and Green. The main flag was a sea of red stamped with black Aztec eagles and in the center was a white spot with a green map of the Mexican Empire. Garrido was credited as the author, but recent historical findings indicate that he was not the lone creator.
Photograph of murdered Catholics hanging on telephone poles after the Red Shirts destroyed a church in Jalisco, ca. 1939
The last five years of the war was spent getting rid of the remaining republican rebels throughout the country. Now that the civil war was over, Garrido would use his power to determine how his nation should be. As time went by, the Empress was reduced as a figurehead with little influence in the government. Much to the horror of the Empress, Garrido decided to rekindle his anti-religious and anti-theistic sentiments by persecuting the Catholic Church. Though he did not dare destroy the Basilica in Mexico City, his campaign against the Church happened gradually up until the start of the Second Great War, when it became more violent. Featherston was sympathetic with his handling of religion in Mexico and began to build up ties once he rose to power in 1933. When Featherston visited Mexico, he was impressed with how Garrido ran his country. However, he later remarked how he was annoyed with Garrido's prohibition of alcohol. Featherston signed several agreements with Garrido, including those that involved a hypothetical defense against their common enemy: the USA.
Imperial Mexican soldiers (part of the Red division/Mexican Volunteer Division) wearing Confederate Army uniforms before going to fight against the USA.
When the Second Great War began, Garrido declared war on the Union but officially fought a defensive war, with the exceptions of those who either chose to go fight alongside the Confederates or were ordered to deal with Black Confederate guerillas as a favor to Featherston. Initially beloved by the Mexican people, Garrido was becoming increasingly unpopular due to his anti-religious campaigns and agreements with the Confederacy. Empress Maria felt caged in by Garrido and sought to have him taken down. When the war began to tilt in favor of the Allies, the Empress sued for peace without consulting with Garrido. At this point in his life, Garrido was suffering from bone cancer and was too weak to fight against the Empress. An overthrow occurred that kicked Garrido out of his role as "El Jefe". He was publicly lynched and then had his body burned on March 8, 1943. Peace was signed between the Union and Mexico nearly one year later. Regardless, the Mexican Empire was associated with Featherston. In order to win favor with the common people and the plotters involved in the overthrow, Empress Maria wondered if she should resign and allow her son to become emperor or create a referendum to give the Mexican people a choice between keeping the monarchy or restoring the republic.
Ballot paper used in 1945 Mexican institution referendum
*This is an addition to one of my previous posts describing the general history of Mexico in TL-191. It does not follow Turtledove's original version, so you'll read some head-canons and a few retcons.
Banner of the Mexican Actionist Party (1920-1943)
Since the 1860’s, Mexico had been an empire with the support of Imperial France, Hapsburg Austria, and the Confederacy. Always worried about Republican-led overthrows, the Mexican Empire reformed itself under the care of Maximilian in order to keep its existence stable. The empire's connections with France and the Hapsburgs allowed it to gain financial trust from European investors. This caused Mexico to industrialize and modernize more so than it would have if it had continued on as weak republic. In North America, the Confederacy and Britain were its closest significant allies and all three shared a strong animosity towards the Union, albeit for different reasons. Despite being on the side of the victors during the War of 1881, Mexico began to suffer economic hardship and increasing social inequality due to the mismanagement of Maximilian’s descendants, most specifically, Agustín III. As the 20th Century dawned on Mexico, it was apparent to the Imperial government that a global powder keg of secret alliances between national rivalries would soon explode. The main question was when and where it would start.
Mexican machine gunner shooting from a building during the Battle of Tijuana, August 1914
On June 28th, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the then-Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by a Bosnian Serb, triggering the First Great War. One month later, the entire world began to declare war against each other based on their alliance to the Entente Powers or the Central Powers. Mexico, along with the Confederacy, France, Britain and Russia, declared war on the Union on August 4th, 1914. Most of the fighting done by the Mexican military would be limited to sporadic regions of the Basin and Range campaign. However, Mexican soldiers were also present in Confederate Sequoyah and Western Texas. Mexican soldiers successfully defended Baja California from falling into the hands of the Union, transforming the U.S.-Mexican border into an urban, mountainous, desert no-man's land. They fought fiercely alongside their Confederate allies against the Unionites throughout the American front. The early industrialization and European investment of Mexico allowed it to be involved in the mass production of barrels, aero-planes, machine guns, and poison gas. All of these helped increase casualties against the Union. However, the war would end on September 9, 1917, in favor of the Central Powers. The Mexican Empire found itself on the losers’ side. Another loss against the United States was seen by the Mexican public as a humiliation toward their national honor not seen since 1848.
North America Before and After FGW
All of the Imperial propaganda promising another victorious war against the pinches yanquis since 1882 was for naught. Around half a million Mexican soldiers died in what appeared to have a been a vain war to the average citizen in the empire. The major Entente Powers were severely punished: Britain and France were kicked out of North America and its territories were either incorporated into the Union or became independent. Russia lost eastern territories in Europe, but still kept Russian America. War reparations were imposed on the Entente. The Confederates also lost territory and shared a similar fate in paying severe war reparations. Much to the Imperial Mexican government’s surprise, the Union’s separate treaty of surrender with Mexico did not include reparations or territory lost. Relieved at first, Mexican government officials soon began to worry when rebellions sprang around the empire in late 1917. At first, they were limited and easily put down. However, by 1920, major groups began to gain influence and convince an increasingly dissatisfied population that change had to occur in Mexico. The most influential ones were mainly divided on the question of the monarchy. Some wanted to reform it. Others wanted to destroy it and install a republic again. Fringe groups wanted to see an extreme socialist government appear through revolution in a similar manner that almost occurred in Russia. A smaller group even advocated anarchy.
Throughout all this chaos, one man emerged to unite the reformist Imperialists under one ideology. Inspired from France, he would create his own version of Actionism and impose it upon his nation once he attained the necessary position of Prime Minister. He would become even more powerful than the Empress; calling himself El Jefe Maximo. He would align himself with Featherston during the Second Great War; a fatal move that would grant him guilt by association.
His name was Tomás Garrido Canabal
Photograph of Tomás Garrido Canabal, Prime Minister of Imperial Mexico (1925-1943)
Garrido was born on September 20, 1891, in the Mexican Imperial province of Chiapas. Influenced by socialism, Garrido was involved in underground anti-Imperialist organizations that sought to bring about a socialist government to Mexico. When the First Great War began, he was adamantly opposed to the war but was forced to fight under the strict laws of conscription that the Imperial government had at the time. He was sent over to Western Texas where he fought against Union troops in the trenches alongside the Confederates. He was severely injured more than once during his service and earned several awards for his bravery. The loss of the war and his injuries affected his psyche and his viewpoint on life. After the war, he returned to his home in Chiapas a changed man. When the Mexican Civil War began, Garrido briefly fought alongside socialist revolutionaries and other types of Republicans but became disillusioned with socialism after the Bolsheviks lost. He sought a new type of ideology that would help his country unite and recover from all the violence that threatened to tear Mexico apart. Looking towards Europe, Garrido saw a rising ultranationalism in Britain and France due to discontent with the peace treaties between the Entente and Central Powers. Influenced by the followers of Charles Maurras and Oswald Mosely, Garrido studied the methods in which they tried to connect with the people. If the French wanted to restore their monarch and the British to keep theirs, then maybe he should follow their example.
Photograph of dead republicans in Mexico City during the Mexican Civil War
The Union sent supplies to the Republicans, while former members of the Confederate army joined in the civil war to help out the Imperialists. While the former was sponsored by the Unionite government, the latter was done freely by private citizens of the Confederacy. Garrido would later remark that he was told that a rising Confederate politician encouraged his supporters to fight in order to keep an ally close to them. The civil war reached a high point when Agustín III passed away in 1925. His heir, Maria, became Empress of Mexico. Alongside his allies and wearing red shirts, Garrido marched toward the Imperial District of Mexico between April 4th-9th and demanded to see Empress Maria if she wanted peace throughout the empire. It appeared that the Imperialists would lose, but clever political scheming allowed Garrido to become a main negotiator with the Empress. Garrido allowed the Empress to continue to rule Mexico, on the condition of a few political favors.
Garrido in his charro suit with his family after becoming prime minster ca. 1925
Instead of choosing Cardenas or Madero to become Prime Minister, Empress María chose Garrido in exchange for placating the people with reforms to the Imperial government. The reforms helped Mexico improve its economy and infrastructure. Poverty was reduced but still remained a difficult pest to completely eradicate. He hired artists to re-orient Mexico towards its Indigenous past more so than its European influence. Laws were passed, reformed, or abolished. Garrido was a militant teetotaler and banned the sale, manufacture, and possession of alcohol. This was in sharp contrast to its northern neighbors, which was delegated as a state issue. Education was standardized but it was to be done under a strict viewpoint of the National Mexican Party, a political party that Garrido co-founded with Gustavo Sáenz de Sicilia during the early 1920's. It was later renamed to the Mexican Actionist Party after 1930, becoming the only political party available in Mexico. Members of the party were called Red Shirts, due to their distinctive clothing. Despite this increasing control over the country, the Mexican people adored him.
Two young members of the Bloc practicing their march, ca. 1930
Under the watchful eye of Garrido, the Mexican Actionist Party's influence in Mexico permeated throughout all layers of society. Garrido encouraged citizens of the empire to join the party from an early age. Junior branches began to form, including the Bloc of Revolutionary Youth of the Imperial District. Young members wore uniforms and were required to march toward the Imperial District once a year to show loyalty to the nation, the Empress, the party, and Garrido. All junior branches related to the Mexican Actionist Party had their own flags, but shared similar colors: Red, Black, White, and Green. The main flag was a sea of red stamped with black Aztec eagles and in the center was a white spot with a green map of the Mexican Empire. Garrido was credited as the author, but recent historical findings indicate that he was not the lone creator.
Photograph of murdered Catholics hanging on telephone poles after the Red Shirts destroyed a church in Jalisco, ca. 1939
The last five years of the war was spent getting rid of the remaining republican rebels throughout the country. Now that the civil war was over, Garrido would use his power to determine how his nation should be. As time went by, the Empress was reduced as a figurehead with little influence in the government. Much to the horror of the Empress, Garrido decided to rekindle his anti-religious and anti-theistic sentiments by persecuting the Catholic Church. Though he did not dare destroy the Basilica in Mexico City, his campaign against the Church happened gradually up until the start of the Second Great War, when it became more violent. Featherston was sympathetic with his handling of religion in Mexico and began to build up ties once he rose to power in 1933. When Featherston visited Mexico, he was impressed with how Garrido ran his country. However, he later remarked how he was annoyed with Garrido's prohibition of alcohol. Featherston signed several agreements with Garrido, including those that involved a hypothetical defense against their common enemy: the USA.
Imperial Mexican soldiers (part of the Red division/Mexican Volunteer Division) wearing Confederate Army uniforms before going to fight against the USA.
When the Second Great War began, Garrido declared war on the Union but officially fought a defensive war, with the exceptions of those who either chose to go fight alongside the Confederates or were ordered to deal with Black Confederate guerillas as a favor to Featherston. Initially beloved by the Mexican people, Garrido was becoming increasingly unpopular due to his anti-religious campaigns and agreements with the Confederacy. Empress Maria felt caged in by Garrido and sought to have him taken down. When the war began to tilt in favor of the Allies, the Empress sued for peace without consulting with Garrido. At this point in his life, Garrido was suffering from bone cancer and was too weak to fight against the Empress. An overthrow occurred that kicked Garrido out of his role as "El Jefe". He was publicly lynched and then had his body burned on March 8, 1943. Peace was signed between the Union and Mexico nearly one year later. Regardless, the Mexican Empire was associated with Featherston. In order to win favor with the common people and the plotters involved in the overthrow, Empress Maria wondered if she should resign and allow her son to become emperor or create a referendum to give the Mexican people a choice between keeping the monarchy or restoring the republic.
Ballot paper used in 1945 Mexican institution referendum
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Great work my friend, a great description of what happened in Mexico that regime.Actionist Mexico
*This is an addition to one of my previous posts describing the general history of Mexico in TL-191. It does not follow Turtledove's original version, so you'll read some head-canons and a few retcons.
View attachment 809232
Banner of the Mexican Actionist Party (1920-1943)
Since the 1860’s, Mexico had been an empire with the support of Imperial France, Hapsburg Austria, and the Confederacy. Always worried about Republican-led overthrows, the Mexican Empire reformed itself under the care of Maximilian in order to keep its existence stable. The empire's connections with France and the Hapsburgs allowed it to gain financial trust from European investors. This caused Mexico to industrialize and modernize more so than it would have if it had continued on as weak republic. In North America, the Confederacy and Britain were its closest significant allies and all three shared a strong animosity towards the Union, albeit for different reasons. Despite being on the side of the victors during the War of 1881, Mexico began to suffer economic hardship and increasing social inequality due to the mismanagement of Maximilian’s descendants, most specifically, Agustín III. As the 20th Century dawned on Mexico, it was apparent to the Imperial government that a global powder keg of secret alliances between national rivalries would soon explode. The main question was when and where it would start.
Mexican machine gunner shooting from a building during the Battle of Tijuana, August 1914
On June 28th, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the then-Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by a Bosnian Serb, triggering the First Great War. One month later, the entire world began to declare war against each other based on their alliance to the Entente Powers or the Central Powers. Mexico, along with the Confederacy, France, Britain and Russia, declared war on the Union on August 4th, 1914. Most of the fighting done by the Mexican military would be limited to sporadic regions of the Basin and Range campaign. However, Mexican soldiers were also present in Confederate Sequoyah and Western Texas. Mexican soldiers successfully defended Baja California from falling into the hands of the Union, transforming the U.S.-Mexican border into an urban, mountainous, desert no-man's land. They fought fiercely alongside their Confederate allies against the Unionites throughout the American front. The early industrialization and European investment of Mexico allowed it to be involved in the mass production of barrels, aero-planes, machine guns, and poison gas. All of these helped increase casualties against the Union. However, the war would end on September 9, 1917, in favor of the Central Powers. The Mexican Empire found itself on the losers’ side. Another loss against the United States was seen by the Mexican public as a humiliation toward their national honor not seen since 1848.
View attachment 809299 View attachment 809300
North America Before and After FGW
All of the Imperial propaganda promising another victorious war against the pinches yanquis since 1882 was for naught. Around half a million Mexican soldiers died in what appeared to have a been a vain war to the average citizen in the empire. The major Entente Powers were severely punished: Britain and France were kicked out of North America and its territories were either incorporated into the Union or became independent. Russia lost eastern territories in Europe, but still kept Russian America. War reparations were imposed on the Entente. The Confederates also lost territory and shared a similar fate in paying severe war reparations. Much to the Imperial Mexican government’s surprise, the Union’s separate treaty of surrender with Mexico did not include reparations or territory lost. Relieved at first, Mexican government officials soon began to worry when rebellions sprang around the empire in late 1917. At first, they were limited and easily put down. However, by 1920, major groups began to gain influence and convince an increasingly dissatisfied population that change had to occur in Mexico. The most influential ones were mainly divided on the question of the monarchy. Some wanted to reform it. Others wanted to destroy it and install a republic again. Fringe groups wanted to see an extreme socialist government appear through revolution in a similar manner that almost occurred in Russia. A smaller group even advocated anarchy.
Throughout all this chaos, one man emerged to unite the reformist Imperialists under one ideology. Inspired from France, he would create his own version of Actionism and impose it upon his nation once he attained the necessary position of Prime Minister. He would become even more powerful than the Empress; calling himself El Jefe Maximo. He would align himself with Featherston during the Second Great War; a fatal move that would grant him guilt by association.
His name was Tomás Garrido Canabal
Photograph of Tomás Garrido Canabal, Prime Minister of Imperial Mexico (1925-1943)
Garrido was born on September 20, 1891, in the Mexican Imperial province of Chiapas. Influenced by socialism, Garrido was involved in underground anti-Imperialist organizations that sought to bring about a socialist government to Mexico. When the First Great War began, he was adamantly opposed to the war but was forced to fight under the strict laws of conscription that the Imperial government had at the time. He was sent over to Western Texas where he fought against Union troops in the trenches alongside the Confederates. He was severely injured more than once during his service and earned several awards for his bravery. The loss of the war and his injuries affected his psyche and his viewpoint on life. After the war, he returned to his home in Chiapas a changed man. When the Mexican Civil War began, Garrido briefly fought alongside socialist revolutionaries and other types of Republicans but became disillusioned with socialism after the Bolsheviks lost. He sought a new type of ideology that would help his country unite and recover from all the violence that threatened to tear Mexico apart. Looking towards Europe, Garrido saw a rising ultranationalism in Britain and France due to discontent with the peace treaties between the Entente and Central Powers. Influenced by the followers of Charles Maurras and Oswald Mosely, Garrido studied the methods in which they tried to connect with the people. If the French wanted to restore their monarch and the British to keep theirs, then maybe he should follow their example.
Photograph of dead republicans in Mexico City during the Mexican Civil War
The Union sent supplies to the Republicans, while former members of the Confederate army joined in the civil war to help out the Imperialists. While the former was sponsored by the Unionite government, the latter was done freely by private citizens of the Confederacy. Garrido would later remark that he was told that a rising Confederate politician encouraged his supporters for fight in order to keep an ally close to them. The civil war reached a high point when Agustín III passed away in 1925. His heir, Maria, became Empress of Mexico. It appeared that the Imperialists would lose, but clever political scheming allowed Garrido to be one of the main negotiators with the Empress. Instead of choosing Cardenas or Madero to become Prime Minister, Empress María chose Garrido in exchange for placating the people with reforms to the Imperial government. The reforms helped Mexico improve its economy and infrastructure. Poverty was reduced but still remained a difficult pest to completely eradicate. He hired artists to re-orient Mexico towards its Indigenous past more so than its European influence. Education was standardized but it was to be done under a strict viewpoint of the National Mexican Party, a political party that Garrido co-founded with Gustavo Sáenz de Sicilia during the early 1920's. It was later renamed to the Mexican Actionist Party after 1930, becoming the only political party available in Mexico. Despite this increasing control over the country, the Mexican people adored him.
Garrido in his charro suit with his family after becoming prime minster ca. 1925
The last five years of the war was spent getting rid of the remaining republican rebels throughout the country. Now that the civil war was over, Garrido would use his power to determine how his nation should be. As time went by, the Empress was reduced as a figurehead with little influence in the government. Much to the horror of the Empress, Garrido decided to rekindle his anti-religious and anti-theistic sentiments by persecuting the Catholic Church. Though he did not dare destroy the Basilica in Mexico City, his campaign against the Church happened gradually up until the start of the Second Great War, when it became more violent. Featherston was sympathetic with his handling of religion in Mexico and began to build up ties once he rose to power in 1933. When Featherston visited Mexico, he was impressed with how Garrido ran his country. However, he later remarked how he was annoyed with Garrido's prohibition of alcohol. Featherston signed several agreements with Garrido, including promises of sending troops to defend themselves against the Union.
When the Second Great War began, Garrido declared war on the Union but was becoming increasingly unpopular due to his anti-religious campaigns and agreements with the Confederacy. Empress Maria felt caged in by Garrido and sought to have him taken down. When the war began to tilt in favor of the Allies, the Empress sued for peace without consulting with Garrido. At this point in his life, Garrido was suffering from bone cancer and was too weak to fight against the Empress. An overthrow occurred that kicked Garrido out of his role as "El Jefe". He was publicly lynched and then had his body burned on March 8, 1943. Peace was signed between the Union and Mexico nearly one year later. Regardless, the Mexican Empire was associated with Featherston. In order to win favor with the common people and the plotters involved in the overthrow, Empress Maria wondered if she should resign and allow her son to become emperor or create a referendum to give the Mexican people a choice between keeping the monarchy or restoring the republic.