Wider World Gazette
Edition 4: 1820-1915, Spain, Mexico, Central America, and South America
Spain - History more or less followed its normal course in Spain, and in former Spanish America, until the mid 1820s, early 1830s. In 1829, King Ferdinand VII’s brother is killed in an accident. When Ferdinand VII dies in 1837 with no male children, he has his 7 year old daughter, Isabella, declared his heir. Her mother, Maria, reigns as Queen Regent until 1848. Maria and then Isabella II will bring about slow, incremental reforms to help liberalize and stabilize the country. By the time Isabella dies in 1901 and her son takes the throne as King Ferdinand VIII, Spain has become a strongly constitutional monarchy. While the monarch does still rule, not just reign, the powers of the parliament have grown rapidly as the 20th century begins. While sympathetic to the French, King Ferdinand VIII is blocked by parliament from actually intervening in the Great European War, and then looks on in alarm as the French monarchy flees to Corsica and France itself is consumed by Communalism. A red scare sweeps across Spain in the 1910s, making the monarchy very unpopular with more liberal and left-leaning citizens.
Mexico - Forced to adopt a more liberal constitution in 1850, the Empire of Mexico was in a tough spot. Emperor Raul II, who had taken the throne in 1842 after the death of his father, refused to abide by the Constitution, but could not stop it, so he abdicated in favor of his eldest son, Jorge, who became Emperor Jorge I. Just 22, he had a bright future, but was cut down by illness. His brother, Raul, became Raul III, and would reign from 1851 until 1898. In the 1870s, Raul III normalized relations with both Texas and California, and helped foster private investment from abroad and at home. His son took the throne in 1898 as Jorge II, and would continue his father’s policies of good relations with Mexico’s northern neighbors (things to the south were much more tense). Jorge II’s first born child was Princess Gabriella, born in 1871. His only son came along in 1873, Prince Raul. The prince was originally raised to be the heir, but by 1905 Jorge had a falling out with his son, who he felt was too reckless and fond of the military, and so changed the succession. Publically, Raul accepted the change, but in reality, he plotted against his father and sister. When Jorge II died in 1913 and Gabriella was declared Empress, Raul declared himself Emperor Raul IV. His rebellion would last until 1921, and Mexico would be forever weakened after it.
Central America - The Federal Republic of Central America was established along OTL lines, with Francisco Morazan elected President in 1830. He tempers his reforms and compromises more, placing unity of the Federal Republic as his first priority since the nation was sandwiched between Mexico and Colombia. Mexico, in particular, was belligerent, and there were constantly rumors along the border that Imperial forces had plans for expanding southwards. As a result, Morazan keeps the peace better with conservatives and is slower to enact more liberal reforms. The OTL cholera outbreak of 1837 does not occur, also alleviating pressure on the federal system. A conservative, pro-Church candidate won the election of 1838, further helping to stabilize the country, even if more liberal voices were being pushed to the side. In 1842, Liberals once again captured the presidency, in large part due to fear of Imperial Mexico, which many believed the conservatives had a soft spot for. Things were tense until the 1850s, when Mexico reformed and the liberal ideas first espoused by President Morazan in the 1830s were realized. By the late 1880s, the FRCA had become an important regional trade partner. In 1891, The US and Borealia teamed up with the FRCA to help finance the Central American Canal, to be built in the southernmost state of Nicaragua. Construction begain in 1899, and would be completed in 1915, after many delays due to wider world events.
The building of the canal would spur the Colombians to finally realize their own dream of building a canal across Panama, which would be started in 1904, and expected to be finished in 1917, financed initially by European powers and then by Mexico and Brazil as Europe dealt with their financial woes after the Great European War.
Colombia - What we would refer to OTL as Gran Colombia, established in 1821, survives into the present. In 1823, President Simon Bolivar dies in a tragic accident. His Vice President (and later OTL rival) Francisco de Paula Santander becomes President. He oversees a regionalist constitutional overhaul in 1825, a compromise document between his federalists and the old Bolivarian centralists. It redefined the presidency as a single, 7 year term (modeled after the American system). Santander was elected, and served until 1833. With Brazil gaining independence to the south, and Mexico flexing its muscle to the north, there was enough common ground to keep the divisions between the regionalists and the centralists to a minimum. Where as Mexico and the FRCA became more conservative, the Republic of Colombia became a haven for Latin American leftism. The first communalist organization in South America was established in Colombia in 1870, and the political ideology became quite popular. Following the success of the revolutions in Europe during the Great European War, the Colombian Communalist Party has been on the ascent, and most expect it to capture the presidency in the 1916 election.
Brazil - Things in Brazil follow OTL history until the late 1820s. Portuguese King John IV does not die in 1826, but instead manages to live until 1831. By this time, his eldest son Dom Pedro I of Brazil has dropped all claim to the Portuguese throne, so his brother Miguel takes the throne instead. Miguel becomes King Miguel I, and will reign in Portugal until his death in 1868. Pedro I will rule in Brazil until his death in 1857. He is succeeded by his daughter, Maria, who will reign in Brazil until 1900, when she dies at the age of 71. Pedro and the Brazilian parliament went back and forth for years about the powers of the monarchy and the legislature, but he eventually gave way to a more liberal constitution in 1842 which granted the legislature the right to appoint the government ministry in the name of the Emperor, but Pedro retained the right to dismiss a cabinet after a year if he felt they proved to be inadequate. The biggest cause Pedro championed, yet failed to bring about, was abolition of slavery. Pedro I was able to end the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1851, But abolition was still quite a ways off. Manumission laws were reformed and liberalized in 1861 and then again in 1869, so that by 1890, only an approximate 10% of the population was enslaved. Under tremendous pressure, the Brazilian parliament voted in 1892 to abolish slavery and free any remaining slaves by the end of 1895.
Emancipation did not mean liberty, however. With several influxes of Dixians from America (known locally as Dixianados), there remained a strong political resistance to equality and legal representation for the freemen of color in Brazil. Universal citizenship wasn’t guaranteed until 1904, during the short, 5 year rule of Maria I’s son, Pedro II. The next Emperor of Brazil, Alexander I, maintained a more conservative line, trying to placate the old planter class, the Dixianados, and other white minorities. It would not be until the reign of Alexander’s daughter, Maria II, that true equality would begin to emerge in Brazil, and then only as an act of survival.
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Not perfect by any means, but I figured this would be a good starting points. Definitely open to edits, especially where things aren't realistic enough if anyone notices anything. About to be on Christmas Break, and will hopefully hammer out the next regular update during that time if all goes according to plan.
