Why the British didn't act in Mexico?

Glen

Moderator
Why didn't the British oppose the set up of a Franco-Austrian puppet state in Mexico? I know that many attribute the success of the Monroe Doctrine in the 19th century to tacit British agreement with it. But why didn't the British oppose the formation of the Empire of Mexico, then?:confused:
 
Why didn't the British oppose the set up of a Franco-Austrian puppet state in Mexico? I know that many attribute the success of the Monroe Doctrine in the 19th century to tacit British agreement with it. But why didn't the British oppose the formation of the Empire of Mexico, then?:confused:

In short, the British wanted open markets in Latin America. Said markets were closed to everything but Spain till the French invasion of 1808, and after the French were expelled in 1814 it was feared that the Spanish would close them again. That's why the British supported the independence movements and worked to avoid any intervention of the Holy Alliance in support of Spain in America.

As the Spanish opened definitely their colonial markets in the 1830s/40s and the French didn't want to close Mexico to British business, Britain didn't have nothing to argue about that. Plus, the II French Empire was a British ally.
 

Glen

Moderator
In short, the British wanted open markets in Latin America. Said markets were closed to everything but Spain till the French invasion of 1808, and after the French were expelled in 1814 it was feared that the Spanish would close them again. That's why the British supported the independence movements and worked to avoid any intervention of the Holy Alliance in support of Spain in America.

As the Spanish opened definitely their colonial markets in the 1830s/40s and the French didn't want to close Mexico to British business, Britain didn't have nothing to argue about that. Plus, the II French Empire was a British ally.

So you are saying that it didn't fear Maximillian being closed to British trade interests?
 
Why didn't the British oppose the set up of a Franco-Austrian puppet state in Mexico? I know that many attribute the success of the Monroe Doctrine in the 19th century to tacit British agreement with it. But why didn't the British oppose the formation of the Empire of Mexico, then?:confused:

The British originally intervened with French and Spanish forces in order to force the Mexican government of Juarez to honor its foreign debts. I would think it likely that London considered Napoleon's adventure as the means of establishing a stable and responsible government in a traditionally unruly country.

These days its called regime change.
 
The British originally intervened with French and Spanish forces in order to force the Mexican government of Juarez to honor its foreign debts. I would think it likely that London considered Napoleon's adventure as the means of establishing a stable and responsible government in a traditionally unruly country.

That pretty much covers it. If you had open markets and honoured your debts then the British didn't have a problem. If you went bankrupt or raised tarifs (often due to British/European activity) then they tended to intervene.

Given the domination of the RN in the 19th century they could have closed down Maximilians regime in moments had he decided not to accept the above mentioned British policy. There is next to no risk and much potential gain.
 
Secondly, it had the potential to destabilise the United States' southern border should war break out a third time between Britain and the USA, opening a two front war. Harry Harrison's abomination called the Stars & Stripes trilogy aside, British invasion through Mexico could be very successful, particularly if cutting off California from the rest of the USA, separating the Americans from all that lovely gold.
 
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