WI Mexico acted on Zimmerman note

Er...

Has no one asked why Mexico would suddenly have a change of heart? Already in a civil war, obviously no hope for reinforcement and support, a strong historical reason for not going to war against its northern neighbor, and for what? More land that it wouldn't be able to exert control over, even if it did win?

Zimmerman is a fun POD. Even I've done it. But it's also a very, very stupid POD. The Mexican government has little ability to go to war with the US in the first place, and even less reason to.

The Carranza government in Mexico upon receiving the Zimmerman Note actually asked the Mexican Army's general staff to analyze the feasibility of an attack on the US. Their analysis, in brief:

1) Mexico's army was not large enough or well-trained enough to take on the US Army; German reinforcements would not be available (the note was issued prior to the Russian Revolution so Germany is still tied down on the eastern front). Logistics would be heavily in favor of the United States, who have the benefit of interior lines and a much-better-developed road and rail system.

2) German financial assistance is meaningless, since the only industrial nation in the Western Hemisphere capable of producing enough arms to supply Mexico in a campaign this size is the United States, and German arms shipments would be interdicted by Allied fleets.

3) If somehow the invasion were successful, Mexico would have to occupy a large, well-populated expanse of English-speaking territory whose occupants would be overwhelmingly hostile.

4) An American counterattack would most likely result in the destruction of Mexico itself; linking Mexico's future to Germany would turn Britain and France against Mexico as well.

Even the Mexican government saw this as a non-starter and had enough sense not to pursue it. A better POD would be if Zimmerman had the sense *not* to issue his note.
 
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