page_title: Military history of Mexico
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of Mexico / Era of the Post Revolution, 1920-1946 / World War II
caption_attribution_description: A Fuerza Aérea Expedicionaria Mexicana (FAEM — "Mexican Expeditionary Air Force") Republic P-47D-30-RA Thunderbolt (USAAF s/n 44-33721) from Escuadrón 201 (201st Squadron) over the Philippines during the summer of 1945. The squadron was attached to the 58th Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces during the liberation of the main Philippine island of Luzon, flying 785 sorties in 96 combat missions.
context_page_description: The military history of Mexico encompasses armed conflicts within what that nation's territory, dating from before the arrival of Europeans in 1519 to the present era. Mexican military history is replete with small-scale revolts, foreign invasions, civil wars, indigenous uprisings, and coups d’etat by disgruntled military leaders. Mexico's colonial-era military was not established until the eighteenth century. After the Spanish conquest of central Mexico in the early sixteenth century, the Spanish crown did not rely on a standing military, but the crown responded to the external threat of a British invasion by establishing a standing military for the first time following the Seven Years' War. The regular army units and militias had a short history when in the early 19th century, the unstable situation in Spain with the Napoleonic invasion gave rise to an insurgency for independence, propelled by militarily untrained, darker complected masses fight for the independence of Mexico. The Mexican War of Independence saw royalist and insurgent armies battling to a stalemate in 1820.
context_section_description: With the inauguration of Manuel Avila Camacho, the trend of greater cooperation with the United States accelerated as World War II seemed certain to involve other nations. Mexico broke relations with the Axis Powers following its attack on the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Mexico extended rights of the U.S. Navy and participated in a Joint Defense Commission with the U.S. The Mexican public was not keen in becoming involved in an international conflict. On 22 May 1942, following the torpedoing of two oil tankers in the Gulf, notably the Potrero del Llano and the Faja de Oro by German U-Boats, Mexico declared itself in a state of war with the Axis powers. Mexico instituted national military service in 1942 as well as civil defense. Former President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–40) served the Avila Camacho administration as Minister of Defense. Cárdenas was the key negotiator with the U.S. military about "radar surveillance, landing rights, naval patrols, and chains of command." The Mexican population was indifferent or hostile to the war, but the institution of conscription was an issue. There were violent protests against conscription. The Mexican government did not send conscripts overseas, which helped quell civil unrest over conscription.  But Mexican citizens in the U.S. were drafted in the U.S. Army, sustaining a high casualty rate.
  The fighting unit in the Mexican military was the Escuadrón 201, also known as the Aztec Eagles saw combat in World War II. This group comprised more than 300 volunteers, who trained in the United States to fight against Imperial Japan. It was the first Mexican military unit trained for overseas combat.
  Although most countries in the Western Hemisphere eventually entered the war on the Allies' side, Mexico and Brazil were the only Latin American nations that sent troops to fight overseas during World War II. The cooperation of Mexico and the United States in World War II helped bring about reconciliation between the two countries at the leadership level.
  In the civil arena, the Bracero Program gave the opportunity for many thousands of Mexicans to work in the US in support of the Allied war effort. This also granted them an opportunity to gain US citizenship by enlisting in the military.
  During this time the Mexican government prepared with 100,000 Charros to prevent any future attack from the axis. Charros  originated from protectors of haciendas and they where horse riders that are ready for any emergency or attack.
caption: P-47D Thunderbolt of the Mexican 201st Fighter Squadron during World War II.
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