Mexico (PoW 2023)

This article refers to the canon events of PoW 2023. For historical iterations, see Mexico (PoW 2020). 
The United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos) is a state in North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States of America and to the south by Guatemala and the British Colony of Belize. It shares maritime borders with Cuba. 
== History ==
=== Pre-Divergence History ===
Main article: History of Mexico
Mexico has been populated for more than 13,000 years. Millennia of indigenous civilizations such as the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec empires were followed by Spanish exploration efforts in the 16th century. Hernán Cortés officially marked the beginning of Spanish conquest in 1519. While most of the Aztec Empire has been conquered by 1521, the Spanish spent many further decades expanding their control and growing their borders across the New World.
During this time, Spanish colonialism had turned Mexico into a diverse multicultural state. Indigenous people, European immigrants, mixed-race Mestizos, and African slaves all formed a unique Mexican identity in Central America. Mexico declared independence from Spain in 1810 and fought until 1821 to fully liberate itself as the Mexican Empire.
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=== Mexican Revolution ===
The Mexican Revolution of 1910 marks the point of divergence (PoD) for Mexico in the canon of PoW 2023.
After 31-year presidency of Porfirio Díaz, already declining in political power, collapsed when a successor could not be readily identified in the 1910 elections. A challenger from the north, Francisco Madero, gained significant traction against Díaz and was subsequently jailed by the Federal government. This action spurred several revolts against the unpopular Porfiriato, which the Federal military was not able to fully contain. The Mexican Revolution had entered its first phase. Díaz resigned his post in May of 1911 as the rebels grew bolder and expanded their operations, transitioning Mexico to an interim government with freer elections. Madero won the vote that November, becoming president to an increasingly unstable country.
Madero, however, was inexperienced in the political realm. His alliance of opposition forces against Díaz crumbled when he could not act rapidly enough on their diverse political wishes. Emiliano Zapata, a firebrand agrarian popular amongst Mexican peasants, was the first to revolt against Madero's government for not granting them their promised land reform plan. Madero ordered one his generals to put down the rebellion. Their use of scorched earth tactics only served to strengthen Zapata's support and Madero was increasingly seen as weak and ineffective by the military men who earned their tenure in the Porfiriato. Zapata held his own in the state of Morelos, forcing the Federal military back to Mexico City.
By February 1913, General Victoriano Huerta had returned from suppressing yet another rebellion in the north and was determined to overthrow the Madero government. He sought the return to the old political order of the Porfiriato and defected from the Federal military. Huerta launched a coup in Mexico City named the Ten Tragic Days (La Decena Trágica) in an effort to create enough chaos to force Madero's resignation. He succeeded, capturing the president and declaring himself the new leader of Mexico. Madero was killed in captivity several days later while Huerta quickly garnered a reputation for ruthlessness. Rebellions started again from multiple actors as Huerta attempted to consolidate control.
A wealthy landowner from Coahuila named Venustiano Carranza united the disparate rebel forces under the banner of the Constitutionalist (or Carrancista) opposition. A supporter of Madero and an advocate of a return to "Mexico for the Mexicans", Carranza was determined to stamp out the embers of the Porfiriato. Carranza's army fought from February 1913 to July 1914 against Huerta's government, eventually forcing his capitulation. During this time, Carranza effectively ruled the country as the First Chief (Primer Jefe) of the Constitutionalist faction. But all was not settled: rebellion once again flared up against Carranza, led again by Zapata to the south and the infamous Pancho Villa to the north. The Carrancistas returned to war. By the First Chief's side, General Alvaro Obregón was instrumental to Carranza's battlefield success. He proved himself to be a talented and popular figure in the Constitutionalist forces with his talent and care for the men under his command. His understanding of the effects of modern weaponry and strategy was ahead of his time when European officers in the Great War were sending waves of men into the trenches against artillery and machine-gun fire.
Obregón utilized his novel tactical techniques to defeat the forces of Pancho Villa at the Battle of Celaya in April 1915. Villa’s forces were decimated, forcing him into hiding. Obregón, however, was gravely wounded and lost his arm in an explosion during the battle. In debilitating pain, he pulled his sidearm from his holster and shot himself in the head. Despite the death of the Constitutionalist leader, the battle was won and Obregón was enshrined as a martyr for Carranza’s cause. Mexican military officers would continue to model themselves after his brilliance on the battlefield, taking notes from his tactical innovations and improving their effectiveness against the remaining rebels. Villa, on the run from the Federal government, was eventually captured and imprisoned some years later. Zapata was killed in a series of battles and raids by General Pablo González Garza’s army in 1917 as Carranza cleaned up loose ends from the Revolution. The Mexican Revolution ended on February 5th 1917 as the dust settled and Carranza began to reform the government.
=== Post-Revolution Reconstruction ===
After the defeat of Villa and Zapata, Carranza consolidated his presidency. With no new political rivals in the aftermath of his victory, Carranza was fit to govern as he pleased. A new constitutional congress was assembled and the Constitution of 1917 was enacted after careful deliberation. Absent the radical leaders that has been defeated during the revolution, the Mexican Constitution compromised on many social reforms and enshrined a commitment to nationalism in the economy and military. While the result was disappointing to many original supporters of the revolution, there was no significant combat-ready force with the popularity and reach to oppose Carranza. A veteran force of Federal military units were positioned to stamp out a fourth round of revolutionary fighting that never came. The Carrancista party maintained almost absolute control over Mexico in the immediate aftermath of the revolution, with every governor and a supermajority of legislative delegates belonging to Carranza.
As revolutionary arms were laid down, other avenues of change opened. Despite his conservative politics, Carranza's government and Mexico's new constitution allowed an unprecedented freedom of expression that allowed opposition figures to talk about Mexican society rather than fight over it. The seeds of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement were planted by former combatants seeking to further their goals in a more permanent and less catastrophic way. Madero, Zapata, and Villa all remained martyrs for their respective causes.
== Military ==
The Mexican Armed Forces (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas de México) are the military forces of Mexico. The Mexican military is composed of two independent entities: the Mexican Army and the Mexican Navy. The Mexican Air Force is subordinate to the Army while the Mexican Marines are subordinate to the Navy. These military departments are controlled at the governmental level by two civilian cabinet offices: the Secretariat of War (Secretaría de Guerra) and the Secretariat of the Navy (Secretaría de Marina.) Each Secretary is appointed by the President and are co-equal in military policy decision making.
=== Mexican Army ===
Main article: Mexican Army
The Mexican Army (Ejército Mexicano) is the primary ground combat force of the Mexican Armed Forces. They are the largest service of the military and conduct the bulk of military operations in the country.
=== Mexican Air Force ===
The Mexican Air Force ( Fuerza Aérea Mexicana) is the aviation branch of the Mexican Armed Forces. While technically subordinate to Army command, the Air Force has a strong culture of independence and stands as its own separate service to the Army.
=== Mexican Navy ===
Main article: Mexican Navy
The Mexican Navy (Armada de México) is responsible for the coastal defense of the country. They are capable of operating in the Caribbean or off the Pacific coast of Mexico, but are generally regarded as a "green-water" fleet lacking the capability for trans-oceanic voyages.
=== Mexican Marines ===
The Mexican Naval Infantry Corps (Cuerpo de Infantería de Marina), commonly referred to as the Marines, are the Navy's shipboard and coastal security force. The Marines are responsible for port security, vessel security and military policing, patrolling major waterways, and boarding hostile vessels. Recently, the new task of amphibious operations have been added to their mandate.
=== Rural Defense Corps ===
The Rural Defense Corps (Cuerpo de Defensa Rural) or Rurales are a part-time voluntary militia, generally used to support Federal forces in times of need. While Mexico maintains formal reserves, the Rurales are equipped with whatever they have on hand and are generally not formally trained by the Army. The command structure is activated by the Secretariat of War when there is a perceived existential threat to the national defense.
Category:Countries
Category:North America
Category:Mexico