Part 20: Secret Denmark: Mexico Chapter 2: The Rise of Krakow (January 1836-August 1836)
Secret Denmark: Mexico Chapter 2: The Rise of Krakow (January 1836-August 1836)
There are no Mexicans in Mexico (the country, not the region). All the Mexicans are in Mighty Mexico (the region, not the country). Instead, the residents of Mexico (the country) are mostly Marathis with a lot of Tamils in Madras. Mexico's literacy is a mere 9%, and its clergy and bureaucratic ranks are near empty, the Mexicans (in India) decided to change that.
Mexico produced many base resources, including 32% of the world's Dye, 19% of the world's Cotton, 23% of the world's Tobacco, but rather distressingly realized that, besides Wheat and Fruit it produced next to no actual food, including no Fish or Cattle, the latter of which was just as well as the government puzzled as to why its new subjects seemed strangely averse to eating beef. Nevertheless, famine seemed to be just around the corner.
Apparently the people of Mexico was nearly unanimously in favor of Jingoistic policies for Mexico to conquer Mexico in the name of Mexican revanchism. These revanchist attitudes led to the rise of the Conservador Party, which felt that no one but Mexicans should vote in Mexican elections. As there was not a single Mexican in Mexico, the end result was that not a single person in Mexico was eligible to vote in Mexico's democratic elections because none of them were Mexican.
The Conservador government decided to run massive deficits to build a massive army and educate the public, figuring that they could recoup the losses and repay the loans at a later date after actual bureaucrats reduced the overhead of government expense a bit.
Mexico was not uncivilized, but it was rather backwards, technologically. Still, it was far more advanced than Nepal or Sindh.
Given India's supply of Silk, the Mexican government decided that Luxury Clothes would be a good industry to go into, and that massive increases in farming efficiency would resolve Mexico's budget deficit. Freedom of Trade would salvage Mexico's stagnant economy and allow the slow reduction of the deficit.
Mexico's head of state, Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón, proclaimed that, relocated or not, he would personally lead the new army, and for now settled for assembling 12 brigades of infantry and 6 of artillery, putting off other investments for now until Mexico had some standing army to defend itself.
All was well.
January was uneventful.
So was February.
Little of interest was happening, though I suppose you might find the notion that Russia passed up the opportunity to expel Jaipur from Siberia or the Kingdom or Holy from the steppes or Liberia from Smolensk or any of the other myriad soft targets it had to go expel Spain, the most powerful country of them all, from the shores of Lake Baikal. Austria has decided to annihilate Hungary, while Bavaria decided to reclaim Nuremburg from Cuba. What was left of France went after the easy target of friendless, uncivilized Johore, while the Dutch launched a major colonial war against Portugal and Japan decided to make Japan (the empire) and Japan (the islands) synonymous by expelling the Baluchis in Niigata and Ethiopia set out to drive out the Kings men from Oromia.
Many in Mexican India, tired of their mass starvation, decided to try their luck in Kelowna or Sault Ste. Marie. Those in Greek China decided to do the same.
The speed of new wars slowed even more in March.
The British decided that Belgian Benin was intolerable, while Russia had no competition for its frozen north and Portugal comfortably moved into Transvaal.
The summer was quiet.
All the King's soldiers and all the Kingsmen couldn't put Somalia together again.
Sindh decided to attack in July. Sindh had 16 battalions, while Mexico's army was still under construction. Would this be the end for the Mexican Raj, or would Mexico's army appear to save the day?
...Also Kelowna has expanded its population 45fold over the course of eight months.
The World, August 1836
