Has Mexico ever Won a War?

Quote: Nareed

What's amazing is the French were ever capable of being victorious in war.

Good one! However, let's not overlook Mexico. Didn't you say they have never won a war?

Quote: Wizard

Good one! However, let's not overlook Mexico. Didn't you say they have never won a war?

I did. I stand by it, too.

But even going against Mexico the French got a bloody nose and, ultimately, retreated with a dead Austrian nobleman and their collective tail between their legs.

Quote: Wizard

Good one! However, let's not overlook Mexico. Didn't you say they have never won a war?

Most of Mexico's war's have been based on their home soil, and have been conflicts with Spain, France, the USA, or Internal Conflicts. You could say they eventually won the wars against the European powers because they don't rule Mexico. They lost half the country to the USA. Of the internal wars they only lost territory when Central America broke free (early in Mexican history).
Mexico did not fight in WWI, however the Germans tried to enlist them as an ally. The promise was that Germany would restore the lost lands if they won.

Mexico did fight in WWII on the side of the allies because of Germans sinking two Mexican ships. There is some suspicion among Mexicans that the ships were sunk by the USA to galvanize them into joining the allied force.

I believe that it is against the Mexican constitution to join a war unless the homeland was attacked.


1) Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821)--Mexico gained independence from Spain.

2) Central American Federation War of independence (1822-1823)--The Mexican Empire : United Provinces of Central America became an independent nation.

3) Texas War of Independence (1835-1836)--The Mexican state of Texas rebelled and gained independence from Mexic10o.

4) First Franco-Mexican War "The Pastry War" (1838)--The first military intervention by France.

5) Yucatan Secession (1839-1843)--The Yucatan region attempted to break away from Mexico.

6) U.S.-Mexican War (1846-1847)-The United States invaded Mexico and forced the Mexicans to cede the northern half of the country and also to give up any claim to Texas.

7) Yucatan Rebellion (1847)--The Yucatan region rebelled against the Mexican government.

8) Second Franco-Mexican War (1862-1867)--The second military intervention by France, resulting in French occupation of Mexico and a prolonged guerrilla resistance ending in French withdrawal. The Battle of Puebla (May 5, 1862) is celebrated in Mexico and the U.S. as Cinco de Mayo.

9) Yaqui Indian War (1899-1904?)--One of the last of the long series of Mexican-Indian Wars, this conflict began when chiefs of the eight principal Yaqui Indian tribes demand Mexican withdrawal from the Sinaloa region.

10) Mexican Revolution/Civil War (1910-1920)--Finally established the present day government.

11) U.S. Occupation of Vera Cruz (1914)--The U.S. military invaded and occupied the port city of Vera Cruz.

12) U.S. Punitive Expedition (1916-1917)--The U.S. Army pursued warlord Pancho Villa into northern Mexico in retaliation for Villa's raid on an American town.

13) World War Two (1942-1945)--Mexico joins the Allies and Mexican forces fight the Japanese in the Pacific.

Quote: pacomartin

Mexico did fight in WWII on the side of the allies because of Germans sinking two Mexican ships. There is some suspicion among Mexicans that the ships were sunk by the USA to galvanize them into joining the allied force.

naturally. the entire US war effor tin the Pacific theater hinged, I mean hinged, on the presence of a single fighter squadron, which was Mexico's whole contribution to the war.

Quote:

1) Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821)--Mexico gained independence from Spain.

While there were Spaniard troops involved, and while Mexico belonged to Spain at the time, much of the war was fought by Mexican born parties on both sides.

Quote:

8) Second Franco-Mexican War (1862-1867)--The second military intervention by France, resulting in French occupation of Mexico and a prolonged guerrilla resistance ending in French withdrawal. The Battle of Puebla (May 5, 1862) is celebrated in Mexico and the U.S. as Cinco de Mayo.

The French withdrew once the US got done with its civil war and could threaten the French effectively. Old Pepe Botellas (a.k.a. Napoleon III) would never have dreamt of invading Mexico absent the USCW.

BTW, during the fiasco the French installed a minor Austrian nobleman as Emperor of Mexico. His wife is said to have given this advice when he considered the french offer: "Better to be at the head of the mouse than the tail of the lion." And that's how valuable Mexico was to Europe at the time.

Quote: pacomartin

Of the internal wars they only lost territory when Central America broke free (early in Mexican history).

That is open to very big questions involving the Captaincy Generals of Guatemala and GranColombia, neither of which had much of anything to do with anything remotely Mexican. Of course, Mexico thought otherwise and tried to press its claims, just as it did vis a vis el Rio Grande del Norte.

THE UNITED PROVINCES OF CENTRAL AMERICA
El Salvador Table of Contents

The colonies comprising the Captaincy General of Guatemala declared their independence from Spain on September 15, 1821. It was not long before the new states, particularly El Salvador, had to contend with attempted annexation by another large power in the form of an independent Mexico under self-proclaimed Emperor Agustin de Iturbide. A Mexican force dispatched by Iturbide succeeded in bringing to heel the uncooperative Salvadorans, but only briefly. When the emperor himself fell from power in 1823, his dream of a Central American empire died with him. The five states of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica went on to establish themselves as the United Provinces of Central America on July 1, 1823.

The United Provinces, unworkable though they proved to be, constituted the only successful political union of the Central American states in the postcolonial era. Many optimistic residents of the region no doubt held high hopes for this new nation at its inception. Their sentiments were expressed elegantly, though ironically--given the subsequent course of events--by the liberator of South America, Simon Bolivar, who expounded in 1815 on the prospects for such a federation:

This magnificent location between the two great oceans could in time become the emporium of the world. Its canals will shorten the distances throughout the world, strengthen commercial ties with Europe, America, and Asia, and bring that happy region tribute from the four quarters of the globe. Perhaps some day the capital of the world may be located there, just as Constantine claimed Byzantium was the capital of the ancient world. . . .

El Salvador was a stronghold of liberal sentiment. Most Salvadorans, therefore, supported the rule of Morazan, who served as president of the federation from 1829 to 1840 when he was not leading forces in the field against the conservative followers of Rafael Carrera of Guatemala. In the waning days of liberal rule, San Salvador served as Morazan's last bastion. Unable to stem the tide of conservative backlash, the liberal forces fell to those of Carrera in March 1840. Morazan died before a firing squad in September 1842.

The almost unceasing violence that attended the effort to unite Central America into one federated nation led the leaders of the five states to abandon that effort and declare their independence as separate political entities. El Salvador did so in January 1841. Although their destinies would remain intertwined and they would intervene in each other's affairs routinely in the years to come, the countries of Central America would from that time function as fragmented and competitive ministates readily exploitable by foreign powers.--http://countrystudies.us/
---
Gran Colombia (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɡɾaŋ koˈlombja], Great Colombia) is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. The first three were the successor states to Gran Colombia at its dissolution. Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903. Since Gran Colombia's territory corresponded more or less to the original jurisdiction of the former Viceroyalty of New Granada, it also claimed the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, Guayana Esequiba in Guyana and parts of what are now Peru and Brazil.--wikipedia

Regarding the above post, I did a search on a sentence from it, and see it comes from http://countrystudies.us/el-salvador/5.htm. Per the site rules, please don't copy and paste from other sources without proper attribution. I'll give you an hour or so to correct that, or I'll have to bust the post.

It was interesting though. You know what I think would be very interesting and educational would be a 3-D map of the world, by latitude, longitude, and time. I envision a scroll bar where you could go back and forth in time and see how the map of the world, or any given part, changes.

Quote: Wizard

You know what I think would be very interesting and educational would be a 3-D map of the world, by latitude, longitude, and time. I envision a scroll bar where you could go back and forth in time and see how the map of the world, or any given part, changes.

Centennia is one attempt for Europe only.

Mexico just after Central America left (19 states, 4 territories, and the Mexico City federal district)



Mexican population was similar to the USA when countries began. Mexico had 5.0 - 5.5 million people when they declared independence in 1810. But the revolution was much bloodier than the one in the USA and roughly a million people died. By the end of the 19th century USA had three times the population of Mexico

Mexican population started increasing much faster than the USA in the 1930's.

year	USA
1790	3.9 m
1800	5.3 m
1810	7.2 m
1820	9.6 m
1900	76.2 m

I'm not 100% sure of it, but U.S. government documents, especially those out of print, can be considered in the public domain.
"Country Studies
This website contains the on-line versions of books previously published in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress as part of the Country Studies/Area Handbook Series sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Army between 1986 and 1998. Each study offers a comprehensive description and analysis of the country or region's historical setting, geography, society, economy, political system, and foreign policy."
Although the dates in that paragraph contradict what is in my library, that may be because the Foreign Area Studies part of the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program was conducted under the aegis, as I recall, of different United States agencies.
However, sorry if I caused you consternation.