Mexicanos, al grito de guerra! AH Mexico

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"The Years immediately following the War to End All Wars were a time of mass upheaval. Most predominantly, Russia was plunged into a civil war after 1917's October Revolution. While the Red and White factions geared up for war, another revolution was occurring half a world away.

Already in the midst of a chaotic revolution against corrupt governance, Mexico had yet to find a single unifying leader. Several charismatic figures had arisen since the revolution's beginning in 1910. Eight years after the nation descended into chaos, one of those leaders took inspiration from the events in Russia.

Emiliano Zapata was already a leader of a growing army of guerillas in southern Mexico. With the reported success of the Russian revolution, Zapata became inspired to extend his aims to the economic, political, and social liberation of all working class Mexicans. The battle cry of Tierra y Libertad was joined by a call to revolution against not only domestic corruption, but also from the chains of foreign capitalist interests.

After long negotiations he was joined by another famous revolutionary, Francisco I. 'Pancho' Villa. Their forces joined, with Russian encouragement, to form a Mexican People's Front for Liberation. Years of bitter fighting from 1919-22 ended with the defeat of western supported reactionary forces. Finally, peace had returned to central America's largest nation.

In the aftermath of war the victors formed officially into the Mexican Communist Party, or Partido Communista Mexicano (PCM). Tragedy struck as Villa was assasinated in Mexico City just before the first national party congress elections. His death was blamed on reactionary elements supported by the bougeois west, particularly the United States. Rumors of inter-party disagreements between Villa and Zapata gave fuel to conspiracy theories, but were denied categorically by the PCM.

On May 5, 1923 - the anniversary of the Battle of Juarez - Emiliano Zapata was unanimously elected Chairman of the PCM, head of state of the new Mexico. Officially his title included President as well. Zapata's years in power from 1923-30 were characterized by a focus on agrarian land reform, solidification of the proletariat's power structure, and modernization efforts.

They were the first years of a new era for Mexico. This was the era of the Mexican Socialist Republic." - from 'A Breif History of Socialism in the New World'

Emiliano Zapata, Chairman of the Mexican Communist Party (1923-30).
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[son of liberty]

Good luck.

 

[unmerged(74032)]

In interesting set up. I'll be watching.

 

[LeifNepstad]

Amazing! What else happened differently in this timeline?

 

[volksmarschall]

My oh my! Communist fevor is everywhere!

 

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"As part of a national effort to solidify Communist party rule in Mexico, Chairman Zapata encouraged a program to reach out to every Mexican Proletariat. To this end, the PCM drove efforts to encourage people in every community, from neighborhoods of Mexico City to villages in Chihuahua province, to form their own Party cells. Each cell would administer PCM policy locally, as well as educate the locals on 'proper Revolutionary doctrines and behavior'.

A PCM meeting in a small town hall in Sonora state.

Without the industrial manufacturing base of the Soviet Union, Mexico's ruling proletariat had a more agricultural focus. Taking the Revolution to the farmers and other rural Mexicans was a prime focus for the PCM after taking power. The Party also began programs to educate urban youth in agrarian production techniques by sponsoring trips for them to work alongside this population. Zapata personally took a hand in the program's administration, remarking, 'To understand the soul of Mexico, the foundation of the Revolutionary movement, you must first experience the toil, sweat and sacrifice of her farmers and agricultural workers'.

A PCM farmer setting up a stall in El Paso, Texas, to distribute Revolutionary materials to Mexican immigrants.

Zapata, however, died suddenly in 1930 of a heart condition. As with Lenin's death in the Soviet Union, Zapata's death caused unrest at the highest ranks of the PCM. Temporarily, General Rodolfo Fierro - one of Pancho Villa's earliest lieutenants - took control as Party Chairman. Fierro suspended the outreach efforts for the most part, electing to focus on building up the military and internal security efforts.

Rodolfo Fierro, Chairman of the Mexican Communist Party (1930-33)

Some have noted Fierro's respective paranoia as the cause of his downfall. Fearing that what he called 'counter revolutionary elements' amongst the PCM itself were plotting to seize the government, supported by the United States of America, Fierro purged the army's officer ranks. Intellectuals, moderates, and perceived threats to Fierro's power were rounded up by the Revolutionary Defense Agency, the primary security agency in the new Mexico. Many were executed, having been given kangaroo court trials if they were fortunate.

This was not enough to sate Fierro; during the Revolution his maliciousness was infamous. He had once had an argument with a man over whether someone would fall backwards when they were shot. The other man believed it was so, Fierro disagreed. To prove his point, Fierro shot the man, who indeed fell forward. Fierro was even said to have played a major role in plotting the assassination of Pancho Villa as head of party security. Chairman Fierro, insistant that America was plotting his overthrow, wanted to invade Texas as a pre-emptive maneuver.

Fierro was found dead in his bedroom the morning after giving the order for the Mexican Red Army to prepare for war. Carefully treading around Fierro loyalists in the Revolutionary Defense Agency, the PCM politicians elected a new Chairman. This time, their choice was Dotorio Orosco, a fairly unknown politician from the Yucatan who was notable for organizing indigenous peoples in support for the Revolution. Part Indian himself, Orosco advocated the re-establishment of outreach efforts across Mexico, including with indigenous peoples. Under his supervision, the Communist Manifesto and works of Lenin were translated into indigenous langauges and distributed.

Orosco was also notable for not supporting a ban on religion, stating that 'under the right circumstances, religion and Revolution can coexist'. As a further distinction, Orosco rejected the Stalinist view as being too simililar to Fierro's excesses. Instead, he took a more international view of socialism in which extending the Revolution to other nations would help bring about the end of capitalism. Mexico began to export revolutionary materials to other Central American countries, where mostly military dictatorships had taken power in response to Mexico's socialist state.

In 1934, Orosco for the first time began to work on expanding and modernizing the military. His view was that eventually Mexico might have to act through any means neccessary to topple undue capitalist influence in the region. Central America, according to PCM ideology, had to be united under the banner of revolution. Only Mexico had the power to do that. Efforts to combine national pride with Revolutionary fervor created popular support for this and the idea of possibly reclaiming land that was taken during the Mexican-American war.

As 1936 dawned, Mexico was drawing ever closer to becoming a major player on the global socialist stage. The United States was wary of the Socialist Republic, but dismissed much of the rumblings as hot air. Mexico seemed isolated from the world's leading socialist bastion, the USSR, due to Orosco's views and tolerance, as well as by Mexico's granting assylum to Leon Trotsky. Since the Mexican army was still small and its air forces and navy almost nonexistant, the USA saw their southern neighbor as an annoyance rather than a serious threat.." - From 'Revolucion! Mexico's Revolution and Modernization'

The flag of the Mexican Socialist Republic​