Mexican-American War

Mexican-American War
Location North America, mainly in Mexican territory Result Cession of Mexican territory, including California and New Mexico, to the United States
Belligerents
United States	Mexico
Commanders and leaders
James K. Polk Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott	Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Mariano Arista Pedro de Ampud

The Mexican-American War, also usually known in the United States as The Mexican War and in Mexico as la intervención norteamericana (the North American Intervention) or la guerra del 47 (the War of '47), was a military conflict fought between the U.S. and Mexico from 1846 to 1848, in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas. Mexico had not recognized the secession of Texas in 1836 and announced its intention to take back what it considered a rebel province.

In the United States, the war was a partisan issue, supported by most Democrats and opposed by most Whigs, with popular belief in the Manifest Destiny of the United States ultimately translating into public support for the war. In Mexico, the war was considered a matter of national pride.

The most important consequence of the war was the Mexican Cession, in which the Mexican territories of California and New Mexico, as well as areas which later became Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado, were ceded to the United States. In Mexico, the enormous loss of territory which resulted from the war encouraged the central government to enact policies to colonize its now-northernmost territories such as Baja California, Sonora, and Chihuahua, as a hedge against further losses.

Literary comment

The above happened in all Harry Turtledove timelines with a Point of Divergence after 1848. It is germane only to a few of them.

Mexican-American War in The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump

In a war fought in the 1840s, the Confederated Provinces defeated Aztecia, and took the land which became the American provinces of Golden Province, the Arid Zone, New Aztecia, Snowland, and Ruddy. In the late 20th century, it was believed by some that the Empire still sought to make a reciprocal gesture for this defeat.

Literary comment

The war is not named in the novel, but for simplicity and convenience "Aztecian War" is a logical eponym.

Mexican-American War in Southern Victory

The First Mexican War was a sort of "proving ground" for many of the men who became political and military leaders of the War of Secession, including Ambrose Burnside, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Thomas Jackson, Albert Sidney Johnston, Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, and George McClellan, among others.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, the war fought in 1881-2 between the United States and a Confederate-British-French coalition came to be called the Second Mexican War. Presumably, the war was so named because the C.S. sought expand its own borders with what had formerly been Mexican territory. However, the government of Mexico itself played at best a minor role in that war.

Noteworthy Veterans of the First Mexican War

• Braxton Bragg
• Ambrose Burnside
• Jefferson Davis
• Ulysses S. Grant
• Joseph Hooker
• Thomas Jackson
• Albert Sidney Johnston
• Robert E. Lee
• James Longstreet
• George McClellan
• John Pope
• William Sherman

See also

• Nuevespañolan War, a similar war which happened in The Two Georges timeline.
• Second Mexican War, a fictional war which occurs in the novel How Few Remain. Despite the name, it has very little resemblance to the "First" Mexican War.