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Editor says, what if Pancho Villa had won the Battle of Carrizal? muses Robbie Taylor. Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the May 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1916, Mexican rebels under the command of the legendary Pancho Villa (pictured) engaged US General John Pershing's expeditionary force at Carrizal, Mexico.
Battle of CarrizalA lucky shot by one of Villa's men brought down the general, and they carried his body away with them as they retreated from the more numerous American soldiers.
When he heard of this incident, German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann hatched a plan to embroil the United States in war with its southern neighbor, in order to keep it out of the war in Europe. German arms soon began flowing to Pancho Villa, who used them to stage raids on what he called "Mexico del Norte", the southwestern United States. President Wilson, after seeing that the Mexican government could do nothing to stop Pancho Villa, sent in fully half of the US Army at the time, vowing to bring the Mexican revolutionary to justice. When American troops crossed the border with Mexico and began shooting Mexican citizens, the already weak government of Venustiano Carranza fell, and Pancho Villa stepped into the void. He rallied all of Mexico to his cause, and with German arms and an alliance with the Central Powers, was able to hold America to a stalemate over 7 harsh years of war.
When the war in Europe ended, Villa sued for peace with the new administration of President Calvin Coolidge, promising an end to the raids and peace between the neighboring countries. Each side had acquired some territory from the other - Texas had expanded slightly across the Rio Grande, while New Mexico and Arizona's borders were now considerably north of where they had been at the start of the war - so, with much grumbling on both sides, they accepted the new borders, after much fortification, and declared peace on March 17, 1924. Recommendation: visit Robbie Taylor's Amazon Author Page.
Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor
© Robbie Taylor, 2004-Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Pancho Villa, Mexico, Pershing, United States, Coolidge.
~ Changes in the lines, and perhaps more refugees in the U.S. might have resulted from this, so this one might not have had such a profound effect on the current border situation. The bigger question might have been what would Mexico had been like internally, but the demand for drugs in the U.S. might have brought on the same situation there now with the cartels in bloody fights for distribution control, regardless of wherever the borders are.
~ In no way, German munitions or not, could Mexico hold the USA at bay if they really wanted to go in. Mexico has a much smaller population, a tiny industrial base and poorly trained bandits not professional soldiers to fight with. Villa could have won the battle as proposed, and maybe a few other battles as well, but he couldn't have made significant gains into the USA. Raids do not gain territory, at best they create a no mans land in the raided area. If the USA is not involved in the European war then all the resources of the USA are arrayed against Mexico by itself. The US Navy of the era was quite capable of blockading the ports to keep German munitions or any other imports from reaching Mexico by sea.
Add in the fact that there has always been an element, usually small, in the USA that wanted more of Mexico added to the southern USA and my prediction is the border would move considerably southward if Mexico and the USA went to war in the early 20th century.
~ I agree with Allen.The U.S would have been more vengeful.The wrath would have been terible.
~ US would've crushed Mexico. Probably have made difference to war in Europe with less US soldiers there.
~ Mr. McDonnell makes a great point about naval warfare. If Germans try to run a US Blockade, the Americans might declare war on Germany anyway (though what impact would that make if so much of the troops are spent occupying Mexico?).
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
