The Great War was a war lasting from 1914 to 1919. The fighting took place all over the world, but the main theatres were the European theatre and the North American theatre (also called the Second Mexican-American War).
Second Mexican-American War[]
The combatants in the region were the United States of America on one side, and Mexico and Japan on the other. It lasted from 1917 to 1919.
1917[]
In June 1917, Mexico sent a message to Japan asking to meet with Mexican and German officials. After several months of silence in which the Japanese were deciding whether to meet with them, they agreed to a meeting.
In November, Mexico revealed that it had allied with Germany and commenced the invasion of the United States of America. With German weapons and the element of surprise, the Mexicans took over a large portion of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as approximately half of Texas, by April of next year.
1918[]
Mexico[]
Mexico could not win a protracted war against the more powerful United States. Believing that they could advance no further, the Mexicans dug trenches similar to those in Europe, and began a defensive stage of the war.
In May 1918, Mexican and German officials met with Japanese representatives in Mexico City. They relayed the offer from Germany to switch sides. Germany agreed to cede their Pacific territories in exchange for their help, and Japan agreed to join them.
Mexican defenses held out for a long time - longer than the Americans thought possible. In July, a large planned attack against Mexico was carried out by the Americans, deploying large amounts of tanks. Occupied territory was taken back, and the Americans began a push into the northern states of Mexico. Mexico, even more so than Germany, had few tanks. They were only spared complete destruction because Japan was also attacking the United States. At the end of the year, the United States had gotten to the city of San Luis Potosí.
Meanwhile, communist revolutionaries, hearing about the revolution in Russia, decided that they could do the same thing in Mexico. For the next few years Mexico would have to deal with these rebels.
Japan[]
The United States also had to contend with Japan, which attacked the Americans at Hawaii and occupied the archipelago. They also took over the other Pacific islands under the USA's control. They began attacks on the west coast of the United States in September. On the whole, Japan did much better for herself in the war than did Mexico.
1919[]
The front line at armistice on March 3.
The first three months of 1919 were the final movements of the war. American troops fell short of Mexico City by only twenty km. The United States also fought a battle in Hawaii, and came close to retaking it from Japan, but in the end did not succeed. The Japanese also established a beachhead in northern California, but were quickly chased off.
On the third hour of the third day of the third month (it was the third hour in Washington D.C., anyway), March 3, the armistice began in North America and in Europe. What began as a war to retake lost territories only ended in loss of further territories for Mexico. Japan, on the other hand, obtained a wealth of new territories; Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines among them.
War in Europe[]
1917[]
Russia fell in late 1917, after the Bolsheviks gained control and made peace with Germany. Germany proceeded to concentrate in the west, against the forces defending France. The United States of America had declared war against Germany in August 1917, but troops did not start arriving in Europe until December, and even then most of their army was deployed in Mexico.
1918[]
The German Spring Offensive of 1918 devastated the Allies. However, they were able to keep the Germans out of Paris - just barely. Germany, though strained, was able to keep the offensive and took parts of northern and southern France, and even blockaded some British ports, but with limited success. France, like Russia, collapsed. But they did not form a socialist republic; instead, the Action Française came to power, a group advocating a return to monarchism. They put King Philippe VIII on the throne of France. In September, Philippe personally met with Kaiser Wilhelm II and surrendered. Parts of eastern France were formally annexed, and much of northern France - including Paris - was put under military occupation.
1919[]
With only Britain, Italy, and the United States against Germany, victory seemed inevitable. Germany's allies, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, were also doing well. From September to the end of the war, these three powers attacked Italy, taking over all of the country, save for Rome, which was fiercely defended. The Germans never got a beachhead in Great Britain, however they did land in Ireland and helped an Irish independence movement free themselves.
This resulted in a strange situation in which the Entente was victorious in the New World, while the Triple Alliance was victorious in the Old.
Peace Treaty[]
The remaining Allies, (Britain, Italy, and the United States), met with the opposing powers of Mexico, Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and an independent Ireland, in the German city of Hamburg. The Treaty of Hamburg contained the following main points:
- The German Empire formally annexes Belgium, Luxembourg, and the French regions of Franche-Comte and Champagne-Ardenne. Much of northern France is granted "independence", as the Republique Parisienne, pretty much a German puppet state.
- Ireland is granted independence from Britain.
- Germany annexes the lands it took from Russia, except for Finland, which becomes an independent republic allied to Germany.
- Austria-Hungary takes control of Northern Italy, the Ottoman Empire takes Southern Italy, and Germany takes Sardinia and Sicily. Italy is still around, but has very little territory, mostly centred around Rome.
- The Ottoman Empire annexes Greece.
- The Italian colonies are given to Austria-Hungary.
- The French colonies are given to Germany.
- The British colonies are kept, except for Gibraltar and some islands, which go to Germany.
- The United States annexes the Mexican provinces of Baja California, Sonora, and Chihuahua.
- Reparations are paid from Britain to Germany and Ireland; from Mexico to the United States; and from France to Germany.
- The armies of Mexico and France are limited.
Aftermath[]
See After the Great War (Mexican Axis).
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