This is partially inspired by a game of Victoria I was playing recently as France. The Pastry War ignited into a full blown war and I made a dash for Mexico city. Oddly they offered
The Pastry War was a short lived conflict between the July Monarchy and the Mexican Republic. The Republic was notoriously unstable and in 1828 unrest in the capital had resulted in great lost of personal property. The average citizen could do little, but foreign citizens could apply to their governments. While France did little at first, things changed in 1838 when a French pastry cook claimed his shop had been ruined in 1828 by Mexican Officers. He appealed to King Louis-Philippe for aid, and the French demanded compensation amounting to 600,000 pesos. Aside from this, Mexican had recently defaulted on millions of dollars worth of loans from France.
Essentially an ultimatum was made and the French fleet blockaded the Mexican coast and seized Veracruz, including almost the entire Mexican fleet. There was also a diplomatic issue with Texas as the Mexicans began smuggling goods through Corpus Christi and the Texan militia entered the region, with France agreeing to respect Texan territorial boundries; after a few months, mediation was released where Mexico paid the compensation.
What if Mexico refused the deal and continued to fight? Santa Anna came out of retirement to fight, but the Mexican army was probably in a much weaker position than the French army at the time. Santa Anna himself was even wounded in battle. It was a curious turn of events as the USA support France's "expedition" while Britain sought to mediate the conflict. If the war goes further, are we likely to see the USA attempt to force a mediation, or use the chaos to bring Texas into the fold earlier? What designs would France have? The nearest French territory are the sugar islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
In my game my expedition force quickly marched from Veracruz to Mexico city and Mexico oddly offered me California (minus Baja, of course). Seems very unlikely, but France and many other nations had interest in California, given it's separation from Mexico and sparse population. Something reinforcing the Yucatan autonomy seems much more realistic, with Britain, France, and the USA guaranteeing the region; I see no possibly of a French California, unless they have a more vested interest in the Pacific via Tahiti and such. Indeed, there was an interest amongst many of the European powers: one French admiral stated that he who held California held the pacific or something of the sort. There was definitely foreign interest in the province beyond the USA.
There is also the political situation in Mexico. If the French intervene militarily and manage to occupy Mexico City (I don't see why they can't, especially considering they occupied Veracruz: the Veracruz Mexico city route was the same route followed by Winfield Scott's army almost ten years later in 1847; of course there may of certainly been some military evolution in that period, I don't see it having any huge effect). I think if the French send in force a similar size to Winfield Scott's, they'll have no trouble taking Mexico City. Trouble was already brewing within the Republic and there were areas aside from Rexas and the Yucatan which were chaffing under Centralist rule. In fact, if the French do take Mexico City, is there a possibility of a coup being carried out to restore the 1824 constitution? It was in the midst of the war with the United States in 1846 that a coup restored the Federalist Constitution. Could we see it restored ten years earlier?
So, the challenge is to make the Pastry War into a longer, drawn out conflict.
Bonus: Escalate the conflict between France and Texas over the smuggling. It can be a small conflict, but have the French seize Corpus Christi ala Veracruz at the very least. Reactions of the Americans and British are up to you. As an even more bonus. France gets some sort of tangible concession out of Mexico, most likely by capturing Mexico City via Veracruz. Can be anything from restoring autonomy to the Yucatan guaranteed by the Triple Powers (France, Britain, USA), favorable economic concessions, territorial (although I'm quite unsure what that could be... I was given California in my game, but I think that a little ridiculous for 1838 -- Mexico was adamant to keep Texas for instance, even once it was clear it could not be regained!).
The Pastry War was a short lived conflict between the July Monarchy and the Mexican Republic. The Republic was notoriously unstable and in 1828 unrest in the capital had resulted in great lost of personal property. The average citizen could do little, but foreign citizens could apply to their governments. While France did little at first, things changed in 1838 when a French pastry cook claimed his shop had been ruined in 1828 by Mexican Officers. He appealed to King Louis-Philippe for aid, and the French demanded compensation amounting to 600,000 pesos. Aside from this, Mexican had recently defaulted on millions of dollars worth of loans from France.
Essentially an ultimatum was made and the French fleet blockaded the Mexican coast and seized Veracruz, including almost the entire Mexican fleet. There was also a diplomatic issue with Texas as the Mexicans began smuggling goods through Corpus Christi and the Texan militia entered the region, with France agreeing to respect Texan territorial boundries; after a few months, mediation was released where Mexico paid the compensation.
What if Mexico refused the deal and continued to fight? Santa Anna came out of retirement to fight, but the Mexican army was probably in a much weaker position than the French army at the time. Santa Anna himself was even wounded in battle. It was a curious turn of events as the USA support France's "expedition" while Britain sought to mediate the conflict. If the war goes further, are we likely to see the USA attempt to force a mediation, or use the chaos to bring Texas into the fold earlier? What designs would France have? The nearest French territory are the sugar islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
In my game my expedition force quickly marched from Veracruz to Mexico city and Mexico oddly offered me California (minus Baja, of course). Seems very unlikely, but France and many other nations had interest in California, given it's separation from Mexico and sparse population. Something reinforcing the Yucatan autonomy seems much more realistic, with Britain, France, and the USA guaranteeing the region; I see no possibly of a French California, unless they have a more vested interest in the Pacific via Tahiti and such. Indeed, there was an interest amongst many of the European powers: one French admiral stated that he who held California held the pacific or something of the sort. There was definitely foreign interest in the province beyond the USA.
There is also the political situation in Mexico. If the French intervene militarily and manage to occupy Mexico City (I don't see why they can't, especially considering they occupied Veracruz: the Veracruz Mexico city route was the same route followed by Winfield Scott's army almost ten years later in 1847; of course there may of certainly been some military evolution in that period, I don't see it having any huge effect). I think if the French send in force a similar size to Winfield Scott's, they'll have no trouble taking Mexico City. Trouble was already brewing within the Republic and there were areas aside from Rexas and the Yucatan which were chaffing under Centralist rule. In fact, if the French do take Mexico City, is there a possibility of a coup being carried out to restore the 1824 constitution? It was in the midst of the war with the United States in 1846 that a coup restored the Federalist Constitution. Could we see it restored ten years earlier?
So, the challenge is to make the Pastry War into a longer, drawn out conflict.
Bonus: Escalate the conflict between France and Texas over the smuggling. It can be a small conflict, but have the French seize Corpus Christi ala Veracruz at the very least. Reactions of the Americans and British are up to you. As an even more bonus. France gets some sort of tangible concession out of Mexico, most likely by capturing Mexico City via Veracruz. Can be anything from restoring autonomy to the Yucatan guaranteed by the Triple Powers (France, Britain, USA), favorable economic concessions, territorial (although I'm quite unsure what that could be... I was given California in my game, but I think that a little ridiculous for 1838 -- Mexico was adamant to keep Texas for instance, even once it was clear it could not be regained!).
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