A Shift in Priorities

[rast]

A Salesman

Tamura Sakito was a salesman, an agent of the Tokyo based Nichibei Fuji Cycle Company. Nippon had just become the world greatest manufacturer of bicycles, and Japanese bicycle companies were – of course – also trying to sell their products abroad.
Especially China was considered a huge market with an enormous potential; but most poor Chinese (and almost all Chinese were poor) couldn’t afford a bicycle, while those few that were rich didn’t think that a bicycle was an appropriate means of transport.
Yet, there were other markets as well...

Sakito had been sent to India, the Indian Federation to be exact, in order to survey the market and to sell as much bicycles as possible.
Travelling to India had been easy, there were a number of Japanese shipping lines servicing Vietnam, Siam, India and Persia from Yokohama or Osaka today. Nippon had nicely taken up the connections lost or abandoned by the British.

Travelling in India was not that easy.

Sakito had arrived in Calcutta in early spring of 1923. The long siege of Calcutta had not done much damage to the infrastructure of the inner city, and one could well see that this once had been a major British settlement and the capital of British India for a long time. They even had tramways, like in Tokyo.
But those in Tokyo always worked, the ones in Calcutta worked only occasionally, and there seemed to be no timetable.
Okay, one could get along. – After he had hired an interpreter, a Bihari named Divakar Sahay, who had assured him that he was fluent in several Indian languages and English; Sakito had succeeded in receiving some orders – for specimen only, of course... – These Indians did not trust Japanese engineering and wanted to see and test the products before they ordered a larger quantity. They would not be contend with nice pictures and drawings and Sakito’s affirmation that Nichibei Fuji produced excellent quality. – But there were telegram stations and it had taken only two weeks for a batch of bikes to arrive, during which time Sakito had established a small branch office and a warehouse in the port – and had hired three Bengalese to work for him as clerks and mechanics.
After the bicycles had finally arrived, Sakito had sold almost all of them at once. Those Bengal traders were very difficult to fathom, but they really seemed to have been surprised by the quality of Sakito’s merchandise, compared to the price. Well, Sakito had seen some homemade specimen...

After the Calcutta market had had been ‘conquered’, troubles had started. For going on journey one took the train. The British had built quite a number of rail lines in India, and most of their workers had been Indians. But somehow, British know-how about administration and management must have made the difference.
Those individual rail workers, Sakito met during his journey, all were competent manual labourers and knew their trait. But the team effort was missing very often. There was nobody who really kept oversight what was going on. People were milling around and toiling, but the overall effect was standstill...

Divakar thought that these were teething troubles, which would soon be overcome.
“We have been patronised by the English and by our own elite, they wouldn’t provide us proper education. The offspring of the Rajas was sent to university at England, the rest got nothing. – This has changed now. Those Rajas still alive – only some few...” Divakar chuckled “have fled to England with our former masters. We in Bengal and the other states invest a lot in education. After all, India is a rich country, we have tea, cotton, rice, tobacco, sugar cane, cocoa palms, copper, coal, iron, gold, gems and steel stabilisers. – And we have millions of diligent and hard working people.”
“I’ve seen a lot of Indians in Tokyo, at the university.”
“Yes, indeed, the Japanese offer was very kind and we’re grateful for it. – There still is a tendency in certain circles to send the boys to England, but that will soon go away. We must become self-sufficient, this country has the size of Europe, there’s no need to go after their fashion. – Indians already had luxury homes when the Europeans still lived in wooden shacks together with their pigs.” Divakar chuckled again.
“But you’re so many different people. How can you live together? – At home, there are only Japanese, and some Koreans, which are like your ‘untouchables’. – But here? How can all this happen in peace?”
Divakar watched how the new locomotive was slowly moved into position, mainly by loud cries of the workers, apparently. He shrugged.
“It isn’t peaceful. There’s a riot or a pogrom every other day. – It’s not easy. Really not. – There’s a clear distinction between Muslims and the rest of us. They view us as animals, as howling pagans. They think they are entitles to kill us. – Thankfully, most of them live in Sindh, Punjab and Bangladesh, otherwise we really would have a big problem. – We other ‘pagans’ get along, somehow. Sometimes, it’s bludgeon time, but most often we get it right by talking.”
“How about the British? – Are they trying to come back? I mean, this was the centre piece of their empire...”
“They are trying, trying to sell us their stuff. Because we all are used to it, have grown up with it. – Very often, it works, around Bombay, they are very successful. Here, in Bengal, we’re closer to Asia, more ready to rely on our own strength and to use the technology that your people can provide.” Divakar smiled. “Although, of course, you are no Aryans, like the English – and we - are...”

 

[rast]

Cherchez la Femme

Annabella Chong believed her mother had been Chinese and her father a white man, but she didn’t know. She had grown up in the nursery of the Sisters of Mercy at Surabaya, had never known her family.
At the age of fourteen she had run away from the Sisters of Mercy. Today, thirteen years later, she was the mistress of Dutch Governor-General Mijnheer Dirk Fock.

Okay, Dirk was a very kind liberal gentleman of 65 years. There wasn`t much sweaty action between the pillows, it was more like having a tea ceremony now and then, and perhaps a soft physical encounter afterwards, seldom taking more than few minutes.
The hunting lodge of the Governor-General near the Gunung Pangrango Volcano provided the perfect infrastructure for a quiet and friendly weekend.
Dirk had a wife and three – adult – children, which he loved with devotion. However, Garburg, his spouse, was decidedly on the fat side of life, a cake devouring and ever waffling monster. Annabella had seen her occasionally in Batavia, it made her understand why Dirk was entertaining a liaison with her, he just needed something positive from time to time.

Dirk had already been fetched by his governmental Benz; Annabella was still waiting for her transport, chatting with Bunul, the housekeeper, a squat Sundanese woman without teeth.
Finally, her car arrived. An old Belgian Minerva – as always. But the customary driver, Kusnadi, was missing, instead there was a new driver, a young man, looking rather Chinese.

The young man didn’t speak at all during the journey. Only shortly before he released her, did he turn around and said: “You ought to visit the Green Cicada sometimes these days. Ask for Abdul Rahman.”

Abdul Rahman turned out to be a very old, very frail Minangkabau from Sumatra. Annabella was intrigued: Normally, none of these obstinate Muslims would ever care to converse seriously with a woman.
She had no high opinion of these would-be liberators, their rule would be a regress of kind compared to the rule of the Dutch. The Dutch always had been more interested in profit than in advancing the people of the East Indies, nevertheless, their rule was – at least in Annebella’s mind – more beneficial than what these agents of Islam could offer. Islam offered no progress. Their motto was: Back to the roots. – Annabella translated for herself: Back to the Middle Ages.

“You are close to the Governor-General, I hear.” Rahman grinned politely, which made him look like an Orang- Utan.
Annabella only nodded.
“Does he take advice from you?”
“Do you take advice from me?”
The Orang-Utan frowned.
“Are you kiddin’?”
“So why do you ask me about the Governor-General?”
“Well, he’s a European, they are different.”
“More intelligent?”
“Woman, don’t test my temper. – We have methods to enforce your cooperation.”
“Who’s ‘we’?”
The Oran-Utan scratched his neck below the turban.

“I’m speaking for the Sumatra Liberation Front.” He finally uttered. “We already control three quarters of the island.”
“But you do not talk for the people of Borneo, not for those of Java, Celebes and the other minor isles, do you?”
“In principle, I do, most of them are Muslims as well.”
“So, what is your message?”

“We offer the Dutch a truce. – We want to enter negotiations about a controlled turn-over to our movement. – We do not aim at an unregulated Dutch withdrawal, leaving us in the lurch.”
“What makes you think they might be willing to hand over to you?”
“They already know they can’t win. We can go on and kill each other for the next five years, – and there are much more of us than there are Dutch on this globe, but the end-result already now is clear: They can’t win. We will overcome them.”

“So, this is your message. – What is your offer?”
“Peace. No more shooting, no more bombs. We make a treaty, and the transit will happen in a civilised way.”
“This sounds good. I will talk to the Governor-General.”

 

[rast]

Morale and Welfare

The conscript army that had conquered the northern part of Mexico soon found itself engulfed in an environment challenging US ideas about morale and good conduct.

First of all, prohibition did not exist in Mexico – and all American attempts to enforce it were doomed from the start. Prohibition didn’t work properly in the States, where it promoted clandestine drinking and induced people, who normally wouldn’t have been attracted by booze, to go after the ‘forbidden substance’.
The Gringos had plenty of money (at least in Mexican understanding); they were used to pay high prices for illegal alcohol; so they would pay royally for a bottle of Tequila or Mezcal, but also for wine, Pulque or beer. One only needed to offer it to them...
All armies of the time knew that their soldiers would drink as much alcohol as they could get, the US Army was no exception here. The official ban on alcohol did not stop officers and NCOs from consuming it in their respective clubs, and superiors reeling drunkenly in public were in no position to stop their men from drinking.
Even worse, there was also widespread smuggling of alcoholic beverages back into the USA. Especially the Air Service was known to divert their scarce transport aircraft to lucrative booze smuggling instead of supplying the front line troops. But also the US Navy was found not to be immune against such temptations; ships offered plenty of opportunities to hide the valuable stuff.

Yet, alcohol was still the softer side of the problems. Prostitution was as much attracted by the soldiers’ money as were alcohol dealers. After a short time, venereal diseases were on the rampage. Gonorrhoea, chancroid, syphilis, scabies and the ordinary crab louse took the offensive.
The US Army never had developed a regulated system of army brothels, where the ‘ladies’ were under the control of the medics, as some European armies had during the Great War. And healthy able bodied young men in their most fertile phase, full of testosterone, could never be expected and not at all trusted to heed the orders interdicting sexual intercourse with ‘dubious civilian elements’ or ‘civilians’ in general.
There were not only Mexican girls available; hookers from all over the US found it worthwhile to travel close to the military operation zone and benefit from the potency of the US soldiers.

Mexico was a major producer of marijuana and heroin, and cocaine easily found its way north from South America, attracted by the availability of US Dollars.
To have a cheap ‘smoke’ soon became a common feature all over occupied Mexico. Mary-Jane eased the tensions resulting from the ever-lasting threat of a guerrilla attack out of the blue.

Black marketing almost naturally occurred; the supply chain of the armed forces contained so many beautiful things that poor Mexican civilians had use for. In exchange for a girl’s favour, a bottle of Tequila or a shot of heroin, fuel, tools, tents, even whole automobiles, changed possession.

By far not all young Americans were guzzling fornicators or profit-oriented concealers, but the phenomena were contagious and spreading on and on. In an unholy alliance, criminals, profiteers, guerrillas and revolutionaries were working together in order to sap the strength of the US Armed Forces.

US propaganda managed to conceal the grievances for some time. But then an article by Ernest Hemmingway was published in the British ‘The Daily Mirror’. It bore the title: “A Small Town in Mexico” and featured a tableau of ‘drunk whores screaming in the bar’, ‘doughboys vomiting on the sidewalk’, ‘a completely sloshed sergeant crawling along and wetting into his pants’, ‘little children scavenging a passed out soldier’ and a ‘proud Captain taking his ribald doxy on a ride with his staff car’.
This caused an uproar in the United States, where uneasy parents saw Sodom and Gomorrah happen to their kids. To send them fighting the Mexican criminals was one thing, but having them succumb to vice quite another affair.
A Congressional Inquiry sprang up in no time. And Secretary of War Alvin Victor Donahey stepped down from office almost as quickly, following the precedence set by his precursor, Newton Diehl Baker.
There were even voices suggesting an impeachment of President Owen – and the discharge of the Army’s Chief of Staff, General John J. Pershing.

 

[freivolk]

This is really turning into a Super-vietnam. Is there some equivalent of Nixon in the twenties to end this mess?

 

[Kara Iskandar]

Yup Super-Vietnam that's the right word...

 

[Bmao]

This is really turning into a Super-vietnam. Is there some equivalent of Nixon in the twenties to end this mess?

Well, you do have FDR as Vice President so I guess you could label him as such, though I doubt he will be any more effective at easing the black market and other drug problems.

 

[rast]

No Malinche

In his conquest of ancient México, the Spaniard Hernán Cortés had had invaluable help from a native woman, called Doña Marina or La Malinche. Nobody, however, would provide such a help for the Gringos four hundred years later.
Unimpressed by domestic turmoil and protest, the US Armed Forces restarted their advance south in mid-October 1923. The Generals knew that a certain slack was unavoidable in this loosely knit outfit – despite all orders to the contrary – but as long as the machinery worked there was no reason why this should influence operations.
After all, the Mexicans had lost their industrial base. What could they still mobilise against their opponents?

The first unpleasant experience was the presence of the International Volunteer Brigades, composed of Spaniards, Frenchmen and Italians mainly, although individual Brits, Irishmen, Dutch, Germans, Swedes, Swiss and Poles could be found between their ranks as well.
Italian fighter aces Francesco Baracca, Fulco Ruffo di Calabria and Pier Ruggero Piccio (suspended from national duty by the Italian government) with their modern French SPAD XVIIs exacted a heavy toll from the American pilots, downing seventeen US aircraft in the first three days, after which the Americans grew more cautious – and factually lost control over the Mexican side of the airspace.
On the ground, near the Mexican west coast, the Internationals took heavy casualties but succeeded in stopping US advance in their sector completely. Despite the vastly superior US artillery stomping their positions relentlessly, they stalwartly clung to the ground and repulsed all attacks.

On the east coast, the US Marine Corps unopposedly poured into the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula, only to discover that they had no chance at all to control this environment, which was ideally suited for hide & seek and hit & run. It was here that Leon Trotsky and Ephraim Sklyansky, his second in command, really became guerrilla leaders. Forgotten was the unsuccessful attempt to form a united Mexican proletariat and to lead it to control the nation; forgotten were Socialism and Bolshevism; now, the two gifted organisers concentrated on producing a deadly network of small units that effectively contested the battle experienced US Marines the possession of the ground.

In the centre, the US advance was almost uncontested at first, the Mexicans, now devoid of artillery support because of lack of shells, preferred to disappear – but not before they had sabotaged the view mountain roads and blown up all bridges. Thus all further advance soon became the result of an engineer contest – and a duel between those sent out to guard the working engineers and those sent out to annihilate the engineers and their work.
Here, Pancho Villa himself led the marshalling of the small groups, which again and again were sneaking through the mountains in order to inflict as much damage as possible. Many of these bands were detected and crushed, but those that came through were sufficient to slow down US advance to snail pace.

Therefore, the big battle had to be fought near the west coast, where the Internationals offered coherent resistance at least. Under the battle cry ‘No pasaràn!’ (They shall not pass!) the Internationals – backed by the sympathy of Europe and Latin America, accompanied by reporters and writers – were determined to stop the Gringos.
After three weeks of bitter combat, the International Volunteer Brigades finally had been annihilated, but only some few wounded prisoners of war had been captured. Most Internationals had died defending their positions.
From this moment on, the US imperialists were the ‘bêtes noires’ of all intellectuals in Europe and Latin America. Public opinion in all countries grew hostile in a way that reminded many older Englishmen of their country’s experience during the Second Boer War. The fact that the US were basically fighting a well founded war against a regime of murderers and mass murderers was completely obscured by the impression of the epic last fight of the Internationals.

By early December 1923, the US forces had reached Salina Cruz on the Mexican south-west coast, but still had not overcome resistance in the central mountains and the Yucatan jungle. The expectation that reaching down south would outflank the enemy in the centre and force him to retreat was not fulfilled; when units moved north from Salina Cruz – through the mountain gap at Matias Romero – and established contact with the Marine Corps, Pancho Villa split his troops. Only about one half broke out to the south, into the hills around Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the other half remained in the mountains to both sides of Oaxaca – both groups now concentrating on severing the extended US lines of communications.

In the meanwhile, unrest at home had reached nationwide level. Fuelled by a torrent of sensationalist headlines and articles in the papers about the ethical deterioration of the US forces in Mexico (the Creel Commission had no influence here, a good story was a good story, after all), the ‘Bring the Boys Home’ movement of anxious parents, strongly backed by clerical morality wardens and political opportunists, staged rallies and demonstrations, blockaded barracks – and won over more and more congressmen.

 

[rast]

Confined at Ciudad de México

Rosa Luxemburg and Emma Goldman had been allocated a small chamber each, both rooms with windows to the inner courtyard of the German Embassy.
Ambassador Johann Sigismund Freiherr von und zu Bodman at first had been unwilling to grant asylum to Goldman, who was not a German citizen, but a cable from Berlin had told him that it was ‘preferable to know this person confined and under Your Excellency’s supervision at the embassy than to have her at large’.
Both women had been granted unrestricted access to newspapers and other press releases and were following events in the USA and Mexico with burning interest.

There was a lot of time for discussion (in Spanish, which both women had learned in Mexico); they were kept isolated from the embassy staff and only saw the ambassador once a week, when he came visiting them, which always was a much anticipated moment, because zu Bodman had information that was not found in the daily newspapers.
Goldman, who was a proponent of free love, had a lot to tell about the twisted morale of the white US Americans, their religious blockheadedness and eccentricity, and their racist supremacy believes.
Luxemburg, who always had thought that Europe and Germany in special were repressive and retrograde, learned how sexually and politically liberal they were – when compared to the US.
“My country is dominated by one group, the WASPs – the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. They come in two varieties: The old North-East Coast Elite, sophisticated, privileged, elitist, bigoted and racist – and all those coming from white countries, that mainly means western, central and northern Europe, who have adapted to their life style. The latter are the typical Mid-West farmers, hard working, fiercely religious and illiberal, inhibited and prudish. – In the world of these people, Negroes and Latinos can only be servants and lowly workers, they have no place at the table of God’s Own People.
If you keep this in mind, you will immediately understand why conditions here in Mexico cause such an uproar in the US. Mexicans are coloured, at least their vast majority, Mestizos and indigenous Indians. If sexual intercourse between white Americans is already a big taboo in the US, what do you think bonking a Spic girl is considered? – Nota bene: It’s not the girl that suffers, but the ‘poor’ boy is defiled!
They have introduced prohibition as propagated by the pietistic Protestant temperance movement; you can well compare that to the strict Islamic laws forbidding alcohol to the believers. Now, here in Mexico, the ‘poor’ boys fall victim to deep sin and jeopardise their eternal souls. – It really is a severe stroke against the ideal world of these religious fundamentalists…”

Luxemburg had also learned how well cared for and politically advanced the German workers were when compared to their US counterparts. As a result of the Great War the German labour unions had become partners and antagonists of the capitalists on equal footing. Workers were schooled and fostered by the Socialist parties, the SPD and the KPD; they had social security, health care and old age pensions regulated by law – and partially paid by the capitalists.
“If you contrast this, conditions in the US are a jungle – survival of the fittest certainly is no Socialist concept, but it has made the US economy strong. It’s a capitalistic biotope and our labour unions are either half criminal or half corrupt, but it works. This I have to admit. If it didn’t, our job would be much easier…”

Zu Bodman had supplied some details about the US occupation of Mexico. He usually had tea with the ladies on Saturday afternoon, appraising them about the actual situation outside. He had come to appreciate their views and opinions, after all, they had intimate knowledge about the Second Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa and Leon Trotsky.
“The Americans have apparently learned from British experience in India. They do not allow indigenes into their camps and facilities, and their interpreters they import from the States.
Military security has reached a high standard. This week, there was a bomb plot against the HQ here in town. But the truck could not penetrate the outer perimeter. When it blew up, it killed some two hundred civilians – but only two US soldiers, and the HQ proper took no damage at all.
But it’s a nuisance: There are checkpoints all over the town. You can’t proceed more than five hundred metres before being checked again. There’s a general curfew from 18:00 in the evening to 08:00 in the morning, thank goodness not applicable to diplomats.
Following the protests in the USA – in Saint Louis, a recruiting station has been stormed and burned to the ground yesterday – the soldiers are no longer allowed to exit their camps other than on duty.
There are about a dozen cases, where soldiers have been court martialed to death for criminal offences, like murder and desertion – but on order from Washington, the Generals are not allowed to carry out the sentences. One fears that this would further fuel domestic protests.”

 

[rast]

No Common Roof

Excerpt from a report by the British Ambassador to the Indian Federation, Sir John Duncan Gregory, dated October 26th, 1923:

“…
XII. Conclusion
From what is worked out in paragraphs III to VI follows that religious conflicts will undoubtedly lead to a destabilisation of the Indian Federation.
On the one hand, the Muslims regard the Hindi as pagans and idol worshippers, people who by the law of the Quran must either be proselytised or may be slain unpunishedly if they refuse the light of true faith. The Hindi animal gods and all Hindi rites are utterly repulsive to faithful Moslems. The very influential Moslem university at Devband is rather successfully propagating the abolition of all Hindu-influenced aspects, like veneration of saints and mojos, from Indian Muslim belief. Confronted with a vast hostile majority of Hindi, the followers of Allah return to a more rigid and Quran-oriented exegesis.
On the other hand, the Hindu leaders, concentrated in the castes of the priests, knights and merchants (the latter including the land owners too), know very well that their religion has withstood the onslaught of Islam for centuries and that the bulk of Indian Muslims are descendants of the lower serving castes or the despisable untouchables, thus low and despisable as Muslims still. This is especially true for Bangla Desh – as past bloodshed has already shown – where, according to Hindu perception, once sixteen Muslim missionaries have converted a host of untouchables. The Muslims in Sindh and Punjab, as assumed scions of the Mughal conquerers, have a distincly better standing with the elitist Hindu leadership.
The Hindi have begun to missionize the tribal religions like the Santhal and the Kharia, but they are also actively agitating opposite Buddhism and Christianity.
The most probable conflict zones will be Punjab with its mix of Muslims, Sikhs and Hindi – and Bangla Desh plus the Muslim minority in the Ganges Valley. Sindh, with its solid Muslim majority will most probably be least affected.

In terms of economic development, as specified in paragraphs VII to X, the Hindu merchant caste, the most numerous and prosperous of the ruling castes, has taken the lead. They are following an approach, which at first look may seem utterly capitalistic – and certainly will lead to a rapid development as witnessed in Britain or Belgium during the Industrial Revolution in the last century.
Historically, they have sent their sons to study in Britain; today Indian students either go to Japan, which offers studies without fees, or to Germany or the USA, which are both expensive but offer the most advanced research results in science and technology.
All experts agree that within the next five years all gaps left behind by the demise of the British Raj will have been closed. By 1935, India – the emerging Hindu Federation of India this is – will without doubt be the dominating regional power between Lhasa, Teheran, Batavia and Hanoi. This may lead to a conflict with Japan, which right now is still fostering the Indians, because Nippon regards Vietnam, Siam and the present Dutch East Indies, at least Borneo and Celebes, as her zone of influence.
The Muslim states are expected to fall behind in this modernisation process. The reversion to traditional Islamic values is seen as an obstacle in acquiring up-to-date technological knowledge. The elites in Sindh and Punjab still prefer to sent their sons to Oxford and Cambridge, where they learn law and history; if they are not sent to Cairo or Devband for religious studies. However, at least some students have already gone to the technical university in Istanbul; this trend may be reinforced once the confrontation with the Hindi forces the Muslims to keep up with their neighbours. The Muslims are hopelessly outnumbered opposite the Hindi; they may have to turn to the Sublime Porte for support anyway.”

 

[Neroon]

Powder keg starting to brew. This could turn VERY ugly.

 

[Bmao]

Could we possibly be seeing an Ottoman-India War? I never thought of the possibility until now, but with the Muslim minority being persecuted in India and with a powerful Muslim state on the border, if things get bad enough the Ottomans might feel obliged to help their brethren. Or maybe not, as Persia would be between any warzone that the Ottomans could transport troops, as its hard for me to envision the Shiite Persians being on the same side as the Sunni Turks. Not when the Ottomans and British fought a war on Persian soil over oil fields.

 

[rast]

We have the Japanese in Persia already, looking for more oil. - We'll soon see (once the rail infrastructure is in place) an Ottoman move for North Persia - they'll want a land/rail connection with the Central Asian Turkic states.
So, we may see a Japanese-Indian/Hindi-Persian coalition versus an Ottoman-Indian/Muslim alliance. Hot war? - We'll see...

 

[rast]

The Happy Hunting Grounds

After the annihilation of the International Volunteer Brigades, the International Combat Air Wing had become the darling of the European and Latin American press.
Because the Erzberger Government in Germany had interdicted participation of German Pilots and France did send non-combatant instructors only to Mexico – on insistence of Maréchal Pétain, who thought that the US would win anyway and refused to sacrifice his combat experienced veterans – it were the Italians, who became the stars of the tabloids.
Led by the able Francesco Baracca, the ICAW usually made short shrift of the inexperienced American pilots. The ‘Americani’, however, never stopped trying and sent squadron after squadron against the Internationals.

Baracca, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Italian Air Force with 31 kills from the Great War, had had already added six more victories to his score in Russia. Now, on Christmas 1923, his total had arrived at 56, making him one of the top ten scoring fighter aces of all times – or the top scoring one, if one counted only those flyers still alive.
The SPAD XVII decorated with his personal emblem, the rearing black horse on yellow shield, had become the terror of the skies for the Americans.

The SPAD XVII was an excellent plane, combining speed, manoeuvrability and fire power. It could not climb like an escalator, which was a special trait the German pilots cherished with their Fokker and Siemens-Schuckert designs, trading this ability for an inferior top speed but gaining in prolonged dogfights by their outstanding sprightliness. The SPAD XVII was the ideal attacker, made for sweeping out of the clouds and overwhelming the enemy with the bullets of her four machine guns – before he even knew what was happening to him.

The Americans had only very few combat experienced pilots, all of them either having flown under British or French colours in the Great War, like William C. Lambert and Raoul Lufbery. These men today served as instructors, labouring hard to lift the standard of the US aviators and to produce skilled pilots.
Nevertheless, the US approach in Mexico seemed to be one of bulk. If you sent enough fighters forward, one of them would eventually manage to place a decisive bullet with the enemy.
The US had aeroplanes galore, having placed orders for two thousand SE 5a and seven hundred DH 4 in Britain, thus continuing with those proven designs they already had had before the Mexican War. They also produced pilots en masse.
Their bulk tactics had worked opposite the Mexican flyers, who also lacked combat experience – and thus proved unable to profit from the superior performance of their SPAD XVIIs and Breguet 19s. It did not work opposite the ICAW.

The Americans always tried to find the airfields of the Internationals – and lost plane after plane without ever achieving a gain, because the ICAW would move immediately, once one of their aerodromes had been detected, knowing very well that the following night would bring a mass bomb attack by dozens of DH 4s.

Of course, despite all victories, it had been a constant retreat, and today, on December 25th, 1923, the ICAW bases all were situated in Chiapas Province, only a few miles from the border to Guatemala.
The revolutionary government of Guatemala had already agreed that they could continue fighting from Guatemalan territory, but one hoped to celebrate the New Year on Mexican soil still.

At ten o’clock in the morning, Baracca took off, accompanied by his proven companions from the ancient Italian 91a Squadriglia, Fulco Ruffo di Calabria (44 kills), Pier Ruggiero Piccio (47 kills), Ferruccio Ranza (38 kills), and four other pilots, none of which had less than twenty victories.
The ‘Americani’ seemed to be celebrating Christmas; there were none of their airplanes in the sky. – But there was movement on the ground.
After the Italians had strafed what seemed to be a battalion of infantry on the march, finally some US fighters showed up. Easy meat for the veterans, the US patrol lost four planes and was lucky to have the other four get away.

But then the skies became crowded: At least four US squadrons converged on the Italian flight. In what later became known as ‘The Christmas Furball’, thirty-three US airplanes went down, while the ICAW lost only two of their’s.
When Francesco Baracca landed his SPAD again at about noon, his score had risen to 63.

Immediately, a host of reporters and photographers lunged forward to interview him and take pictures. Now, only the dead Manfred von Richthofen was ahead in score to Baracca; and almost the first question an Italian newspaper man directed at him was: “When do you think you will have 81 victories?”

 

[Bmao]

I think the Italians should be careful in celebrating their pilots so much. If it leads to a diplomatic coinfrontation with the United States they better withdraw them quickly, lest they be caught with sanctions. I don't think it'll be bad enough that it might mean war between the US and Italy, but you'd think Italy would want to have more discretion in dealing with the most powerful industrial country in the world, and that it wouldn't be worth antagonizing them over Mexico, which is after all in the US' sphere of influence.

 

[rast]

Echoes

What happened in far away Mexico had important repercussions in Europe. Everywhere, public opinion turned against the USA. Despite the fact that Pancho Villa was an ordinary villain and Leon Trotsky a wanted mass murderer, the fate of ‘Brave Li’l Mexico` opposite that big bad brute Yankee nation captured the hearts and minds of people all over Europe.
After the International Volunteer Brigades had entered combat, the last remaining reservations had vaporised. The famous ‘Last Stand at Acapulco’, where they had been annihilated, became a shrine for European writers, depicting the values of the old continent, self-sacrifice, courage and chivalry, trodden into the mud by the soulless legions of unscrupulous US imperialism.
Thereafter, the International Combat Air Wing rose to utter prominence. It was computed that at least two large ocean steamers would have been required each day, only to carry the fan mail for Francesco Baracca to Mexico.

Ireland, still thankful for US help in gaining independence, remained rather quiet, at least officially. But even here, there were public demonstrations against US imperialism.

Britain was in a fix. One would have liked to support the Mexicans, but one was dependent on US investment and one profited greatly from US orders for aeroplanes and ancillary equipment. The socialist press raved against the Americans, but the conservative papers tried to offer a balanced outlook. – In consequence, they lost heavily in readers, while those tabloids condemning the Yanks gained.

France, Spain and Portugal, the ultra conservative nations of Western Europe, couldn’t shake off their predilection for Latin Mexico, despite the fact of the repulsive Socialist Second Mexican Revolution. Even if the ruling men knew that a US victory was the best thing that could possibly happen, the people in the streets had quite another opinion: One suffered with Mexico and hoped for a lucky reversal, after all, these were people of the same blood and language. God Almighty, fuck the Gringos!

In Germany, events led to a surge in eminence for the SPD. The Erzberger Government was lucky that no major elections were due, otherwise they would have been swept out of office.
But the ban for German soldiers to go to Mexico also antagonised the right wing: One had fought Trotsky, that disgusting Ukrainian Jew, in Russia, why was it suddenly ‘impossible’ to get at his throat in Mexico? Why couldn’t one send a couple of Freikorps just for getting rid of Rosa Luxemburg, that evil Jewish spirit of the German Communists?
Why did the government not allow that the German aces joined combat against the Italian airmen? Why was it that this ‘Itaker’ Baracca was allowed to become so popular, while the leading German fighter aces were forbidden to go to Mexico?

Italy was perhaps the nation, where (almost) everybody was happy with proceedings in Mexico. Although Prime Minister Giolitti had initially stubbornly resisted the idea of letting armed forces personnel join the Mexicans, he had been convinced by his Socialist coalition partners that this was something the whole Italian people would endorse.
Now, with Francesco Baracca having become the super hero of public opinion, Giolitti bathed in the political bonus this produced. After the appalling results the Great War had produced for Italy, here was a saga of heroes! Italians were no cowards, who ran away when things became nasty, they were as valiant as the ancient Romans!

In Istanbul, events were analysed with utter coolness. For the Ottomans, the Americans were only a second variety of the English: Unrestrained imperialists, who disguised their lust for conquest with dubious Christian goals or humanitarian requirements. It was, however, very interesting to see this capitalistic giant, the USA, manage a major military intervention.
Between themselves, the Ottoman leaders agreed that – even with their backward state of political development and awkward infrastructure – they would have subdued all of Mexico some six months ago...

 

[glowjack]

just a question, how are computers doing as a concept/tool?
Since this would be around the time when stuff like Boolean algebra, vacuum tube and the teleprinter are going around and plans are made for the leap from mechanical computers to binary circuits and arithmetic operations.

If I recall properly the first real electronic computer was made by a german.

 

[Bmao]

Italy was perhaps the nation, where (almost) everybody was happy with proceedings in Mexico. Although Prime Minister Giolitti had initially stubbornly resisted the idea of letting armed forces personnel join the Mexicans, he had been convinced by his Socialist coalition partners that this was something the whole Italian people would endorse.
Now, with Francesco Baracca having become the super hero of public opinion, Giolitti bathed in the political bonus this produced. After the appalling results the Great War had produced for Italy, here was a saga of heroes! Italians were no cowards, who ran away when things became nasty, they were as valiant as the ancient Romans!

Mercenaries are one thing, but if the Italians think they want to send regular army troops to Mexico, the USA's backyard, they would in essence be declaring war on the United States. A country that has ten times its Industrial capacity and also about five times its population. It would be like the Greeks thinking they were the Byzantine Emprie again, or like Sparta when Venizelos and the super nationalists tried to make the Megali Idea real. It came to bite them right in the ass.

As for computers, dude, are you serious? I don't think technology would have been affected THAT much, and probably won't be in discussion until the 50s.

 

[glowjack]

well in reality the first "really" functional electronic computer was made in 1937. Analog mechnical computers were all ready in use by 1890 in the States.

 

[Lord Insane]

As for computers, dude, are you serious? I don't think technology would have been affected THAT much, and probably won't be in discussion until the 50s.

Not necessarily entirely true- there have been a few threads around here touching on the possibility of earlier transistors (a surprisingly reasonable result of a saner Germany)... of course, that generally being in the 30s, 1923 would seem to be a tad bit too early for such changes.

 

[rast]

The German Navy may go in lead here. They are unhappy with their FUMEO display, which requires too much space and is too complicated. So, they are looking and researching for something more compact, something that could also be used in Zeppelins, airplanes and small vessels...