Existing comment:
Trouble in Mexico
Before Wilson took office, Mexico was in turmoil. The Mexican Revolution had begun in 1910 as reformers battled to oust the dictator Porfirio Diaz. The autocrat fled in 1911, but the new democratically elected leader was ousted in a coup in early 1913 by Gen. Victoriano Huerta, who then installed himself as President of Mexico roughly a month before Wilson would be sworn in.
Wilson immediately condemned the coup, calling it an illegal regime and stating, "I will not recognize a government of butchers." Though American businesses had invested in Mexico, particularly in oil production, Wilson would not budge. He instead sought a neutral path, forbidding US companies to export munitions to Huerta's forces.
In April 1914, before the outbreak of war in Europe, Wilson decided to go a step further in an effort to stop a ship load of German weapons bound for Huerta. On April 21st, American sailors and Marines sailed to the port city of Veracruz, capturing the town after a two-day fight and demonstrating that American words would be followed by American action.
Huerta fled into excite later that year, but violence continued to engulf Mexico. On March 9, 1916, Pancho Villa and his Division del Norte attacked the small town of Columbus, New Mexico. Though pushed back by the 13th US Cavalry, the attack caused great outrage and led Wilson to authorize the Punitive Expedition. Led by Gen. John Pershing, the force of nearly 5,000 men marched into Mexico in pursuit of Villa later that month. |