I've stop/start read this book since May and only just finished it. I think that shows with the disconnected style of my review, but I gave it a shot, even if it's all over the place.

 

I'll start with a quote from page 67.

 

There could be no palaces and fine parks, no aqueducts and paved roads, and no soaring pyramids without the labor of thousands of people straining at subsistence level. All of the meso-American cultures built their capital, and their civilization, out of peasant sweat. 

 

As you can see life for the Mexica could be brutal if you didn't sit at the top. The author's argument in simplistic terms and to my understanding at the present time, is that the Amerindian people developed their society later than that of people of other continents because they discovered farming much later. Several tribes existed in various parts of what would become Mexico and at differing times some of these tribes came to dominate and influence culture. One such group believed that the sun needed the sacrifice of human blood in order to rise every day and so the practice of human sacrifice and eventually the cutting out of people's hearts (Mel Gibson's Apocalypto style) became imbedded into religious practice.

 

Fehrenbach argues that the Amerindian people were culturally and technologically stagnant for significant periods of time and once discovered by a technologically superior people, in this case the Spanish, It was inevitable that they would be exploited. This section of the book was my favourite. I found the story of Motecuhzoma and Cortez fascinating. Motecuhzoma saw the arrival of Cortez as the arrival of a sea god. I believe the story went that a white god was exiled and would one day return on some sort of sea beast. Low and behold when Cortez and his men arrived in ships, the Mexica leader put two and two together and got five.

 

He then bowed down to Cortez and let him essentially pillage his stores of all of his gold and didn't raise a hand to stop it. Tensions eventually boiled over with the people and Cortez's men gunned them down, before being encircled in a pyramid. They tried to flee at night lost the gold in a polluted lake, never to be seen again, and Cortez was vanquished, only to return again and massacre the Amerindians.

 

The Spanish then culturally obliterated the Amerindians enforcing slavery and catholicism on them, whilst pillaging their resources to send back to Spain for the monarchy. 

 

'The viceroyalty, after the middle of the sixteenth century, began to shape the entire public economy to support the flow of silver out of the country and back to spain. Meanwhile normal commerce stagnated and goods piled up and rotted.' page 224

 

The death toll was also massive from imported disease and punitive government. At an estimate there were 11 million Amerindians in the conquered regions in 1520. By 1650 only 1 million remained.

 

Fast forward to modern times and Mexico is formed after it gains independence from Spain, only to spiral into corruption and inept government after government. Revolution/coup one after another, until foreign interests start to see the stagnation and see an opportunity. Mexico then becomes a haven for British, American and French interests with some industries, such as oil, being purely owned by foreign companies without paying any tax. This was changed to a small rate of tax, before the oil industry was totally nationalized in modern times by Cardenas. The government ironed out a deal where it paid compensation for loss of property, which they ironically financed through US credit/loans. 

 

The books ends with the message that people endure and with endurance comes hope. But for me it's all a bit of a depressing and frustrating read. It's hard to stay emotionless and not see a country pillaged by ruthless business/nations and its own corrupt officials. The effects of colonialism were far reaching. You constantly begin to think there might be a light at the end of a tunnel for Mexico, only for someone or something to come along and snuff it out in a whirlwind of exploitation. Even through economics, situations arose in which politicians believed they were doing the best for their people only to then exacerbate existing gaps in wealth distribution as a result. There is a lesson in here about the dangers of total free market economics and a lack of state intervention and vice versa.

 

I was largely oblivious to the role countries like Spain have played in destroying cultures and subjecting people to their rule. This is why education in this country needs to include a broader selection of history and not focus on British history and very modern European history. I have a degree in the subject and I'm learning more through my own research than I was ever taught. 

 

Whether I accept Fehrenbach's conclusions is another thing. This books was republished in the 1990s and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the arguments have been rebuffed by modern research, but the fact is that this is my first foray into Mexican history and so I'm at this stage inclined to accept the conclusions it draws until I read further, should I choose to do so. Either way the history of Mexico is by and large a sad tale, a tale of what might have been for a country so rich in resources. Who knows what the future holds, but I hope one day it finds a way past chronic corruption, debt and inefficiency to develop into a strong economy. 

I found Hampstead heath today in the city and sunbathed amongst some tall grass and didn't see a soul for close to two hours. I had my ear plugs in and it was the closest I've been to total silence in as long as i can remember. Bliss. 

 

Managed to focus well during that time on this book too, which is always a plus. The story of Mexico, from colonialism onwards, sadly seems to be a downward spiral of corruption and ineptitude in government at all levels. Exacerbated by foreign interests capitalizing on its rich resources. Pretty much what I expected then. 

A lot more progress with this. It's a massive tome, one of those tall books with small print and lots of pages where you read for an hour think you must have gotten through a chunk of the book and realize you've read 18 pages.

 

The history of South America is an interesting one and even though I was faintly aware of catholic Spain and its imprint on the world it's interesting to learn in greater detail about the Mexica and the conquistadors and the lay of the land post Cortez. 

An excellent (and detailed history) of the Korean War (my father fought there), yet the effort would have been more appreciated had the author not marbled the book so heavily with opinions blaming a permissive society for a sub-par US fighting force. The ranting does nothing to further the book, and the author doesn't support his assertions. The rest of the books is first-rate.

times change and so do our expectations and language. there's some 1920s era world history free ebook floating around, and although the work is completely readable, the modern reader is somewhat shocked to see written without any sense of irony

the Negro should blame himself for his plight, for nations must organize themselves first...

as if, of course, Africans or African-Americans are one person, 'the Negro...'

T.R. Fehrenbach wrote his classic 1961 Korean War history just before the 60s sexual and social revolution. so in two or three places, Fehrenbach writes things like

the North Korean soldier could survive on three rice balls a day

but actually aside from this and the de rigeur criticism of the ROK army, Fehrenbach's work is still surprisingly readable, accessible, and valuable today. he isn't quite as military-focused as the paratrooper officer Max Hastings. unlike Halberstam he doesn't drown the book half in criticism of Douglas MacArthur, but he does provide some coverage of Chipyongni and the North Korean prison revolt on their POW island in the south. overall the work is professional and proficient.