wo plausible with a Mexican ally. Mexico also faced the nationalistic advantage and the Yankee hatred which fueled much of the war talk of murdering the gringos. The Mexicans had justified reasons to hate the gringos. During the latter stages of their civil war the US bombarded the city of Veracruz in order to destroy munitions supplying Huerta's forces. The US also launched an invasion involving twenty thousand men or two thirds of the regular forces to invade Mexico and capture Mexican generalismo Poncho Villa. These forces were led by Gen. Pershing and were ultimately unsuccessful on their 3 month trek in the deserts of Mexico. This sense of nationalism would be essential if Mexico were to launch an offensive campaign against the US, but without strong leadership they would fail miserabliy. Mexico lacked a strong central figure for over twenty years. Mexico had been going on an on going struggle with a three prong civil war between Huerta, Villa and Caranza. Forces from former governments were still lingering about and occasionally one leader would seize power for a short time just to be ousted. Because of Mexico's geographical advantages it would be perfect for fighting a war with the US but because of what it lacked in stability it could never fight any war. The situation is best described in some information I recieved from the Mexican Embassy: Destruction was everywhere; agriculture, the mines, factories and commerce had all been seriously damaged. The same was true of the roads railroads and bridges. A large number of civilians had died in the battles, or had been killed by bandits who took advantage of the disorder; others fell prey to hunger and the epidemics caused by the struggle . Many men and women left the country for the United States, where they looked for work as they tried to escape from their political enemies. Others went to live in cities, especially Mexico city, where conditions were not so dangerous. In 1910, Mex...
