ABSTRACT
Mexico’s ruling party subordinated the armed forces to civilian leadership and liberated Mexico from the scourge of provincial militarism. Indigenous people living in ancient Mesoamerica were different from native people in North America and the Caribbean. Forests and mountains have long offered refuge to outlaws and renegade soldiers. Colonial Mexico attracted more Spaniards than any other part of the empire precisely because there were so many natural resources and exploitable native people. Mexico’s nineteenth-century wars resulted in large numbers of men being hastily pressed into military service. The hills and mountains of Mexico’s rugged landscape have long offered sanctuary to outlaws and secure locations for the production and transport of contraband. The history of warfare in Mexico is remarkable for the stunning encounter between native warriors and Spanish conquistadors, enduring traditions of guerrilla fighting, civil wars, foreign invasions, and the creation of a modern armed forces in the twentieth century.
