Central American Federation (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Greater Republic of Central America República Mayor de Centroamérica Timeline: Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum OTL equivalent: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  Libre, Soberana e Independiente (Spanish) ("Free, Sovereign and Independent")
Anthem:  La Granadera
Location of the Central American Federation
Capital		San Salvador
Official languages		Spanish
Ethnic groups		Mestizos; Amerindians; Whites; Blacks
Religion		Christianity; Irreligion
Demonym		Centroamerican
Government		Federal state; Single-party socialist state
-	President	Luis Augusto Turcios Lima
-	Vice President	Salvador Sánchez Cerén
Legislature		Federal Congress of Central America
Establishment
-	Independence from Mexico	September 15, 1821
-	Re-establishment	April 4, 1851
Population
-	estimate	37,902,000
Currency		Centroamerican real (CAR)
Time zone		CAST (UTC-6)
Internet TLD		.ca
Calling code		+504
Membership international or regional organizations		Union of South American Nations

The Greater Republic of Central America (Spanish: República Mayor de Centroamérica), colloquially known as the Central American Federation (Spanish: Federación de Centroamérica) or Federated Central America (Spanish: Centroamérica Federada), is a federal socialist state in southern North America. It is bordered to the north by Mexico, to the northeast by Yucatan and Belize and to the south by Colombia. The Central American Federation consists of five Central American republics of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The first union was dissolved in 1838 before it was re-established again in 1851. The capital of the Central American Federation is San Salvador.

History

Colonial era

Following Christopher Columbus's discovery of the Americas for Spain in 1492, the Spanish sent numerous expeditions to the region, and they began their conquest of Maya lands in 1519. During those expeditions, Spanish contact resulted in an epidemic that devastated native populations. Hernán Cortés, who had led the Spanish conquest of Mexico, granted a permit to Captain Gonzalo de Alvarado and his brother, Pedro de Alvarado, to conquer the land that today belongs to the republics of Guatemala and El Salvador.

In 1540, Spain established the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which extended from southern Mexico to Costa Rica, and thus encompassed most of today's area of the Central American Federation. This lasted nearly three centuries, until a rebellion (which followed closely on the heels of the Mexican War of Independence) in 1821.

Independence

On February 24, 1821, General Agustín de Iturbide proclaimed in the town of Iguala, Mexico, the Independence of Mexico under terms that commonly known as the Plan of Iguala that had three primary premises: establishment of Roman Catholicism, political independence from Spain and constitutional equality for all social and ethnic groups in the new order, summarized as "Religion, Independence and Unity" ("Religión, Independencia y Unión"). Political developments in Mexico caused considerable concern in Central America.

Chiapas, one of the provinces of the Captaincy General proclaimed its independence and adopted the Plan of Iguala on September 8, 1821, followed by El Salvador on September 10 and Guatemala on September 15. Today, the latter date is celebrated as the Federal Independence Day of Central America.

The Interim Consultative Board for the Government of Central America was installed with representatives from all of the provinces, with the approval from so the Captain General, it was governed the provinces of the Captaincy General of Guatemala until a Constitutional Congress was established. Gainza was named the Supreme Power of all provinces. On September 18, 1821, Captain General Gainza communicated to the Regent of Mexico, General Agustin de Iturbide, that the Provinces of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, by popular vote, had proclaimed their independence from Spain.

First Republic era

In 1823, the nation of Central America was formed. It was intended to be a federal republic modeled after the United States of America. It was provisionally known as "The United Provinces of Central America," while the final name according to the Constitution of 1824 was "The Federal Republic of Central America."

The Central American nation consisted of the states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. In the 1830s, an additional state was added, Los Altos, with its capital in Quetzaltenango, occupying parts of what is now the western highlands of Guatemala and part of Chiapas (now part of Mexico), but this state was reincorporated into Guatemala and Mexico respectively in 1840.

Central American liberals had high hopes for the federal republic, which they believed would evolve into a modern, democratic nation, enriched by trade passing through it between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. However, the liberal democratic project was strongly opposed by conservative factions allied with the Roman Catholic clergy and the wealthy landowners. Transportation and communication routes between the states were extremely deficient. The bulk of the population lacked any sense of commitment towards the broader federation, perhaps owing to their continued loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church in Spain.

The federal bureaucracy in Guatemala City proved ineffectual, and fears of Guatemalan domination of the union led to protests that resulted in the relocation of the capital to San Salvador in 1831. Wars soon broke out between various factions both in the federation and within individual states.

Centroamerican Civil War

The union temporarily dissolved in a series of civil wars between 1838 and 1851. Its disintegration began when Nicaragua separated from the federation on November 5, 1838, followed by Honduras and Costa Rica. The union effectively dissolved in 1840, by which time four of its five states had declared independence. The union was officially ended only upon El Salvador's self-proclamation of the establishment of an independent republic in February 1841. Because of the chaotic nature of this period, an exact date does not exist but on May 31, 1838, the congress met to declare that the provinces were free to create their own independent republics.

During his exile in South America, former President Francisco Morazán had decided to travel to Uruguay and was impressed by military records and battle strategies of Italian volunteer to Uruguayan forces, Giuseppe Garibaldi. Morazán witnessed Garibaldi and his Italian legion of Redshirts fought during the Uruguayan civil war at the side of the Colorado Party. In 1850, Morazán met Garibaldi and requested him to lead the Salvadorean army in a campaign to re-unite the Central American Federation. Garibaldi, who had emigrated again from Italy following the failure of 1848 revolutions, readily accepted the offer and immediately went aboard to San Salvador, arriving on August 14, 1850.

Further readings