Decades of Rebellion Volume 1 Mexican Military Aviation in the Rebellions of the 1920s

In the decades before Mexico joined the allies during the Second World War, Mexican military aviation saw a rapid growth and intense involvement in multiple rebellions, internal strife, and in operations against armed banditry. Aviation was introduced to military service in Mexico during the Revolutionary Period of 1910-1920, culminating in the bloody showdown between the subsequent president Don Venustiano Carranza and General Victoriano Huerta in 1913. Based on this experience, a strong military service was understood to be an important element for maintaining internal security, and was therefore deployed at almost every opportunity. Mexican military aviation helped defeat several armed uprisings – often by little more than the strong psychological impact upon the insurgents and the civilian population. Rather unsurprisingly, in at least one instance, an armed rebellion sought to obtain aircraft and recruit mercenary pilots to counter the federal air service. Three decades of small