The Last Emperor of Mexico: A Disaster in the New World

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Parish Flannery: President Lopez Obrador likes to refer to his political enemies and critics as "conservatives." Do you think it make sense for Lopez Obrador to apply this terminology to today's feminists, environmental activists and investigative reporters? The other Latin American empire initially lasted but two years and was reestablished three decades later, only to last just slightly longer. The Second Empire was sustained by foreign invaders two years prior to its establishment, and was marked by political instability, a ferociously brutal civil war, and economic hardship. The empire was Mexico, the foreign invaders were the French, and the emperor whom they installed was a Habsburg archduke named Maximilian. Long forgotten, especially in Mexico but also in the United States, the tale of Maximilian’s rise to the throne and sudden fall is not only fascinating but offers some worrisome lessons for contemporary American policymakers. Although Maximilian had been brought to power with the support of Mexican conservatives expecting he would reverse the reforms of Mexican liberals, codified in the Constitution of 1857, Maximilian and Napoleon III did not want hardline Mexicans to control the regime. Napoleon III had a confidential policy known to his military commander Bazaine to marginalize the conservatives and create a moderate monarchy with wide support. [91] Maximilian was in agreement and sought to establish a regime that included liberals. In the summer of 1864 Maximilian declared a political amnesty for all liberals wishing to join the Empire. His conciliatory efforts eventually won over some moderate liberals such as José Fernando Ramírez, José María Lacunza, Manuel Orozco y Berra, and northern strongman Santiago Vidaurri, a former ally of Juárez. [92] Just seconds before the guns went off, Maximilian told his executioners, "I forgive everyone, and I ask everyone to forgive me. May my blood, which is about to be shed, be for the good of the country. Viva México, viva la independencia!" Apparently, his words and gestures paid off: The men’s aim was true, and he perished almost instantly. The aftermath, however, was so much messier. Bilteryst, Damien (2014). Philippe comte de Flandre – Frère de Léopold II (PDF) (in French). Bruxelles: Éditions Racine. ISBN 978-2-87386-894-9.

Hyde, H. Montgomery (1946). Mexican Empire: The History of Maximilian and Carlota of Mexico. London: Macmillan & Co. Despite the hatred that Maximilian stirred up in the Liberals, he still had ardent supporters in Mexico up until the bitter end, and they never stopped trying to free their ruler. So at the eleventh hour, one of his men came up with a conspiracy to bribe Maximilian’s guards and secret him away in the night— until Maximilian declined for a disturbing reason. The Austrian archduke's conciliatory efforts ultimately fell apart when his various projects for improving the wellbeing of the Italian public were shut down. Franz Joseph was intent on preventing any concessions to the populace. The emperor considered Maximilian too liberal and generous with the rebellious Italian population. [66] Franz Joseph relieved his brother of his post as viceroy on 10 April 1859. [67] McAllen, M. M. (April 2015). Maximilian and Carlota: Europe's Last Empire in Mexico. Trinity University Press. p.165. ISBN 978-1-59534-263-8. The marriage was not fruitful, producing no biological children. When they were Emperor and Empress of Mexico, they adopted on 9 September 1865 Agustín de Iturbide y Green and his cousin Salvador de Iturbide y Marzán, both grandsons of Agustín de Iturbide, who had briefly reigned as emperor of the First Mexican Empire. Agustin's mother, Alicia Iturbide, an American who was born Alice Green, agreed to give up her child. Soon after, she changed her mind and sent messages to Maximilian to renounce the adoption contract, but she was simply deported from Mexico without her child. [46] Agustín and his cousin were granted the title Prince de Iturbide and the style of Highness by an imperial decree of 16 September 1865, and were ranked next in line after the reigning family. [47] In October 1866, as the Empire began to falter, Maximilian wrote to Alice Iturbide that he was returning her son, Agustín, to her care." [48]Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1888). History of Mexico Volume VI 1861–1887. The Bancroft Company. pp.206–207. Maximilian was no dummy, and he could tell from his toddling years that his brother Franz Joseph was the star of the family. This drove the little boy nearly mad with jealousy, and he started trying to compete with his brother in everything he could, from academic studies to military accomplishments. Yeah, the Austrian royal family was more than a little messed up—and there was more where that came from.

Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1887). History of Mexico Volume VI 1861–1887. San Francisco: The History Company. pp. 77–78.

If 19th-century geopolitics and Latin American literature were put in a blender together, something like this book would emerge. It all feels like a novel from a time gone by. And this is a tale of another world—of violent Wild West frontier towns like Brownsville in Texas and Matamoros across the river in Mexico, of European empires trying to paint more of the map their color and of a monarch more concerned with remodeling his castle than governing, even as his empire begins to collapse around him. Mexican diplomat José Hidalgo had been officially tasked by the Santa Anna administration to sound European courts for interest in establishing a Mexican monarchy, but after the fall of Santa Anna in 1853 with the successful liberal Revolution of Ayutla, Hidalgo had lost his official accreditation and continued his efforts independently. Hidalgo's childhood friend, the Spanish noblewoman Eugénie de Montijo was now wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of France, and it was through her that Hidalgo managed to gain the attention of the French ruler. Rottauscher, Maximilian. With Tegetthoff at Lissa. The Memoirs of an Austrian Naval Officer 1861-66. p.Footnote 7. ISBN 978-1-908916-36-5. Maximilian's execution was portrayed in a series of three paintings by French painter Édouard Manet, who had Republican sympathies. His third depiction of the execution shows the Mexican soldiers wearing "uniforms almost identical to French troops, and the man preparing for the coup de grâce shares the conspicuous features of Napoleon III. The implication was clear: Napoleon III had blood on his hands. Unsurprisingly, the painting was banned from public display in Paris" [135]