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

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Listened to this on Audible. Probably why I gave it 4 instead of 3 stars. An excellent narrative of the short-lived French intervention

Pani, Erika. El Segundo Imperio: Pasados de usos múltiples. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica 2004. ISBN 968-16-7259-3 See also: Monarchism in Mexico At Miramar castle the Mexican Delegation appoints Ferdinand Maximilian of Habsburg as Emperor of Mexico by Cesare Dell'Acqua (1864)Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1887). History of Mexico Volume VI 1861–1887. San Francisco: The History Company. p. 173. The Assembly met in July 1863 and resolved to invite Maximilian to be Emperor of Mexico. The executive triumvirate was formally changed into the Regency of the Mexican Empire. An official delegation left Mexico, arriving in Europe in October. Upon meeting the delegation, Maximilian set forth the condition that he would only accept the throne if a national plebiscite approved of it. [76] By February 1864 French forces controlled territory comprising the majority of Mexico's population. The Mexican plebiscite duly held in occupied territory "was a farce", but Maximilian accepted the proclamation that a majority of Mexicans voted in favor of him as emperor. [77]

McAllen, M.M. (April 2015). Maximilian and Carlota: Europe's Last Empire in Mexico. Trinity University Press. p.126. ISBN 978-1-59534-263-8. Shawcross: The defeat of the French begins and ends with Benito Juárez; however, US support played an important role. This was especially the case after the end of the US Civil War in 1865. Prior to this, Washington feared European intervention in its own conflict and, apart from refusing to recognize Maximilian’s government, offered little more than sympathy to the Mexican republic. During this period even Juárez’s supporters, including his former minister of foreign affairs, Manuel Doblado, urged the president to surrender to the combined forces of the French and their Mexican allies because defeat seemed inevitable. Juárez refused. He retreated ever further northward, eventually reaching El Paso del Norte, a city that is today known as Ciudad Juárez, in the summer of 1865. This changed with the defeat of the Second Mexican Empire. The association of conservatives with Maximilian and foreign invasion entirely discredited their political project. Now, they were seen as traitors and the term “conservative” became pejorative. To be a conservative was not Mexican. This interpretation was embedded in the liberal historiography of the Porfiriato. So much so that when a writer called Francisco Bulnes published a work questioning Juárez’s role in defeating Maximilian the author received death threats and his publisher was boycotted. The Mexican Revolution, which lasted from 1910 through 1920, also appropriated the legend of Juárez into its own rhetoric of triumphant progress. A major aspect of liberalism in Mexico was the curtailment of the power and privileges of the ideologically conservative Roman Catholic Church, including the forced sale of Church-owned property and freedom of religion, removing Roman Catholicism as the sole religion of the nation. The papal nuncio, Pier Francesco Meglia, arrived in Mexico in December 1864, and informed Maximilian that the liberal laws were to be reversed, Church property was to be returned and religious toleration rescinded and Catholicism as the sole religion reinstated. Maximilian refused, decreeing freedom of worship and confirmed the sale of Church property, as well as other liberal reforms. The pope's representative wrote to Maximilian, saying that the Church had supported the establishment of the empire, but now threatened that it would no longer do so if the regime were "ungodly." [95] Maximilian's alienation of the high clergy was in line with his liberal views, but it removed a major pillar of conservative support for the empire. [ citation needed] 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]

51. He Broke His Mother’s Heart

This whole Mexican Hapsburg affair marks not only the passing of an old world, but the start of ours.

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. Shawcross, Edward (2021). The Last Emperor of Mexico: The Dramatic Story of the Habsburg Archduke Who Created a Kingdom in the New World. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-1541-674196. Also titled The Last Emperor of Mexico: A Disaster in the New World. London: Faber & Faber, 2022.During his short reign, Maximilian issued eight volumes of laws covering all aspects of government, including forest management, railroads, roads, canals, postal services, telegraphs, mining, and immigration, most of which were never implemented. [97] [98] Günter, Treffer (1973). Molden (ed.). Die Weltumsegelung der Novara, 1857–1859 (in German). Viena. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link) All is told in detail, yet not overwhelmingly so. For example, I find the description of battles, even though they’re often very important, a rather dull reading experience; yet here, I didn’t get bored one second. I also always say that good history-telling demands the same talent as good story-telling, and the author has that talent. He spins his (historical) yarn skilfully and entertainingly. What I could see perfectly well was the ludicrous character the whole Mexico-enterprise had from the start, the wobbly base upon which the empire was built, the unsavoury helpers and builders of that scheme, and the helpless credulity of both Maximilian and his wife, who (and that can maybe only be understood after the facts, of course) were doomed from the start. O'Connor, Richard (1971). The Cactus Throne: The Tragedy of Maximilian and Carlotta. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-04-972005-8.