When Mexican President Benito Juarez refused to honor the foreign debts accumulated by his predecessor. Emperor Napoleon III of France used this refusal as an excuse to invade Mexico in 1862 and install Archduke Maximilian, younger brother of the Habsburg Emperor of Austria, as Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico in 1864. Napoleon hoped to exploit Mexico’s rich mineral resources and counterbalance the American republic with a Catholic Mexican monarchy. Maximilian proved to be more fixated on court etiquette than ruling the country, so when American pressure forced Napoleon to recall his army, forces loyal to Juarez restored the Mexican Republic in 1867.
Image Credit:
By Jean-Adolphe Beaucé (1818-1875) - http://www.histoire-image.org/pleincadre/index.php?t=142&d=31&i=328, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23912122
Cast of Characters:
Maximilian-Emperor of Mexico, archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Charlotte-Empress of Mexico, daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium
Napoleon III-Emperor of Second French Empire, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte
Benito Juarez-President of Mexico, his supporters called themselves Juaristas
General Francois Achille Bazaine-commander of French forces
General Miguel Miramon-conservative President of Mexico during the War of Reform, and general in Maximilian's army
Leopold II-king of Belgium, Charlotte's brother, oversaw a brutal colonization of the Congo
Franz Josef I-Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, Maximilian's older brother
Sources:
Maximilian and Carlota: Europe's Lost Empire in Mexico-M.M. McAllen
Maximilian and Juarez-Jasper Ridley
The Cactus Throne: The Tragedy of Maximilian and Carlotta-Richard O’Connor
Mexico: Biography of Power, A History of Modern Mexico, 1810-1996-Enrique Krauze, translated by Hank Heifetz
The Mexican-American War (1846-1848): Part IX-The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Mexican-American War (1846-48): Part VIII-Vera Cruz and Mexico City
The Mexican-American War (1846-48): Part VII-New Mexico and California
The Mexican-American War (1846-48): Part VI-Vera Cruz and Polkas
The Mexican-American War (1846-48): Part V-The Return of Santa Anna
The Mexican-American War (1846-48): Part IV-54:40 or Fight!
The Mexican-American War (1846-48): Part III-Who Is James Polk?
The Mexican-American War (1846-48): Part II-The Republic of Texas
The Mexican-American War (1846-48): Part I-The Texan Revolution
The Mexican-American War (1846-1848)-Introduction
The Formation of the United States: Part VIII-Ratification Part Two
The Formation of the United States: Part VII-Ratification of the Constitution
The Formation of the United States: Part VI-Plain, Honest Men. The end of the Constitutional Convention.
The Formation of the United States: Part V-Compromises, Compromises and More Compromises
The Formation of the United States: Part IV-The Constitutional Convention
The Formation of the United States: Part III-Shays’ Rebellion
The Formation of the United States: Part II-A Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government
The Formation of the United States: Part I-These United States
The Fomation of the United States of America-Introduction
The Mexican Revolution: Part XIV-The Headless Rebellion and the end of Obregon
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