Today we’re off to the nineteenth century to examine an event that Karl Marx called ‘One of the most monstrous enterprises in the annals of international history.’
Edward Shawcross takes us back to meet Maximilian, the Last Emperor of Mexico.
*
The 1860s were a decisive decade in the emergence of the modern world. As Britain’s empire expanded, and the United States emerged entire from a debilitating Civil War, an audacious French scheme to place an Austrian archduke on an invented throne in Mexico played tragically out.
One of the chief architects of this plan was the daring French leader, Napoleon III. In Napoleon’s mind the effort to insert a Catholic emperor into a contested part of the world was an inspired piece of statecraft. Yet to many others the enterprise was quite different. It was hubristic, high-flown, destined to fail.
Today’s guest tells us about this whole astonishing story. The Last Emperor of Mexico is Edward Shawcross’s debut book. Widely praised, it tells the extraordinary true story of Maximilian of Mexico.
As ever, much, much more about this episode is to be found at our website tttpodcast.com. For more about The Last Emperor of Mexico look here.
"A superbly entertaining and well-researched account that sets a new standard for histories of the doomed escapade."--Financial Times
Scene One: 13 February 1867, Mexico City (and its outskirts). Ferdinand Maximilian, so-called emperor of Mexico, rides out to confront his enemies.
Scene Two: Querétaro. Early morning of May 15 1867, Maximilian is cornered in a shell-shattered former convent.
Scene Three: 19 June 1867, Querétaro another convent, this one is Maximilian’s prison cell. This is the day of his death.
Memento: Maximilian’s silver crucifix.
People/SocialPresenter: Peter Moore
Guest: Edward Shawcross
Production: Maria Nolan
Podcast partner: Unseen Histories
Follow us on Twitter: @tttpodcast_
Or on Facebook
See where 1867 fits on our Timeline
Mike Jay: Radicals (1799)
[Live] Diarmaid MacCulloch: Thomas Cromwell (1536)
Prof. Mary Fulbrook: The Holocaust (1942)
Lesley Downer: Commodore Perry (1853)
Dr Peter Caddick-Adams: D-Day (1944)
Dr Daisy Dunn: Vesuvius (79 AD)
Dr Lucasta Miller: ‘LEL’ (1838)
Prof. Jonathan Phillips: Saladin (1187)
Kassia St Clair: Apollo 11 (1969)
Andrew Roberts: Winston Churchill (1940)
Aanchal Malhotra: Partition (1947)
Prof. Armand D’Angour: Socrates (450 – 416 BCE)
Matt Biggs: George Forrest (1905)
Dr Kate Fullagar: Voyagers (1776)
Dr Diane Atkinson: Suffragettes (1914)
Sir Michael Palin: HMS Erebus (1841-8)
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
The Rest Is History