Maximilian I of Mexico

Austrian emperor of Mexico (r. 1864-1867)

• Born: July 6, 1832
• Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
• Died: June 19, 1867
• Place of death: Querétaro, Mexico

A liberal, romantic idealist, the young Austrian archduke Maximilian was placed on the French-created throne of Mexico as emperor and attempted sweeping reforms, only to be rejected by the majority of Mexican people, deserted by his French supporters, and executed.

Early Life

Mexico’s Emperor Maximilian was born an Austrian archduke, Ferdinand Maximilian van Habsburg. Some historians have speculated that his father was Napoleon Francis Charles, the duke of Reichstadt and son of the French emperor Napoleon I. Reichstadt is known to have been a close friend of his mother, Archduchess Sophia (née Wittelsbach), a Bavarian princess who was the wife of the archduke Charles Francis, the son of Austrian emperor Francis II (r. 1792-1835). Whatever the truth of that rumor, however, Ferdinand Maximilian was officially considered the second son of Charles Francis.

Favored by his mother when he was young, Maximilian—as his family called him—was noted for his vibrant personality and inquisitive intelligence. In his personality, he differed markedly from his two brothers. At the age of thirteen he determined upon pursuing a career in the navy.

In 1848, when Maximilian was sixteen, revolutions swept through Europe and rocked the Austrian monarchy to its foundations. Archduchess Sophia worked hard to preserve the throne for her oldest son, Francis Joseph (Franz Josef). On December 2, 1848, she succeeded, when the incompetent Emperor Ferdinand abdicated, and her equally weak-minded husband renounced his claim to the throne. Eighteen-year-old Francis Joseph was then crowned emperor.

As the next in line to his brother, Maximilian was now a conspicuous figure at court. He became the center of controversy because of his outspoken liberal opinions, which were at odds with those of Francis Joseph and most of his court, and his criticisms of government policy on Hungary. In 1850, he was sent far from Vienna to join the navy in Trieste, then part of the Austrian province of Venetia-Lombardy.

Life’s Work

Maximilian spent the next few years cruising on the Mediterranean in naval vessels and being dispatched on occasional diplomatic missions. In September of 1854, he was promoted to rear admiral and proved to be an exceptionally able administrator. He launched a program of reform and modernization that contributed to the naval victories the Austrians were to achieve during the Seven Weeks’ War of 1866. In 1857, he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral.

On July 28 of 1857, Archduke Maximilian married Princess Charlotte, daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium. At the time of her wedding, Charlotte changed the form of her name to the Germanic Carlota. The couple would have no children. Meanwhile, Maximilian was appointed imperial viceroy to the province of Venetia-Lombardy on September 6, 1857. His liberal leanings and conciliatory policies even toward Italian nationalists aroused the opposition of Count Gyulai, the military commander of that province, who eventually turned Maximilian’s brother Francis Joseph against him. Maximilian was relieved of his office of viceroy in 1859, shortly before the Franco-Austrian War wrested control of Lombardy away from Austria and gave it to the kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont.

Around that same time, a civil war arose in Mexico that became known as the Reform War; it lasted from 1858 to 1860 and divided the country between liberals and conservatives. The war ended in victory for the liberals and their leader, President Benito Juárez. Thousands of exiled Mexican conservative leaders then went into exile in Europe. Among these exiles were José Hidalgo and José Maria Gutierrez d’Estrada, who gained the favor of Empress Eugenie, the wife of French emperor Napoleon IIII24IIII III. The empress, the Mexican exiles, and Napoleon’s half brother, the duke de Morny, convinced Napoleon that intervening in Mexico on behalf of the conservative faction was a project worth undertaking.

In 1861, Napoleon saw his chance when the impoverished Mexican government defaulted on loans from France, Spain, and Great Britain. The three nations accordingly dispatched expeditionary forces to Veracruz, Mexico, in January of 1862. The Spanish and British troops withdrew several weeks later, but the French remained and attempted to take control of the country for the conservatives. Juárez and his partisans began a war of resistance that continued even after the French drove the Juaristas out of Mexico City in June of 1863.

With French troops in control of Mexico’s capital, Napoleon and the Mexican conservatives campaigned to persuade Maximilian to accept the crown of emperor of Mexico, which had once been briefly held during the early 1820’s by Agustín de Iturbide, who styled himself Emperor Agustín I. At first reluctant, Maximilian agreed to do so only under pressure from his wife and after receiving assurances that the military situation was under control and that the majority of the Mexican people wanted him. A plebiscite of Mexican voters arranged by French occupation forces seemed to confirm this.

After a bitter confrontation with his brother, Francis Joseph, who insisted that Maximilian renounce his rights as an Austrian archduke, Maximilian resentfully signed the Act of Renunciation and left for Mexico. There he was proclaimed emperor on April 10, 1864, and was crowned on June 10. However, he soon discovered that he had been deceived. The plebiscite had been rigged, and there was deep opposition to his regime, which was merely propped up by French arms. Nonetheless, he committed himself to the task of governing his new country.

It was not long before Maximilian alienated both the conservatives who had expected him to carry out their political agenda and the Roman Catholic Church, which had expected to have its properties and privileges restored. Maximilian rejected the conservative program and proceeded to confirm the liberal and anticlerical provisions of Juárez’s administration.

Just as Maximilian was losing what little support he had in Mexico, Napoleon III was under pressure from the international community to withdraw from Mexico. Tensions arose among France, Prussia, and the United States. Up to that time, the United States had been enmeshed in its own civil war. The United States made it known that it considered the French intervention in Mexico to be a violation of the Monroe Doctrine, which explicitly forbade European meddling in Western Hemisphere affairs. After the U.S. government threatened to send troops into Mexico in 1866, Napoleon began withdrawing French troops from Mexico.

Disregarding warnings that his regime was doomed, Maximilian refused to desert what he had come to believe was his sacred duty to the Mexican people. Carlota left for Europe in an attempt to persuade Emperor Napoleon and Pope Pius IX to preserve her husband’s throne. Carlota not only failed, but she also suffered a mental breakdown and lapsed into insanity. In the meantime, Maximilian, with his support rapidly eroding, evacuated Mexico City and made a last stand at Querétaro, where he was captured by Juaristas on May 15, 1867. Despite numerous entreaties for clemency, Juárez considered Maximilian to pose an unacceptable threat to Mexico’s security and ordered his execution. On June 19, 1867, Maximilian and two of his generals, Tómas Mejia and Miguel Miramon, were shot by firing squads.

Significance

Though sometimes derided as a lackey of Napoleon III, Maximilian was in most respects an innocent whose grip on reality was tenuous at best and who died sincerely believing in the righteousness of his cause. His death and the collapse of the French intervention sullied the reputation of Napoleon III in the eyes of the international community and may have contributed to the Second French Empire’s downfall in 1870. In Mexico, Napoleon’s own downfall confirmed Juárez’s triumph but only intensified the already-poisoned political atmosphere there. The major victor in the entire affair was the United States, which was on its way to assuming the status of a great power and whose firm stance against the French intervention was perceived as having made the French back down.

Bibliography

Blasio, José Luis. Maximilian: Emperor of Mexico: Memoirs of His Private Secretary. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1934. A firsthand but biased account by a person who was close to Maximilian but who did not himself play an important role in major events.

Harris, Alfred Jackson, and Kathryn Abbey. Napoleon III and Mexico: American Triumph over Monarchy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971. A slanted account that takes the view that the downfall of Maximilian’s regime was in effect a victory for United States ideals and policy over the reactionary forces of Europe.

Haslip, Joan. The Crown of Mexico: Maximilian and Empress Carlotta. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. A sympathetic but factually sound portrayal of the emperor that depicts him as talented and well-intentioned victim of the cynical realpolitik of his times.

Shorris, Earl. The Life and Times of Mexico. New York: W. W. Norton, 2004. The author stresses the theme of Maximilian as the idealistic dreamer caught up in forces that he was never able to comprehend.

Sinkin, Richard N. The Mexican Reform, 1855-1876: A Study in Liberal Nation-Building. Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 1979. A broad study of Mexican politics during the Juárez era.

Smith, Gene. Maximilian and Carlota: A Tale of Romance and Tragedy. New York: William Morrow, 1973. Although this narrative rambles at times, it nonetheless makes controversial points, particularly about Maximilian’s parentage, and provides interesting reading.

Wasserman, Mark. Everyday Life and Politics in Nineteenth Century Mexico: Men, Women and War. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2000. An informative account that provides some insights into the background of the events of the 1860’s. Includes an excellent time line.