Maximilian As Emperor Of Mexico

During several different brief periods of history, Mexico was actually a monarchy; these were time periods punctuated with imposed rulers, infighting and revolts. Remaining in power for less than eight months after it came into power in 1821, the Mexican Empire was installed after Mexico gained independence from Spain. Again in 1862, another monarchy was in place after Napoleon III invaded and put Emperor Maximilian in power. Maximilian was a forward thinking ruler who actually had the best interests of the people at heart, but he lasted only three years on the throne while battling multiple political forces.

Maximilian was born in 1832 in Vienna, into a long line of Austrian nobility. His father was archduke Franz Karl, and his maternal grandfather was King of Bavaria. He knew 7 languages and studied in the range of 55 hours per week, the subjects of technology, military history and diplomacy. He abhorred violence and was an intelligent and cultured individual, but he entered the navy despite that; at the age of 22 he attained the position of Commander-in-Chief.

Ferdinand Max, as the archduke was baptized, was a progressive who worked to modernize the navy and institute scientific expeditions. He married his second cousin, Charlotte of Belgium, in 1857, and they lived as the Austrian regents in Milan for two years until Maximilian's brother, the Emperor of Austria at the time, angrily dismissed them for their interest in Italian liberal policies. It was around this time that he was approached by members of the nobility in Mexico; they were planning to overthrow the deeply divided government and establish a monarchy. Was he interested in being its ruler?

Max refused the offer; he was more interested in exploring the tropical forests of Brazil instead. Napoleon III again asked the Archduke to be Emperor after he invaded Mexico in 1862 after creating a referendum by the Mexican locals which confirmed the declaration of the empire. He didn't realize that the plebiscite had been held under false pretenses, and Ferdinand accepted this time; he and Charlotte moved into the Chapultepec castle in 1864.

Maximilian's reign lasted for less than three years; having been put in place by an invading force did not endear him to much of the populace, and many foreign governments refused to acknowledge him as leader. Despite criticisms that he was naive and had no business being involved in the country in the first place, Max genuinely wished to help his subjects. Unfortunately, his refusal to abandon his allies upon capture by the Mexican Republican party resulted in his execution in 1867.

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