The Last Emperor of Mexico

Reading this book now. Fascinating historical episode I am embarrassed to say I was unaware of. About 70% through. The Europeans, mainly the French, decided to use the US Civil War to install a Hapsburg heir as Emperor of Mexico to check American Protestant Republican expansionism with a Catholic monarchy to the south defended by French soldiers.

It failed, obviously, in large part because Maximilian greatly overestimated the “innate” attraction of finery and aristocracy, and also because the Civil War ended sooner than the French thought. Suddenly a surplus of weapons to supply the Juarista liberals with, plus the Church withdrew support for Maximilian after he refused to restore Church lands that had created an ecclesial aristocracy.

But so much new, including the fact that Mexico City at the time had far more population, stunning architecture and culture/wealth than any American city. Obviously the nation as a whole was far poorer, but Mexico City had been the jewel of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.




The painting depicts Maximilian’s end

 

Truth. But also a dilettante. The Catholic Church wanted its status back. Reminds me of the clericalism that led to the Spanish reform about 60 years later after centuries of abuse, which eventually led to Franco. Maximilian agreed with the ideals of the French Revolution regarding the Church, not the least because his benefactor was Napoleon III (not the Joaquin Phoenix one). But that was fatal.


Wife was far smarter. In the chapter I just finished, she literally went insane as she realized the monarchy would fall. I suspect she doesn’t recover, but stopped last night at the end of that chapter.

 

Related in that the Prussian loss kept his brother from providing any troops to prop him up in Mexico. Troops were mobilized and ready to go.