Maximilian Of Austria And His Empire In Mexico


It is interesting, in view of the total conquest and submission of the

Indians in Mexico, that the final blow for freedom in that country should

have been made by an Indian of pure native blood. His name was Benito

Juarez, and his struggle for liberty was against the French invaders and

Maximilian, the puppet emperor, put by Louis Napoleon on the Mexican

throne. In the words of Shakespeare, "Thereby hangs a tale."


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For many years after the Spanish colonies had won their independence the

nations of Europe looked upon them with a covetous eye. They would dearly

have liked to snap up some of these weak countries, which Spain had been

unable to hold, but the great republic of the United States stood as their

protector, and none of them felt it quite safe to step over that

threatening bar to ambition, the "Monroe Doctrine." "Hands off," said

Uncle Sam, and they obeyed, though much against their will.



In 1861 began a war in the United States which gave the people of that

country all they wanted to do. Here was the chance for Europe, and

Napoleon III., the usurper of France, took advantage of it to send an army

to Mexico and attempt the conquest of that country. It was the overweening

ambition of Louis Napoleon which led him on. It was his scheme to found an

empire in Mexico which, while having the name of being independent, would

be under the control of France and would shed glory on his reign.



At that time the President of Mexico, the Indian we have named, was Benito

Juarez, a descendant of the Aztec race, and, as some said, with the blood

of the Montezumas in his veins. Yet his family was of the lowest class of

the Indians, and when he was twelve years old he did not know how to read

or write. After that he obtained a chance for education, and in time

became a lawyer, was made governor of his native state, and kept on

climbing upward till he became secretary of state, president of the

Supreme Court, and finally president of Mexico.



He was the man who had the invaders of his country to fight, and he fought

them well and long. But the poor and undisciplined Mexicans were no match

for the trained troops of France, and they were driven back step by step

until the invaders were masters of nearly the whole country. Yet Juarez

still had a capital and a government at San Luis Potosi, and all loyal

Mexicans still looked on him as their president.



When Napoleon III. found himself master of Mexico, he looked around for a

man who would serve him as a tool to hold the country. Such a man he found

in Ferdinand Joseph Maximilian, the brother of the emperor of Austria, a

dreamer rather than a man of action, and a fervent believer in the "divine

right of kings." This was the kind of man that the French usurper was in

want of, and he offered him the position of emperor of Mexico. Maximilian

was taken by surprise. The proposition was a startling one. But in the end

ambition overcame judgment, and he accepted the lofty but perilous

position on the condition that France should sustain him on the throne.






HOUSE OF MAXIMILIAN AT QUERETARO.





The struggle of the Mexicans for freedom was for the time at an end, and

the French had almost everywhere prevailed, when in 1864 the new emperor

and his young wife Carlotta arrived at Vera Cruz and made their way to the

city of Mexico. This they entered with great show and ceremony and amid

the cheers of many of the lookers on, though the mass of the people, who

had no love for emperors, kept away or held their peace.



The new empire began with imperial display. All the higher society of

Mexico were at the feet of the new monarchs. With French money to pay

their way and a French army to protect them, there was nothing for

Maximilian and Carlotta to do but enjoy the romance and splendor of their

new dignity. On the summit of the hill of Chapultepec, two hundred feet

above the valley, stood the old palace which had been ruined by the

American guns when Scott invaded Mexico. This was rebuilt by Maximilian on

a grand scale, hanging gardens were constructed and walled in by galleries

with marble columns, costly furniture was brought from Europe, and here

the new emperor and empress held their court, with a brilliant succession

of fetes, dinners, dances, and receptions. All was brilliance and gayety,

and as yet no shadow fell on their dream of proud and royal reign.



But the shadow was coming. Maximilian had reached Mexico in June, 1864.

For a year longer the civil war in the great republic of the north

continued; then it came to an end, and the government of the United States

was free to take a hand in the arbitrary doings on the soil of her near

neighbor to the south.



It was a sad blow to the ambitious schemes of Napoleon, it was like the

rumble of an earthquake under the throne of Maximilian, when from

Washington came a diplomatic demand which, translated into plain English,

meant, you had better make haste to get your armies out of Mexico; if they

stay there, you will have the United States to deal with. It hurt Louis

Napoleon's pride. He shifted and prevaricated and delayed, but the hand of

the great republic was on the throat of his new empire, and there was

nothing for him to do but obey. He knew very well that if he resisted, the

armies of the civil war would make very short work of his forces in

Mexico.



Maximilian was strongly advised to give up his dream of an empire and

leave the country with the French. He changed his mind a half-dozen times,

but finally decided to stay, fancying that he could hold his throne with

the aid of the loyal Mexicans. Carlotta, full of ambition, went to Europe

and appealed for help to Napoleon. She told him very plainly what she

thought of his actions; but it was all of no avail, and she left the

palace almost broken-hearted. Soon after Maximilian received the

distressing news that his wife had lost her reason through grief, and was

quite insane. At once he made up his mind to return to Europe, and set out

for Vera Cruz. But before he got there he changed his mind again and

concluded to remain.



At the end of January, 1867, the French army, which had held on until

then, with one excuse after another, left the capital city, which it had

occupied for years, and began its long march to the sea-shore at Vera

Cruz. Much was left behind. Cannon were broken up as useless, horses sold

for a song, and the evacuation was soon complete, the Belgian and Austrian

troops which the new emperor had brought with him going with the French.

Maximilian did not want them; he preferred to trust himself to the loyal

arms of his Mexican subjects, hoping thus to avoid jealousy. As for the

United States, it had no more to say; it was content to leave this shadow

of an empire to its loyal Mexicans.



It cannot be said that Maximilian had taken the right course to make

himself beloved by the Mexicans. Full of his obsolete notion of the

"divine right of kings," a year after he had reached Mexico he issued a

decree saying that all who clung to the republic or resisted his authority

should be shot. And this was not waste paper, like so many decrees, for a

number of prisoners were shot under its cruel mandate, one of them being

General Orteaga. It has been said that Maximilian went so far as to order

that the whole laboring population of the country should be reduced to

slavery.



While all this was going on President Juarez was not idle. During the

whole French occupation he had kept in arms, and now began his advance

from his place of refuge in the north. General Escobedo, chief of his

armies, soon conquered the northern part of the country, and occupied the

various states and cities as soon as they were left by the French.



But neither was Maximilian idle. Agents of the Church party had finally

induced him to remain, and this party now came to his aid. General

Miramon, an able leader, commanded his army, which was recruited to the

strength of eight thousand men, most of them trained soldiers, though

nearly half of them were raw recruits.



With this force Maximilian advanced to Queretaro and made it his

head-quarters. Juarez had meanwhile advanced to Zacatecas and fixed his

residence there with his government about him. But the president and

cabinet came very near being taken captive at one fell swoop, for Miramon

suddenly advanced and captured Zacatecas by surprise, Juarez and his

government barely escaping.



What would have been the result if the whole Mexican government had been

taken prisoners it is not easy to say. Not unlikely, however, General

Escobedo would have done what he now did, which was to advance on

Queretaro and invest it with his army. Thus the empire of Maximilian was

limited to this one town, where it was besieged by an army of Mexican

patriots, while, with the exception of a few cities, the whole country

outside was free from imperial rule.



Soon the emperor and his army found themselves closely confined within the

walls of Queretaro. Skirmishes took place almost daily, in which both

sides fought with courage and resolution. Provisions grew scarce and

foraging parties were sent out, but after each attack the lines of the

besiegers became closer. The clergy had made liberal promises of forces

and funds, and General Marquez was sent to the city of Mexico to obtain

them. He managed to get through the lines of Escobedo, but he failed to

return, and nothing was ever seen by Maximilian of the promised aid. Such

forces and funds as Marquez obtained he used in attacking General Diaz,

who was advancing on Pueblo. Diaz besieged and took Pueblo, and then

turned on Marquez, whom he defeated so completely that he made his way

back to Mexico almost alone under cover of the night. It was the glory

gained by this act that later raised Diaz to the presidency, which he held

so brilliantly for so many years.



The hopes of Maximilian were dwindling to a shadow. For two months the

siege of Queretaro continued, steadily growing closer. During this trying

time Maximilian showed the best elements of his character. He was gentle

and cheerful in demeanor, and brave in action, not hesitating to expose

himself to the fire of the enemy. Plans were made for his escape, that he

might put himself at the head of his troops elsewhere, but he refused,

through a sense of honor, to desert his brave companions.



Daily provisions grew scarcer, and Maximilian himself had only the coarse,

tough food which was served to the common soldiers. Day after day Marquez

was looked for with the promised aid, but night after night brought only

disappointment. At length, on the night of May 14, General Lopez, in

charge of the most important point in the city, turned traitor and

admitted two battalions of the enemy. From this point the assailants

swarmed into the city, where terror and confusion everywhere prevailed.

Lopez had not intended that the emperor should be captured, and gave him

warning in time to escape. He attempted to do so, and reached a little

hill outside the town, but here he was surrounded by foes and forced to

deliver up his sword.



Juarez, the Indian president, was at length full master of Mexico, and

held its late emperor in his hands. The fate of Maximilian depended upon

his word. Plans, indeed, were made for his escape, but always at the last

moment he failed to avail himself of them. His friends sought to win for

him the clemency of Juarez, but they found him inflexible. The traitors,

as he called them, should be tried by court-martial, he said and abide the

decision of the court.



Tried they were, though the trial was little more than a farce, with the

verdict fixed in advance. This verdict was death. The condemned, in

addition to Maximilian, were his chiefs in command, Miramon and Medjia.

The late emperor rose early on the fatal morning and heard mass. He

embraced his fellow victims, and as he reached the street said, "What a

beautiful day! On such a one I have always wished to die."



He was greeted with respect by the people in the street, the women

weeping. He responded with a brief address, closing with the words, "May

my blood be the last spilt for the welfare of the country, and if more

should be shed, may it flow for its good, and not by treason. Viva

Independencia! Viva Mexico!"



In a few minutes more the fatal shots were fired, and the empire of

Maximilian was at an end.



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