Mexico's always been hard on (some) visitors

One hundred and forty-four years ago today, Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico was executed by his subjects.

He'd been installed in 1864 by local monarchists and the French emperor, Napoleon III, whose troops had conquered Mexico. Somewhat to his astonishment, locals who preferred democracy objected to his taking power. (Let me rephrase that . . . they preferred what passed for democracy in Mexico at the time. It wasn't even a reasonable facsimile of the real thing - more along the lines of 'in Mexican elections, the survivor wins!')

One has to feel sorry for the poor bloke. He was conned into accepting the position of Emperor by Napoleon III, who held a 'plebiscite' in Mexico to confirm 'public support' for Maximilian. Since Napoleon's troops had just conquered the country, and controlled the plebiscite, it wasn't exactly the most free and fair voting the country had ever seen. (Later Mexican politicians seem to have learned a lot from that lesson.) Furthermore, Maximilian wasn't informed until the last minute (after he'd accepted the job, and was about to leave Austria for Mexico) that his acceptance entailed the loss of all his Austrian rights and titles of nobility. To say he wasn't pleased would be an understatement, but by then the die was cast.

He seems to have been a good man, better than many of his peers in the European nobility of the day. Unfortunately, he became a pawn of interests seeking to use him for their own ends. Napoleon III had only managed to conquer Mexico because the United States was distracted by its fratricidal Civil War. As soon as that was over, President Johnson's administration made it very clear to France that the US wanted foreign forces out of Mexico, at once if not sooner. President-to-be Benito Juarez was allowed to raise funds from sympathizers in the US, and it's said that several large shipments of weapons reached him with the connivance of US authorities. (The fact that a former Confederate general, Joe Shelby, and some 1,000 of his soldiers had fled to Mexico rather than surrender to Union forces, and declared their intention to ally with Maximilian, certainly concentrated the minds of US authorities! Plans for Confederate settlements in Mexico, of which Maximilian approved, didn't exactly please them, either, as they tried to put the divisions of the Civil War behind them and rebuild the Union.)

Maximilian was overtaken by events. He died bravely, from all accounts. According to Wikipedia, his last words were:

"Mexicanos! I die in a just cause... the independence and liberty of Mexico. May my blood be the last to flow for the good of this land. Viva Mexico!"

Sadly, the bloodshed has never stopped in Mexico. Who knows? The country might have done better under his leadership as Emperor than any of the (allegedly) 'democratically elected' politicians and dictators who succeeded him.

Peter