Maximilian of Mexico: The Rise and Fall of the Second Mexican Empire | Benito Juárez, Napoleon III & Habsburg Mexico | Ancient to Recent I Episode 26

In 1864, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria took the throne as Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, believing he could unite a fractured nation and build a modern empire. Instead, he stepped into one of the most violent political storms of the 19th century.

Backed by Napoleon III’s French army, opposed by Benito Juárez and the Mexican Republican forces, Maximilian struggled to rule a country divided by civil war, foreign intervention, and economic devastation. His liberal reforms alienated the conservatives who invited him, while the Republicans saw him as a foreign usurper.

As the American Civil War ended, the United States enforced the Monroe Doctrine, pressuring France to withdraw. Abandoned by Europe and betrayed by his allies, Maximilian faced the rising Republican tide alone. His wife Charlotte (Carlota) descended into madness as she fought to save the collapsing empire, pleading with the courts of Europe.

The final act came at Querétaro in 1867, where Maximilian made a last stand before facing a firing squad—an ending that transformed him from emperor to tragic legend.

This series tells the story of the Second Mexican Empire, a gripping account of ambition, idealism, and the fatal collision between European monarchy and Mexican nationalism.

Join Joseph Parkinson as he explores how the Second Mexican Empire rose, unraveled, and crashed into the reality of Mexican resistance.

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