In this new telling of Mexico’s Second Empire and Louis Napoléon’s installation of Maximilian von Habsburg and his wife, Carlota of Belgium, as the emperor and empress of Mexico, Maximilian and Carlota brings the dramatic, interesting, and tragic time of this six-year-siege to life. From 1861 to 1866, the French incorporated the armies of Austria, Belgium—including forces from Crimea to Egypt—to fight and subdue the regime of Mexico’s Benito Juárez during the time of the U.S. Civil War. France viewed this as a chance to seize Mexican territory in a moment they were convinced the Confederacy would prevail and take over Mexico. With both sides distracted in the U.S., this was their opportunity to seize territory in North America. In 1867, with aid from the United States, this movement came to a disastrous end both for the royals and for France while ushering in a new era for Mexico. In a bid to oust Juárez, Mexican conservatives appealed to European leaders to select a monarch to run their country. Maximilian and Carlota’s reign, from 1864 to 1867, was marked from the start by extravagance and ambition and ended with the execution of Maximilian by firing squad, with Carlota on the brink of madness. This epoch moment in the arc of French colonial rule, which spans North American and European history at a critical juncture on both continents, shows how Napoleon III’s failure to save Maximilian disgusted Europeans and sealed his own fate. Maximilian and Carlota offers a vivid portrait of the unusual marriage of Maximilian and Carlota and of international high society and politics at this critical nineteenth-century juncture. This largely unknown era in the history of the Americas comes to life through this colorful telling of the couple’s tragic reign.

Maximilian I (1459–1519) skillfully crafted a public persona and personal mythology that eventually earned him the romantic sobriquet “Last Knight.” From the time he became duke of Burgundy at the age of eighteen until his death, his passion for the trappings and ideals of knighthood served his worldly ambitions, imaginative strategies, and resolute efforts to forge a legacy. A master of self-promotion, he ordered exceptional armor from the most celebrated armorers in Europe, as well as heroic autobiographical epics and lavish designs for prints. Indeed, Maximilian’s quest to secure his memory and expand his sphere of influence, despite chronic shortages of funds that left many of his most ambitious projects unfinished, was indomitable. Coinciding with the 500th anniversary of Maximilian’s death, this catalogue is the first to examine the masterworks that he commissioned, revealing how art and armor contributed to the construction of Maximilian’s identity and aspirations, and to the politics of Europe at the dawn of the Renaissance. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana}

The "superbly entertaining and well‑researched" (Financial Times) history of Maximilian and Carlota, the European aristocrats who stumbled into power in Mexico--and faced bloody consequences. In the 1860s, Napoleon III, intent on curbing the rise of American imperialism, persuaded a young Austrian archduke and a Belgian princess to leave Europe and become the emperor and empress of Mexico. They and their entourage arrived in a Mexico ruled by terror, where revolutionary fervor was barely suppressed by French troops. When the United States, now clear of its own Civil War, aided the rebels in pushing back Maximilian's imperial soldiers, the French army withdrew, abandoning the young couple. The regime fell apart. Maximilian was executed by a firing squad and Carlota, secluded in a Belgian castle, descended into madness. Assiduously researched and vividly told, The Last Emperor of Mexico is a dramatic story of European hubris, imperialist aspirations clashing with revolutionary fervor, and the Old World breaking from the New.

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts written by Emperor Maximilian and his wife of their lives and reign in Mexico *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents Once upon a time, when a Civil War threatened to fracture the US, there was a monarchy south of the Rio Grande. That kingdom was called Mexico. It had a magnificent castle, a beautiful princess and a tall, handsome prince; he was noble and idealistic, he had fire in his heart, but he was weak and gullible. A fool, some would say. One day, when he was still a teenager, he wrote, "Ambition is like the balloonist. To some extent, the rise is nice and he does enjoy a splendid view and a vast landscape. But when he rises more, vertigo occurs, the air becomes thin and the risk of a big fall increases." With this parable, the Austrian Archduke Maximilian of Hapsburg inadvertently predicted the destiny to which he would bravely ride, despite the warnings and the sweet talkers. In any case, he followed his heart ́s mandate. And Charlotte, the princess, was "one of the most cultured and beautiful" in Europe. Since she was a girl she'd known that one day she would become a queen or an empress. When it was first hinted that they would be offered the crown of Mexico, she was 22 and he was 28, and they were surrounded by the intrigue and ambition of their own brothers, who could not wait to have them removed from the picture. So when, three years later, the couple received the official diplomatic mission which affirmed Mexico required their presence, the proposition was like a fairy tale come true. In the imagination of the era, Mexico was the distant paradise described by the great geographer Alexander von Humboldt: thick jungles and forests, steaming volcanoes, copious gold and silver mines, infinite beaches and exotic birds. "The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have not viewed the world," the Prussian explorer had written, and Max believed it in all sincerity and contemplated the adventure with the eyes of his soul. In Mexico, the reality was different from the imagination. It was too late by the time they realized they had been seduced by sirens, specifically the siren sitting upon the throne of France, Napoleon III. The zealous emperor frowned at the expansion of the US and the Protestant, Anglo-Saxon race. But there were also the vast territories of northern Mexico to consider, the gold and silver mines, plus Napoleon ́s vague idea of rebuilding the Latin race and culture in the Americas. With that in mind, he brought two puppets to his global stage, Maximilian and Charlotte, and made sure they were told that the Mexican people would tender unto them a carpet of roses as soon as they saw their royal feet touch their land. In their dreams, Max of Austria and Charlotte of Belgium would become the saviors of the ancient empire of Montezuma, now unable to govern itself, and on the road to self-destruction. But Maximilian was not thinking of conquest and looting, as did his ancestor, Charles I of Spain, but in reconstruction and healing. It is not that he was guilty of arrogance, either. Sending a European monarch to the American continent sounds outrageous these days, but at the time, it was common for the kings of England, Belgium, Greece or Bulgaria to be of other nationalities. Still, Maximilian refused to accept the throne of Mexico until he was shown evidence that the Mexicans agreed. When he was shown a pretend plebiscite, he agreed on the dangerous adventure. The tragedy of Maximilian and Charlotte was romantic and political. In Mexico ́s official history, the one recorded by the winners, they were an affront to independence and a symbol of European arrogance. For the monarchies of Europe, they are a sad and embarrassing memory, because of the abandonment, craftiness and treachery they lived through.