Second Mexican Empire

The Mexican Empire (Spanish: Imperio Mexicano) or Second Mexican Empire (Spanish: Segundo Imperio Mexicano) was the name of Mexico under a constitutional hereditary monarchy declared by a Mexican Assembly of Notables in accordance with the interests of the French Empire, during the Second French intervention in Mexico. Napoleon III of France wanted to establish a monarchist ally in the Americas as a restraint upon the growing power of the United States.[2] Chosen as the Mexican emperor was Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. His wife and empress of Mexico was Belgian princess, Charlotte of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

For the earlier monarchy in Mexico, see First Mexican Empire.

Mexican Empire Imperio Mexicano (Spanish)
1863-1867
Flag Imperial Coat of arms
Motto: Equidad en la Justicia "Equity in Justice"
Anthem: "Himno Nacional Mexicano" (English: "National Anthem of Mexico")
Territory of the Second Mexican Empire upon establishment
Status	Protectorate of France
Capital	Mexico City
Common languages	Spanish
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Government	Federal constitutional monarchy
Emperor
• 1864–1867	Maximilian I
Regency of the Mexican Empire
• 1863–1864	Juan Almonte, José Salas, Pelagio de Labastida
Prime Minister[1]
• 1864–1866	José María Lacunza
• 1866–1867	Teodosio Lares
• 1867	Santiago Vidaurri
Historical era	New Imperialism
• Second French Intervention	8 December 1861
• Maximilian I accepts Mexican crown	10 April 1864
• Emperor Maximilian I executed	19 June 1867
Currency	Peso
ISO 3166 code	MX
Preceded by Succeeded by Second Federal Republic of Mexico United Mexican States
Today part of	Mexico

Mexican conservatives had played a role in instigating the birth of the Empire, giving the French Intervention an element of civil war, but the imperialists were never able to gain full control of the nation, and supporters of the Mexican Republic continued to wage war against the Empire. During his short reign, Maximilian's liberal ideals alienated him from his conservative supporters, but he gained limited support from moderate liberals, and attempted to pass sweeping reforms for the nation.

The United States refused to recognize the Empire, and after the end of its own civil war in 1865, began to provide support to Mexican republican forces. French troops began to withdraw in 1866, after considering the war to be unwinnable, and the Empire came to an end on June 19, 1867 when Maximilian was executed by the government of the restored Mexican republic, along with his two leading Mexican generals, Mejía and Miramón.

History

See also: Second French intervention in Mexico

Mexican Monarchism

Mexican monarchism emerged in conjunction with the struggle for independence. After Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain, the initial independence movements throughout Latin America concerned themselves with supporting the deposed Ferdinand VII as the legitimate king as opposed to Joseph Bonaparte who had been established as king of Spain by Napoleon. During the Grito de Dolores, Miguel Hidalgo Costilla rallied his listeners to support Ferdinand VII against the New Spanish ruling classes that were allegedly going to betray Mexico and Catholicism over to the French. [3]

While his insurrection was unsuccessful the ultimately triumphant movement for Mexican independence was led by Agustin de Iturbide with his Plan of Iguala, which made specific provision for a European monarch to be placed on the Mexican throne. After the offer was refused Iturbide himself assumed the throne in a barracks revolt, which was nonetheless confirmed by the Mexican congress. Iturbide in his attempts to govern became increasingly autocratic, losing support of congress, and shutting the legislature down, eventually leading to the fall of the Empire, and discrediting monarchy even amongst conservatives, but the idea did not go away.

French observers began expressing interest in the idea of a Mexican monarchy as early as 1830. Lorenzo de Zavala claimed that in that year, he was approached by a foreign agent hoping to recruit him in a plan to place an Orléans monarch upon a Mexican throne.[4] In 1838, Jose Maria Gutierrez Estrada wrote a monarchist essay endorsing the idea of a legitimate European monarch being invited to govern Mexico. The pamphlet was addressed to the conservative president Bustamante, who rejected the idea.[5] French diplomats tended to sympathize with the Conservatives in Mexico, Victor de Broglie opining that monarchy was a form of government more suited to Mexico at the time and François Guizot giving a positive review of Estrada's pamphlet. [6]

A monarchist faction in 1846 promoted the idea of establishing a foreign prince at the head of the Mexican government, and president Paredes was viewed as being sympathetic to monarchism, but the project was not pursued due to the more pressing matter of the American invasion of Mexico. The candidate being proposed at the time was the Spanish prince, Don Enrique. [7]

Role of France

Mexican Delegation: Back Row: José Hidalgo, Antonio Escandón, Ángel Domínguez, Antonio Peredo, Adrian Woll, Jose Maria de Landa. Front Row: Ignacio Marocho, José María Gutiérrez de Estrada, Francisco Morfi, Joaquín de León.

Heavily influenced by his wife Empress Eugenie, who was in contact with the aforementioned Estrada and his fellow Mexican monarchist José Hidalgo, Napoleon III became intent on reviving the Mexican monarchy. Prior to 1861 any interference in the affairs of Mexico by European powers would have been viewed in the U.S as a challenge to the Monroe Doctrine. In 1861 however, the U.S. was embroiled in its own conflict, the American Civil War, which made the U.S. government powerless to intervene. When on July, 1861 Mexican President Benito Juarez declared a two-year moratorium on Mexican debt to France among other nations, Napoleon finally had a pretext. Encouraged by Empress Eugenie, who saw herself as the champion of the Catholic Church in Mexico, Napoleon III took advantage of the situation.

The Offering of the Mexican Crown by a Mexican delegation, Miramare Castle, 1863.

Napoleon III saw the opportunity to make France the great modernizing influence in the Western Hemisphere, as well as enabling the country to capture the South American markets. To give him further encouragement, there was his half brother, the duc de Morny, who was the largest holder of Mexican bonds.

French troops landed in December, 1861, and began military operations on April, 1862. They were eventually joined by conservative Mexican generals who had never been entirely defeated in the War of Reform.[8] After Charles de Lorencez small expeditionary force was repulsed at the Battle of Puebla, reinforcements were sent and placed under the command of Élie Forey. The capital was taken by June, 1863 and the French now sought to establish a friendly Mexican government. Forey appointed a committee of thirty five Mexicans, the Junta Superior who then elected three Mexican citizens to serve as the government's executive: Juan Nepucemo Almonte, José Mariano Salas, and Pelagio Antonio de Labastida. In turn this triumvirate then selected two hundred fifteen Mexican citizens to form together with the Junta Superior, an Assembly of Notables.[9]

The Assembly met on July, 1863 and resolved to invite Ferdinand Maximilian to be Emperor of Mexico. The executive triumvirate was formally changed into the Regency of the Mexican Empire. An official delegation left Mexico and arrived in Europe on October. Maximilian formally accepted the crown on April 10, 1864, and set sail for Mexico, arriving in Veracruz on May 28 and reaching the capital on June 12.

Maximilian's Reign

On his arrival in the summer of 1864 Maximilian declared a political amnesty for all liberals who wished to join the Empire, and his conciliation efforts eventually won over moderate liberals such as José Fernando Ramírez, José María Lacunza, and Santiago Vidaurri.[10] His first priorities included reforming his ministries and reforming the Imperial Mexican Army, the latter of which was impeded upon by Bazaine in an effort to consolidate French control of the nation.[11]

On August, Maximilian took a state trip through the nation while Carlota reigned as regent, going to Queretaro, Guanajuato, and Michoacan, giving public audiences and visiting officials, even celebrating Mexican independence by commemorating the Cry of Dolores, in the actual town where it took place.[12]

In December a Papal Nuncio arrived in order to arrange a concordat with the Empire to revise the Reform laws previously passed by the Mexican government that had nationalized Catholic Church property. Maximilian wished to maintain Catholicism as the state religion, and yet preferred to keep the reform laws intact, and also introduce religious toleration, measures which disillusioned his conservative and clerical supporters.[13]

Military Hostilities

In April 1865, the U.S. Civil War ended, and while the American government was reluctant at the time to enter upon a conflict with France to enforce the Monroe Doctrine, official American sympathy remained with the deposed Mexican president Benito Juárez. The U.S. government refused to recognize the Empire and also ignored Maximilian's correspondence.[14] In December, a thirty million dollar private American loan was approved for Juarez, and American volunteers kept joining the Mexican republican troops.[15] An unofficial American raid occurred near Brownsville, and Juarez's minister to the United States, Matías Romero, proposed that General Grant or General Sherman intervene in Mexico to help the liberals. The United States refrained from direct military intervention, but put diplomatic pressure on France to leave Mexico. [16]

A concentration of French troops in the northern republican strongholds of Mexico only led to a surge of republican guerilla activity in the south. While French troops controlled major cities, guerillas continued to be a major military threat in the countryside. In an effort to combat the increasing violence and in a belief that Juarez was outside of the nation already, Maximilian in October signed a decree authorizing the court martial and execution of anyone found either aiding or participating with the guerillas. The harsh measure was hardly unprecedented in Mexican history even resembling an 1862 measure by Juarez, but it proved to be widely reviled, being branded the Black Decree, and contributing to the growing unpopularity of the Empire.[17]

Fall of the Empire

In January 1866, seeing the war as unwinnable Napoleon declared to the French Chambers that he intended to withdraw the French military from Mexico. Maximilian's request for more aid or at least a delay in troop withdrawals was denied. Carlota arrived in Europe in an attempt to plead for the Empire's cause, but was unable to gain more support. The failure of her mission apparently caused her to go insane, and she would spend the rest of her life in Belgium, living until 1927.

In October Maximilian moved his cabinet to Orizaba and was widely rumored to be leaving the nation. He contemplated abdication, and on November 25 held a council of his ministers to address the crisis faced by the Empire. They narrowly voted against abdication and Maximilian headed back towards the capital.[18] He intended to appeal to the nation in order to hold a national assembly which would then decide what form of government the Mexican nation was to take. Such a measure however would require a ceasefire from Juarez who had no intention of conceding to someone whom he viewed as a usurper.

As the national assembly project fell through Maximilian decided to focus on military operations and in February as the last of the French troops were leaving, the Emperor headed for the city of Queretaro to join the bulk of his Mexican troops, numbering about 10,000 men. The liberal generals Escobedo and Corona converged on Queretaro with 40,000 men and yet the city held out until being betrayed by an imperial officer who opened the gates to the liberals on May 15.[19]

Maximilian was captured and placed on trial with his leading generals Mejía and Miramon. All three were sentenced to death and executed on June 19.

Government

The Mexican imperial crown and scepter as funerary insignia. Wood, gilded, pearl and stone imitation. around 1867, Imperial Furniture Depot, Vienna.

A provisional constitution was issued in 1865. The emperor was to govern through nine ministries: of the Imperial Household, of State, of Foreign Relations, of War, of Government or Interior, of the Treasury, of Justice, of Public Instruction and Worship, and of Development. A council of state was given the power to frame bills and give advice to the emperor, and a separate private cabinet, serving as the emperor's liaison, was divided into civil and military affairs. Empress Carlota was given the right to serve as regent if under certain circumstances Maximilian was to be unavailable.[20]

During his short reign, Maximilian issued eight volumes of laws covering all aspects of government, including forest management, railroads, roads, canals, postal services, telegraphs, mining, and immigration.[21][22] The emperor passed legislation guaranteeing equality before the law and freedom of speech, and laws meant to defend the rights of laborers, especially that of the Indians. Labor laws in Yucatán actually became harsher on workers after the fall of the Empire.[23] A national system of free schools was also planned based on the German gymnasia and the emperor founded an academy of sciences and literature.[24] Laws were published both in Spanish and in Nahuatl, the Aztec language, and Maximilian appointed leading Nahuatl scholar Faustino Galicia as an advisor to his government.[25]

Economy

Railways

Mexican Railway, Bridge by José María Velasco Gómez 1877.

One of the main challenges encountered by the Emperor was the lack of sufficient infrastructure to link the different parts of the realm. The main goal was connecting the port of Veracruz and the capital in Mexico City. In 1857, Don Antonio Escandón secured the right to build a line from the port of Veracruz to Mexico City and on to the Pacific Ocean. Revolution and political instability stifled progress on the financing or construction of the line until 1864, when, under the regime of Emperor Maximilian, the Imperial Mexican Railway Company began construction of the line. Political upheaval continued to stifle progress, and the initial segment from Veracruz to Mexico City was inaugurated nine years later on January 1, 1873 by President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada.

In 1857 the original proprietors of the government concession, the Masso Brothers, inaugurated on the 4th of July the train service from Tlatelolco, in México City, to the nearby town of Guadalupe Hidalgo.[26] Eventually they ran out of funds and decided to sell it to Manuel Escandón and Antonio Escandón.[27] The Escandón Brothers continued working and the project, and Antonio Escandón visited the United States and England in the last months of the year. In the first country, he hired Andrew Talcott, and in the latter, he sold company stock. Exploration of a route from Orizaba to Maltrata was performed by engineers Andrew H. Talcott and Pascual Almazán.

During the French intervention, part of the railways were destroyed. The only option available was the establishment of a pact between the French Army, and the two companies of the Escandón Brothers. The French Army was to provide a subsidy to the companies of 120 000 francs a month for the works, and the companies were to establish service from Veracruz to Soledad para by May, actually concluding on August 15, 1862, concluding 41 kilometres of tracks. Next they reached the Camarón station, with a length of 62 kilometres. By October 16, 1864 they reached Paso del Macho with a length of 76 kilometres.[28]

On September 19, 1864, the Imperial Mexican Railway Company (Compañía Limitada del Ferrocarril Imperial Mexicano) was Incorporated in London to complete the earlier projects and continued construction on this line. Escandón ceded his privileges to the new company. Smith, Knight and Co. was later contracted in 1864 by the Imperial Mexican Railway to continue work on the line from Mexico City to Veracruz.[29] William Elliot was employed as Chief Assistant for three years on the construction of about 70 miles of the heaviest portion of the Mexican Railway, after which he returned to England. He had several years of experience building railways in England, India, and Brazil. In this last country, he held the position of Engineer-in-Chief of the Province of São Paulo.[30]

Maximiliano I hired engineer M Lyons for the construction of the line from La Soledad to Monte del Chiquihuite, later on joining the line from Veracruz to Paso del Macho.[31] Works were begun in Maltrata, at the same time that the works from Veracruz and Mexico City kept moving forward. By the end of the Empire in June 1867, 76 kilometers from Veracruz to Paso del Macho were functional (part of the concession to Lyons) and the line from Mexico City reached Apizaco with 139 km.[32]

Banking

Maximillian planned the monument to Christopher Columbus for the grand boulevard, now called Paseo de la Reforma. It was built during the regime of Porfirio Díaz.

Before 1864, there was no banking in Mexico. Credits were obtained from religious orders and merchant guilds. During the French Intervention, the branch of a British bank was opened. The London Bank of Mexico and South America Ltd began operations with a capital of two and a half million pesos. It belonged to the Baring Brothers Group, and had its head office in the corner of the Capuchinas and Lerdo Streets in Downtown Mexico City.[33]

Foreign Trade

At the beginning of the American Civil War, the city of Matamoros was simply a sleepy little border town across the Rio Grande from Brownsville.[34] It had, for several years, been considered a port, but it had relatively few ships arriving. Previous to the war, accounts mention that not over six ships entered the port each year.[35] Nevertheless, in about four years, Matamoros, due to its proximity to Texas, was to assume state as a port, and multiply its inhabitants in number. Following is a quote from a Union General in 1885 describing the importance of the port in Matamoros:

Matamoros is to the rebellion west of the Mississippi what New York is to the United States—its great commercial and financial center, feeding and clothing the rebellion, arming and equipping, furnishing it materials of war and a specie basis of circulation that has almost displaced Confederate paper...The entire Confederate Government is greatly sustained by resources from this port.[36]

The cotton trade brought together in Bagdad, Tamaulipas and Matamoros over 20,000 speculators from the Union and the Confederacy, England, France, and Germany.[37] Bagdad had grown from a small, seashore town to a "full-pledge town."[38] The English-speaking population in the area by 1864 was so great that Matamoros even had a newspaper printed in English—it was called the Matamoros Morning Call.[39] In addition, the port exported cotton to England and France, where millions of people needed it for their daily livelihood,[40] and it was possible to receive fifty cents per pound in gold for cotton, when it cost about three cents in the Confederacy, "and much more money was received for it laid down in New York and European ports."[41] Other sources mention that the port of Matamoros traded with London, Havana, Belize, and New Orleans.[42][43] The Matamoros and New York City trade agreement, however, continued throughout the war and until 1864, and it was considered "heavy and profitable."[44]

By 1865, Matamoros was described as a prosperous town of 30,000 people,[45] and Lew Wallace informed General Ulysses S. Grant that neither Baltimore or New Orleans could compare itself to the growing commercial activity of Matamoros.[35] Nevertheless, after the collapse of the Confederacy, "gloom, despondency, and despair" became evident in Matamoros—markets shut down, business almost ceased to exist, and ships were rarely seen.[46] "For Sale" signs began to sprout up everywhere, and Matamoros returned to its role of a sleepy little border town across the Rio Grande.[47]

The conclusion of the American Civil War brought a severe crisis to the now abandoned Port of Bagdad, a crisis that until this day the port has never recovered from.[48] In addition, a tremendous hurricane in 1889 destroyed the desolated port. This same hurricane was one of the many hurricanes during the period of devastating hurricanes of 1870 to 1889, which reduced the population of Matamoros to nearly half its size, mounting with it another upsetting economic downturn.[49][50]

Territorial division

See also: Departments of the Second Mexican Empire

Departments of the Second Mexican Empire.

Maximilian I wanted to reorganize the territory following scientific criteria, instead of following historical ties, traditional allegiances and the interests of local groups. The task of designing this new division was given to Manuel Orozco y Berra.

This task was realized according to the following criteria:

• The territory should be divided in at least fifty departments,
• Whenever possible, natural boundaries shall be preferred,
• For the territorial extension of each department, the configuration of the terrain, climate and elements of production were taken into consideration so that in due time, they could have a roughly equal number of inhabitants.[51]

On March 13, 1865, the new Law on the territorial division of the Mexican Empire was published.[52] The Empire was divided into 50 departments, though not every department was ever able to be administered due to the ongoing war.

Immigration

Maximilian intended to aid the development of the country by opening up the nation to immigration, regardless of racial origin. An immigration agency was set up to promote immigration from the United States, the Confederate States, Germany, and Asia. Colonists were to be granted citizenship at once, and gained exemption from taxes for the first year, and an exemption from military services for five years.[53]

Some of the most prominent colonization settlements were the Villa Carlota and the New Virginia Colony.

Legacy

Chapultepec Castle

In spite of lasting in power only a few years, the results of Maximilian's construction projects survived him and remain prominent Mexico City landmarks in the present day.

For his royal residence, Maximilian decided to renovate a former viceregal villa in Mexico City, which was also notable for being the site of a battle during the U.S. invasion of Mexico. The result would be Chapultepec Castle, the only castle in North America ever to be used by actual royalty. While formerly serving as the official home of Mexican presidents, today the site is a museum.[54]

In order to connect the palace to the government offices in Mexico city, Maximilian also built a prominent road which he called Paseo de la Emperatriz (The Empress' Promenade). After the fall of the Empire, the government renamed it Paseo de la Reforma (Promenade of the Reform) to commemorate President Juarez and the reforms that he helped to legislate. In the present, it continues to be one of the most prominent avenues of the capital and is lined with civic monuments.[55]

Today, the Second Mexican Empire is advocated by small far-right groups like the Nationalist Front of Mexico, whose followers believe the Empire to have been a legitimate attempt to deliver Mexico from the hegemony of the United States. They are reported to gather every year at Querétaro, the place where Maximilian and his generals were executed.[56]

In popular culture

The 1970 film Two Mules for Sister Sara was set in Mexico during the years of the Second Mexican Empire. The two main characters, played by Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine, aided a Mexican resistance force and ultimately led them to overpower a French garrison.

The 1969 film The Undefeated starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson portrays events during the French Intervention in Mexico and was also loosely based on the escape of Confederate General Sterling Price to Mexico after the American Civil War and his attempt to join with Maximilian's forces.

The 1965 film Major Dundee starring Charlton Heston and Richard Harris featured Union cavalry (supplemented by Galvanized Yankees) crossing into Mexico and fighting French forces towards the end of the American Civil War.

The 1954 film Vera Cruz was also set in Mexico and has an appearance of Maximilian having a target shooting competition with Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster's character at Chapultepec Castle. Maximilian was played by George Macready, who at 54 was twenty years older than the Emperor was in 1866.

The 1939 film Juarez featured Paul Muni as Benito Juárez, Bette Davis as Empress Carlota, and Brian Aherne as Emperor Maximilian. It was based, in part, on Bertita Harding's novel The Phantom Crown (1937).

In the Southern Victory Series by Harry Turtledove, Maximilian's Empire survives the turmoil of the 1860s into the 20th century due to the Confederate States emerging victorious in its battle against the United States of America in the "War of Secession"; thus, the United States becomes too weak and unwilling to pressure Maximilian's puppet state to capitulate to rebels and dissolve. It fights alongside the Confederate States against the United States in 1881–1882, 1914-1917 and 1941-1944 and experiences a civil war during the interwar years between republicans and Habsburg royalists. In 1881, it sold its northern provinces of Sonora and Chihuahua to the Confederacy and in 1944, it lost its extraterritorial province of Baja California to the United States after the Second Great War.

The 1990 novel The Difference Engine, co-authored by William Gibson and Bruce Stirling, is set in an alternate 1855 where the timeline diverged in 1824 with Charles Babbage's completion of the difference engine. One consequence is the occupation of Mexico by the Second French Empire with Napoleon III as the de facto emperor instead of the installation of Emperor Maxillian.

In Mexican popular culture, there have been soap operas like "El Carruaje" (1967), plays, films, and historical novels such as Fernando del Paso's Noticias del Imperio (1987). Biographies, memoirs, and novels have been published since the 1860s, and among the most recent have been Prince Michael of Greece's The Empress of Farewells, available in various languages.

See also

• First Mexican Empire
• Second French intervention in Mexico
• Imperial Crown of Mexico
• Emperor of Mexico
• Mexican Imperial Orders
• Nationalist Front of Mexico

References

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• Pani, Erika: "Dreaming of a Mexican Empire: The Political Projects of the 'Imperialist'", in: HAHR, no. 65:1, pp. 19–49.
• Hanna, Alfred Jackson, and Kathryn Abbey Hanna. Napoleon III and Mexico: American triumph over monarchy (1971).
• Ibsen, Kristine (2010). Maximilian, Mexico, and the Invention of Empire. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. ISBN 978-0-8265-1688-6.
• McAllen, M. M. (2015). Maximilian and Carlota: Europe's Last Empire in Mexico. San Antonio: Trinity University Press. ISBN 978-1-59534-183-9. excerpt
• Ridley, Jasper (2001). Maximilian & Juarez. London: Phoenix Press. ISBN 1-84212-150-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

Media related to Second Mexican Empire at Wikimedia Commons

• Mexico: the French intervention and the 2nd Empire, 1862-1867
• Imperial House of Mexico
• Provisional Constitution of the Mexican Empire (in Spanish)