General Notes

Maximilian (1832-67), archduke of Austria and emperor of Mexico, younger
brother of Francis Joseph I, emperor of Austria. He became an admiral of the
Austrian navy and governor from 1857 to 1859 of the Lombardo-Venetian
territory. In 1863 the French emperor Napoleon III persuaded Maximilian to
accept the crown of Mexico. Believing that they had the support of the people,
he and his wife, Carlotta, went to Mexico in 1864. Backed by French troops,
they were installed as the country's rulers over the opposition of the
republicans. After 1865, the United States, which objected to France's
intervention but had been distracted by its own civil war, began pressuring
the French to pull out. When they did withdraw in 1867, Maximilian refused to
go with them. After that, republican forces under Benito Juárez quickly
regained control of Mexico. Captured by the republicans at Querétaro,
Maximilian was tried by court-martial and shot in June 1867.