It was on this day in 1864 that HIRH Archduke Maximilian von Hapsburg was elected Emperor of Mexico. Ironically, it was almost exactly one year later, on April 9, 1865, that General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate army in Virginia, effectively ending the American War Between the States. In many ways this surrender was the doom of Maximilian and his Mexican Empire as the United States was then able to bring her full attention to supporting the republicans in Mexico and threatening invasion if the French did not withdraw their forces.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Birth of the Second Mexican Empire
It was on this day in 1864 that HIRH Archduke Maximilian von Hapsburg was elected Emperor of Mexico. Ironically, it was almost exactly one year later, on April 9, 1865, that General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate army in Virginia, effectively ending the American War Between the States. In many ways this surrender was the doom of Maximilian and his Mexican Empire as the United States was then able to bring her full attention to supporting the republicans in Mexico and threatening invasion if the French did not withdraw their forces.
The painting of the event is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI like it. I've always wondered if the portrait hanging behind the bust in the corner was King Leopold -I can never quite tell. The third man from the right in the delegation is the French-born Mexican General Adrian Woll, easy to spot because of his distinct facial hair.
ReplyDelete