SECOND MEXICAN EMPIRE: POLITICAL, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS - HISTORY - 2024

The Second Mexican Empire or Empire of Maximilian of Habsburg was the period of government that elapsed between 1864 and 1867, after the second French invasion of Mexico. The defeat suffered by the French troops at the battle of Puebla in 1862 did not prevent a year later Napoleon III, King of France, from taking Mexico City.

President Benito Juárez fled the Mexican capital before the French army arrived in 1863 and took the city. France installed a new monarchical government, at the head of which it placed Fernando Maximiliano José María de Habsburgo-Lorena, archduke of Austria by birth.

Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg

Maximilian of Habsburg (1832 - 1867), was the only emperor of this period of monarchical government known as the Second Mexican Empire. The causes of the fall of the republican government of Benito Juárez and the establishment of this second monarchy are political, social and economic.

Background and history

The French Crown declared war on Mexico in 1862, after President Benito Juárez made the decision to suspend payments on the foreign debt to France, England and Spain.

Mexico had been dragging a heavy debt since the signing of independence in 1821, which amounted to more than 92 million Mexican pesos.

The first emperor of Mexico, Agustín de Iturbide, agreed with Spain to pay the debts contracted by the viceroyalty of New Spain. In return, the Spanish Crown would recognize the government of the First Mexican Empire.

The successive governments of Mexico of all signs - republican, federalist, centralist, dictatorship, monarchist - continued to borrow. Even that of Maximilian of Habsburg was also in debt.

Debt forgiveness

The country was going through a very acute economic, political and social crisis, as a consequence of the Three Year War that had just ended. The French did not accept the request made by President Benito Juárez that proposed allowing the country a two-year financial truce. On the contrary, they invaded Mexico.

Juárez suggested that, given the impossibility of paying the debt, the country be granted a term while it recovered from the ravages of the war.

Diplomatic action

The creditor countries of Mexico (France, England and Spain) agreed to pressure and collect their debts to increase their interests in America. This pact was known as the London Convention.

However, the diplomatic efforts carried out by the Mexican government with the European governments managed to stop the threat. Only France refused to accept the proposed terms.

France's interests in Mexico went beyond merely financial ones. The Mexican foreign debt with France was only 2860772 pesos.

French, English and Spanish landed troops in the Port of Veracruz in 1862, with the intention of blocking and invading Mexico. But the Spanish and the English gave up on the idea and France was left alone.

France vs. Mexico

France faced the Mexican troops of the government of Benito Juárez in the battle of Puebla (May 5, 1862) and lost. Despite the setback suffered, the French army continued the siege of the country, and a year later managed to occupy Mexico City.

King Napoleon III wanted to establish the monarchy in Mexico. Thus it could facilitate the support of France to the Confederate army in the Civil War of the United States (War of Secession).

In this way he hoped to undermine the influence of the United States in America, thereby increasing France's geopolitical power and expansion.

Benito Juárez fled the Mexican capital in May 1863, before the French occupation of the capital. He formed an itinerant government in the cities of San Luis de Potosí and Saltillo, then went to Monterrey, Chihuahua and Ciudad Juárez, which at that time was called Paso del Norte.

Ruling government and establishment of the Empire

When French troops arrived in Mexico City on June 10, 1863, a new government was formed led by a regency or triumvirate.

That same day, "the moderate, hereditary monarchy with a Catholic prince" was adopted as the form of government in Mexico.

Establishment of a governing board

At the urging of General Frédéric Forey, commander of the French army, a governing junta was formed. It had the mission of restoring the monarchy and appointing the regency board that would govern the country.

This board of notables was made up of conservative generals Juan Nepomuceno Almonte and Mariano Salas, and Archbishop Pelagio Antonio de Labastida. Almonte was the natural son of the hero José María Morelos y Pavón.

The regency board is unaware of the 1857 Constitution, the Reform laws and the republican system of government.

The Conservatives wanted to reestablish the monarchy in the country, but they needed a true nobleman as king. Then, a commission of delegates is appointed to travel to Europe and look for the Catholic king to take over the new empire.

Offering of the throne of Mexico to Maximiliano

The proposal of Napoleon III and the Mexican commission to name Archduke Fernando Maximiliano de Habsburgo, was supported.

France was interested in improving its relations with Austria through this move. The idea also appealed to the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph, Maximilian's older brother.

In this way the Austrian emperor gets rid of his younger brother, who had to renounce the rights of succession to the Austrian throne.

At the head of the Mexican commission was José María Gutiérrez de Estrada. He was accompanied by Juan Nepomuceno Almonte himself, Francisco Javier Miranda and José Manuel Hidalgo Esnaurrízar.

At his castle in Trieste, the Mexican commission was received by Maximilian of Habsburg and his wife, Carlota of Belgium.

The Mexican government offers the Imperial Crown of Mexico to Prince Maximiliano. He accepts and arrives in the country at the port of Veracruz, aboard the frigate Novara, on May 28, 1864. He was received with honors and great parties in Mexico City. Maximiliano and his wife settled in the castle of Chapultepec.

During his brief rule, the emperor approved the promulgation of the Provisional Statute of the Mexican Empire. It was the legal antecedent of the Mexican Constitution by which the nascent constitutional monarchy would be governed.

The statute was legal but could not enter into force. Instead, liberal and social legislation began to be developed, through which the rights of man and worker were enshrined.

Characteristics of the Second Mexican Empire

Policies

- The government of Maximiliano was characterized by its liberal tendency, of political opening, nationalist, secular and developmentalist.

- Despite trying to introduce new ideas for the economic and social development of the regions of the country he governed, Maximiliano did not achieve his mission.

- It had the support of the conservative party and a part of the Catholic bourgeoisie. His government was rejected by the liberal party and fought by supporters of the Benito Juárez government. They were also rejected by the Mexican Freemasonry, which supported the country's independence.

Social

- He decreed the tolerance of cults, which until now had been restricted to the Catholic religion, whose church was part of the Mexican state.

- Created the first civil registry in the country. Births, marriages, and deaths began to be monitored.

- He enacted laws on divorce.

- It issued laws to protect the worker and offer him more decent salary conditions. In addition, she instituted pensions.

Economical

- Nationalized the properties of the Catholic Church. The property of the Church passed into the hands of the State, as had been agreed with the French despite opposition from the Vatican and the Catholic tradition of the House of Habsburgs.

- Established the decimal system of weights and measures.

- It tripled the foreign debt of Mexico, which was 65 million in 1863.

- During this period, France accentuated the looting of the country's mineral wealth.

Flag and shield

flag

The flag of the Second Mexican Empire conserved the green, white and red colors of the First Empire and the republic, arranged vertically.

The change that is made in this flag is that the shield of the central field is replaced by the shield of the Empire. In addition, the golden eagle with the serpent in its beak is added in each corner. It was established by imperial decree of June 18, 1864.

Shield

Emperor Maximilian I commissioned the design of the shield to be similar to the French imperial shield with a certain Mexican touch.

This official emblem was made official on November 1, 1865, also by imperial decree. In this the following characteristics are established:

- The shield has an oval shape and an azure field (blue). It contains in the center the Anahuac symbol of the eagle with a passing profile, with the serpent in its beak and claw, perched on a cactus that is born from a rock that springs from the water.

- "The border is made of gold, loaded with branches of oak and laurel, stamped with the imperial crown." Its supports are "the two taps of the arms of our elders, half of the upper black and the lower gold."

- Extended "from behind in sotuer the scepter and the sword: it is surrounded by the necklace of the Order of the Mexican Eagle" with the legend "Equity in Justice".

Causes of the fall

- The Second Empire of Mexico began to fade when France withdrew its troops and stopped supporting the government of Maximilian I.

- For the United States government the return of the Republicans to power in Mexico was very important. So much so that it allowed the army of the republic to recover the territories that had been occupied by the imperialists.

- At the end of the Civil War in the United States, the US government pressured Napoleon III to withdraw his troops from Mexico.

- Napoleon III decided in December 1866 to start taking his troops back to France. The threat of war against Prussia, which sought to weaken Gallic influence in Europe, convinced the French king to abandon Mexico to defend his own territory.

- From the beginning of his empire, Maximilian lost the support of the Church. Later, his liberal government angered many conservatives, who saw their interests threatened. Nor was it to the liking of the liberals, who wanted Benito Juárez's return.

- For the French Maximilian did not turn out to be a monarch attached to their interests. Instead, he turned to helping the development of Mexico and its population. He even recognized the reformist laws of Benito Juárez, whom he invited to join his government as Minister of Justice. Juárez did not accept.

End of the Empire

Finding himself without French support and with greatly diminished internal military and political forces, the emperor makes one last attempt to retain the Mexican throne, much in spite of the advice of his own wife.

Maximiliano refuses to abdicate

Maximiliano reorganized his imperial army, commanded by Generals Miramón, Márquez and Mejía. As the French withdrew from Mexican territory controlled by the Empire, the republican army advanced.

The Republicans, led by Juárez and other generals such as Porfirio Díaz, Ramón Corona and Mariano Escobedo, began to recover territories. The United States granted Benito Juárez a loan of 2.6 million dollars to reorganize his military forces.

Taking of Puebla

The republican troops led by Porfirio Díaz managed to recover Puebla and other territories until reaching Mexico City on June 21, 1867.

In Querétaro, Maximiliano and his army were besieged by the republican army. The monarch surrendered to General Ramón Corona, handing him his sword. After being tried, he was shot along with Generals Tomás Mejía and Miguel Miramón on June 19, 1867.

Articles of interest

First Mexican Empire.

Conservatism.

References

1. Second Mexican Empire (1864-1867). Retrieved February 19, 2018 from portalacademico.cch.unam.mx
2. Maximilian Empire or Second Mexican Empire. Consulted of independencedemexico.com.mx
3. Bautista, Oscar Diego (2003): External debt in the history of Mexico (PDF). Recovered from ri.uaemex.mx
4. Second Mexican Empire. Consulted of es.wikipedia.org
5. International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences, Volume 1. Madrid 1983. Consulted of books.google.co.ve
6. Mexico and the liberal laws of Maximiliano de Habsburgo. Consulted of magazines.juridicas.unam.mx