MAXIMILIAN, EMPEROR OF MEXICO, otherwise FERDINAND :MAXIMILIAN JOSEPH, Archduke of Austria, was b. on July 6, 1832. He was the son of the archduke Francis •Charles, and the younger brother of Francis Joseph I. Maximilian, who received a careful education, was very popular as governor of the Lombard-Venetian kingdom. Iu 1862 the French were induced to interfere in the affairs of Mexico and in 1863 -called together an assembly of notables. This body decided in favor of monarchy; and a deputation was appointed to offer the crown of 3Iexico to Maximilian. After deliberation he solemnly accepted it; and in June, 1864, he entered Mexico. He was of course warmly welcomed by the clergy and the army; but he soon found that they expected him to sanction abuses which he felt bound to condemn; though he gained the support of the liberals. For a time all went well; but he vainly tried to reconcile Mexican parties, who had no other object in view than power and place. A proclama tion he was induced to make in Oct., 1865, threatening to punish with death under the laws of war all who offered resistance to the government (asked for merely to suppress brigandage), was so employed both by the imperialist and French commanders, that under it many estimable liberal officers were cruelly shot as robbers. Juarez and his followers again raised the standard of independence. At the same time, Louis Napoleon
bad to contemplate the withdrawal of his troops. In vain the empress, a daughter of Leopold I. of Belgium, went to Europe to enlist support for her husband; her reason gave way under the continued grief and excitement brought on by disappointment. The French were most anxious that 3Iaximili an should leave with their troops; but he felt bound as a man of honor to remain, and share the fate of his followers. At the head of 10,000 men, he made a brave defense of Queretaro against a liberal army under Escobedo. On the night of May 14, 1867, gen. Lopez betrayed him. The liberal min ister of war ordered 3laximilian and gens. 31iramon and 3lejia to be tried by court-mar tial ; and it was in vain the European ministers protested against this breach of the laws .of civilized warfare. The trial was of course a mere farce, and the charges chiefly rested on the proclamation above referred to and the executions which followed it. On .July 19, the three prisoners were shot. After some delay, the body of Maximilian was given up to his relatives, and was conveyed to Europe in an Austrian frigate. After the death of Maximilian, his writings were published under the title of Av,a AI-einem Le,ben; Reiseskizzen, Aphorismen, Gediehte, etc. (7 vols. 186'7).