Natalie Taylor

Mexico began with an uprising against Spanish rule. The War of Independence started in 1810 and lasted 11 years, when the country finally gained independence in 1821. The next one hundred years, however, were a parade of numerous governments—changing from liberal to conservative, from emperors to presidents, the drafting of various constitutions, settling on a federal, republican model. The entire century that began with sovereignty was fraught with bloody wars—both civil and

Archduke Maximilian, the younger brother of Franz Joseph, the emperor of Austria, came to Mexico in 1864 to become the emperor. His hapless three-year reign is a master-class in what not to do. Mexican conservatives formally solicit that Archduke Maximilian become their emperor In the first place, he naively believed the claims that he was “adored” by the Mexican people and that they were excited about having a foreign ruler foisted on them. This misinformation was fed by tho

Eighteen sixty five marked the third year of the “French intervention” in Mexico, the imposition of the second Mexican empire with Archduke Maximilian of Austria as emperor; a puppet ruler installed by Napoleon III of France. It was a well-thought out plan to instill a monarchy in America and Napoleon’s timing was excellent: the United States was involved in its own civil war and took its eyes and efforts away from a foreign invasion of their neighbor to the south. Ever since

In early 1821, after an eleven-year fight for independence, "the Mexican nation" declared itself sovereign and independent of Spain. This...