Maximilian and Carlota

Maximilian and Carlota

Author: M. M. McAllen

Publisher: Trinity University Press

Published: 2014-01-08

Total Pages: 552

ISBN-13: 1595341854

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In this new telling of Mexico’s Second Empire and Louis Napoléon’s installation of Maximilian von Habsburg and his wife, Carlota of Belgium, as the emperor and empress of Mexico, Maximilian and Carlota brings the dramatic, interesting, and tragic time of this six-year-siege to life. From 1861 to 1866, the French incorporated the armies of Austria, Belgium—including forces from Crimea to Egypt—to fight and subdue the regime of Mexico’s Benito Juárez during the time of the U.S. Civil War. France viewed this as a chance to seize Mexican territory in a moment they were convinced the Confederacy would prevail and take over Mexico. With both sides distracted in the U.S., this was their opportunity to seize territory in North America. In 1867, with aid from the United States, this movement came to a disastrous end both for the royals and for France while ushering in a new era for Mexico. In a bid to oust Juárez, Mexican conservatives appealed to European leaders to select a monarch to run their country. Maximilian and Carlota’s reign, from 1864 to 1867, was marked from the start by extravagance and ambition and ended with the execution of Maximilian by firing squad, with Carlota on the brink of madness. This epoch moment in the arc of French colonial rule, which spans North American and European history at a critical juncture on both continents, shows how Napoleon III’s failure to save Maximilian disgusted Europeans and sealed his own fate. Maximilian and Carlota offers a vivid portrait of the unusual marriage of Maximilian and Carlota and of international high society and politics at this critical nineteenth-century juncture. This largely unknown era in the history of the Americas comes to life through this colorful telling of the couple’s tragic reign.


Viva Juarez! Volume I

Viva Juarez! Volume I

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2021-05

Total Pages: 64

ISBN-13:

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The Republic of Mexico was shakily emerging from its most recent civil war which finally established the primacy of its new Liberal Constitution. Burdened by crushing debt, much of which was the fault of the previous Conservative Government which borrowed from Europe to prosecute the war, President Benito Juarez refused to repay.It was 1862 and United States was fully engaged in its own civil war. Ruthlessly, Napoleon III of France saw his opportunity to force repayment of the debts to France as well as to strike a blow against Western Democracy. The perfect moment came when the defeated Mexican Conservatives offered the Imperial Throne of Mexico to Austrian Prince Maximilian. Promising his complete support, and promoting the lie that the Habsburg Prince would be welcomed with open arms, Napoleon plotted to seize Mexico and reestablish a European Power in The New World, violating the United States' long standing Monroe Doctrine.The French Army invaded Mexico and brought in Allied forces from Austria, Belgium, and even Egypt! The next five years saw sieges and battles of all scales in a war reminiscent of the Great Napoleon's in Spain, and presaged French and US involvement in Southeast Asia a century later.Not a general history of that war, "Viva Juarez!" is a two volume reference book on all military aspects of the conflict, especially intended for historical miniatures war gamers, but which speaks to the serious student of military history, as well. "Volume 1-The Armies," (62 pages) provides the most complete collection of uniform information for all combatants ever assembled in one source. Second Empire French, Austrian, Belgian, Egyptian, and even late American Civil War uniforms are all part of the historical mix. Lavishly illustrated plates by contemporary artists and modern ones, including Knötel, Hefter, and Boissellier are provided. Completing the collection, former Disney artist, Nick Stern, has provided more examples in his own style. Besides details of dress, Readers will find full organizational data for all combatant armies is included, with illustrated sections on weaponry and their details."Volume 2-The Battles" (208 pages) provides all available information for refighting thirty-one of the most important actions of that bitter war. All engagements appear in chronological order, with descriptions of the action, thorough Orders of Battle, and at least one period battlefield map printed in color, full page size for maximum accessibility. Previous works on the subject have been based on the limited English language sources. But more than two years research with previously unused sources in contemporary French, German, and Spanish books, periodicals, and museum map collections, have resulted in a unique contribution to the historical literature. "Viva Juarez!" is now the "go to" source for one of the pivotal military campaigns in Mexican history and that of the Americas.


The Last Emperor of Mexico

The Last Emperor of Mexico

Author: Edward Shawcross

Publisher:

Published: 2024-09-03

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781541674202

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The "superbly entertaining and well‑researched" (Financial Times) history of Maximilian and Carlota, the European aristocrats who stumbled into power in Mexico--and faced bloody consequences. In the 1860s, Napoleon III, intent on curbing the rise of American imperialism, persuaded a young Austrian archduke and a Belgian princess to leave Europe and become the emperor and empress of Mexico. They and their entourage arrived in a Mexico ruled by terror, where revolutionary fervor was barely suppressed by French troops. When the United States, now clear of its own Civil War, aided the rebels in pushing back Maximilian's imperial soldiers, the French army withdrew, abandoning the young couple. The regime fell apart. Maximilian was executed by a firing squad and Carlota, secluded in a Belgian castle, descended into madness. Assiduously researched and vividly told, The Last Emperor of Mexico is a dramatic story of European hubris, imperialist aspirations clashing with revolutionary fervor, and the Old World breaking from the New.


Battle Cry of Freedom

Battle Cry of Freedom

Author: James M. McPherson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2003-12-11

Total Pages: 946

ISBN-13: 0199726582

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Filled with fresh interpretations and information, puncturing old myths and challenging new ones, Battle Cry of Freedom will unquestionably become the standard one-volume history of the Civil War. James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight, the book vividly recounts the momentous episodes that preceded the Civil War--the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry--and then moves into a masterful chronicle of the war itself--the battles, the strategic maneuvering on both sides, the politics, and the personalities. Particularly notable are McPherson's new views on such matters as the slavery expansion issue in the 1850s, the origins of the Republican Party, the causes of secession, internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South, and the reasons for the Union's victory. The book's title refers to the sentiments that informed both the Northern and Southern views of the conflict: the South seceded in the name of that freedom of self-determination and self-government for which their fathers had fought in 1776, while the North stood fast in defense of the Union founded by those fathers as the bulwark of American liberty. Eventually, the North had to grapple with the underlying cause of the war--slavery--and adopt a policy of emancipation as a second war aim. This "new birth of freedom," as Lincoln called it, constitutes the proudest legacy of America's bloodiest conflict. This authoritative volume makes sense of that vast and confusing "second American Revolution" we call the Civil War, a war that transformed a nation and expanded our heritage of liberty.


The Mexican Adventure 1861–67

The Mexican Adventure 1861–67

Author: René Chartrand

Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Published: 1994-07-28

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781855324305

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The 'Mexican Adventure' was a tragedy of the first order, born of a romantic view of Mexico shared by many Europeans. This school of thought took for granted that most Mexicans were barely capable of governing themselves and that a 'generous intervention' could only be beneficial to all concerned. For the French Emperor it would be a master stroke: a vast new vassal empire in America. René Chartrand examines the organisation, weapons and uniforms of the forces who fought on both sides of the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867) in a text accompanied by numerous contemporary photographs and illustrations including eight full page colour plates by Richard Hook.


The Blood Contingent

The Blood Contingent

Author: Stephen B. Neufeld

Publisher: University of New Mexico Press

Published: 2017-04-15

Total Pages: 397

ISBN-13: 0826358063

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This innovative social and cultural history explores the daily lives of the lowest echelons in president Porfirio Díaz’s army through the decades leading up to the 1910 Revolution. The author shows how life in the barracks—not just combat and drill but also leisure, vice, and intimacy—reveals the basic power relations that made Mexico into a modern society. The Porfirian regime sought to control and direct violence, to impose scientific hygiene and patriotic zeal, and to build an army to rival that of the European powers. The barracks community enacted these objectives in times of war or peace, but never perfectly, and never as expected. The fault lines within the process of creating the ideal army echoed the challenges of constructing an ideal society. This insightful history of life, love, and war in turn-of-the-century Mexico sheds useful light on the troubled state of the Mexican military more than a century later.


Contesting History

Contesting History

Author: Matthew Flynn

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2010-06-03

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 0313384894

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In this book, the Bush administration's war in Iraq is assessed using an interdisciplinary approach and historical analysis that will help readers better understand the results of the U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine from 2003 to the present. Contesting History: The Bush Counterinsurgency Legacy in Iraq uses a comparative analysis of history to assess the Bush administration's actions in Iraq, focusing specifically on the policy of counterinsurgency. Insurgency exists within an extended timeframe and exhibits a global reach, argues comparative warfare expert Matthew J. Flynn. Therefore, understanding this phenomenon is best realized through an examination of guerrilla conflicts around the world over time; this book provides that approach. The work analyzes U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine during the Iraq War from 2003 to the present, and offers relevant historical comparisons to conflicts dating back to the mid-19th century, in which a nation enjoyed marked military superiority over their enemy. In doing so, it encourages readers to link the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in the broad context of the utilization of counterinsurgency operations to achieve policy objectives. Ultimately, the book illustrates how the tactical "military" success of the U.S. surge in Iraq still nets a strategic failure.


Indian Wars of Canada, Mexico and the United States, 1812-1900

Indian Wars of Canada, Mexico and the United States, 1812-1900

Author: Bruce Vandervort

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2007-05-07

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 1134590911

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Fully illustrated, this unique and fascinating study sheds new light on familiar events. Drawing on anthropology and ethnohistory as well as the 'new military history', this book interprets and compares the way Indians and European Americans waged wars in Canada, Mexico, the USA and Yucatán during the nineteenth century.


Mexico

Mexico

Author: Robert Ryal Miller

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2015-01-26

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 0806148837

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This book is a skillful synthesis of Mexico's complex and colorful history from pre-Columbian times to the present. Utilizing his many years of research and teaching as well as his personal experience in Mexico, the author incorporates recent archaeological evidence, posits fresh interpretations, and analyzes such current problems as foreign debt, dependency on petroleum exports, and providing education and employment for an expanding population. Combining political events and social history in a smooth narrative, the book describes events, places, and individuals, the daily life of peasants and urban workers, and touches on cultural topics, including architecture, art, literature, and music. As a special feature, each chapter contains excerpts from contemporary letters, books, decrees, or poems, firsthand accounts that lend historical flavor to the discussion of each era. Mexico has an exciting history: several Indian civilizations; the Spanish conquest; three colonial centuries, during which there was a blending of Old World and New World cultures; a decade of wars for independence; the struggle of the young republic; wars with the United States and France; confrontation between the Indian president, Juárez, and the Austrian born emperor, Maximilian; a long dictatorship under Diaz; the Great Revolution that destroyed debt peonage, confiscated Church property, and reduced foreign economic power; and the recent drive to modernize through industrialization. Mexico: A History will be an excellent college-level textbook and good reading for the thousands of Americans who have visited Mexico and those who hope to visit.