"A Rendezvous With Destiny
at the Hill of the Bells"
By Ruth Ross Merrimer
November 2004 Guadalajara-Lakeside Volume 21, Number 3

    Married just seven years at the time of their acceptance of the throne in Mexico, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and Archduchess Maria Charlotte were both of royal blood, young, well educated, and happily in love. He was the son of Carlos, the ruler of Austria, and related by blood or marriage to every ruling family in Europe. She was daughter of King Leopold of Belgium, cousin of Queen Victoria of England and grand-daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte III, the King of France.
    A natural linguist and talented writer, Carlota was slender and petite, with dark eyes and dark brown hair. When she knew she and Maximilian would be going to Mexico she had immediately hired a Spanish teacher to teach her the language. Shortly after arriving in Mexico, she changed her name to Carlota, and adopted the Spanish spelling.
    Maximilian was described as extremely personable, handsome, idealistic and trusting. He was also naive and extremely gullible. Though not as adept at learning languages as Carlota, he spoke several, including passable English.
    On May 28, 1864, as they leaned over the rail of the S.M.S Novara, the French ship that had carried them across the Atlantic to Veracruz, Mexico, they were eagerly looking forward to carrying out their duties as the newly appointed Emperor and Empress of Mexico. They could hardly wait to see their new country and meet the people over which they would rule. He was 32; she had just turned 24. In their happiness, they hadn’t a clue that in just three years, Maximilian would die by bloody execution, and Carlota would spend the next 60 years in an institution for the hopelessly insane.
    The deceit to entice Maximilian to accept the throne of Mexico began in earnest with the defeat of the Mexican Conservative Party in the Mexico Reform War of 1857-60. The war pitted the Conservatives that favored putting the big landowners and the Church back in power, against the Liberal Party, that favored declaring Mexico a democracy and making Benito Juarez its first president.
    In one of the first actions of his presidency, Juarez delivered the final insult to France when, with the stroke of a pen, he threw out the long standing international custom that a new government was liable for the debts of the one it replaced. This left France holding the bag for ten million dollars it had loaned to the forces opposing Juarez for control.
    Adamant in the plan to depose Juarez and set up a monarchy, in May 1863, French troops ousted Juarez from Mexico City, and Napoleon III sent word for the future Emperor and Empress to set sail for Mexico. During this time, Maximilian had been lied to by Napoleon III and the Mexican leaders of the defeated Conservative Party that were in exile in France. Gullible as always, Maximilian accepted the stories he had been told about the desire of the Mexican people to see him on the throne as Emperor.
    “They look upon you as their redeemer; someone who will bring equality and prosperity to Mexico,” Maximilian was told. And in his naivety, Maximilian genuinely believed that the Mexican people were behind him, and looking forward to his rule as a means of restoring peace and order to their war-torn country.
    Up until this time, standing in the way of the ambitious Napoleon III to gain power in Mexico had been the rise of the United States as a power to be reckoned with, and the Monroe Doctrine. Written in 1823 by President James Monroe, the Doctrine essentially stated that any European nation with thoughts of increasing their possessions, or interfering in the business of any of the American countries, would have to deal with the United States.
    Now, with the United States embroiled in a Civil War, and Mexico weakened by years of Mexicans fighting Mexicans for political control, Napoleon III decided the time was ripe to crown Maximilian and Carlota, and through them, rule Mexico.
    Unaware of the political machinations swirling around Mexico between the conservatives and the liberals, Maximilian and Carlota were overjoyed when the call came for them to board ship immediately for Mexico. They believed they were entering Mexico with the acclaim and gratitude of the country.
    Maximilian had grandiose plans for changing things for the good of the people that included bringing in European scholars to teach the mainly illiterate Mexicans to read and write their own language, and inspire them to bring Mexico into what he termed “the Golden Age of growth and enlightenment.”
    The couple settled in Chapultepec Castle just outside Mexico City and Maximilian wasted no time in advancing some of his policies for change. He started restoration of the beautiful castle that had been allowed to fall into ruin, and began touring the country in an effort to meet the people and explain that he had arrived to restore their independence. He decreed the end of the mistreatment of workers and limited the hours they could be forced to work. His decrees were never implemented.
    Maximilian and Carlota loved Mexico and tried to the extent possible to make changes in the lives of its people. But they were living in a fantasy world that would soon crumble around them. With Benito Juarez gaining more and more support among the people, the day of reckoning was looming ever closer.
    Things came to a head when Maximilian received word from Napoleon that he must rescind the Reform Law that Juarez, had passed, and return the land and power over the Mexicans back to the Catholic Church. Maximilian refused, thus alienating Napoleon III, the only man, it was thought, who may have been able to intercede and save his life.
    Napoleon ordered the French troops that had been placed in Mexico to protect Maximilian, to return to France. Bravely, Maximilian and his diminished army fought on, but all chances of escape were cut off as the army of Juarez closed in. The reign of Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico ended when he and two of his generals stepped out of their headquarters carrying white flags. Accepting their swords in surrender, the receiving officer said: “Your Majesty is my prisoner.” The liberal general of Juarez’s army offered free passage of escape to Maximilian, but he refused because his loyal generals were not included in the offer. Maximilian remained brave and noble throughout his ordeal.
    The two generals were first to be brought to trial and received death sentences. As a royal Hapsburg, Maximilian refused to attend his own trial; four days after it began he, too, was sentenced to death. Despite pleas for leniency from every head of state from almost every country in the world, including President of the United States and Napoleon III of France, Benito Juarez was intractable, and signed the warrant that sealed Maximilian’s fate.
    Benito Juarez and Maximilian never met. Juarez refused a meeting with Maximilian, saying to friends that he was afraid a conversation with the condemned man would have made it impossible for him to carry out the death sentence.
    Maximilian died by firing squad, June 19, 1867, at the Hill of the Bells in the state of Queretero. Asked if he wished to say anything, he replied: “Pardon everyone and pray that all pardon me. I hope that my blood flows for the good of this earth. Viva Mexico!”
    Throughout this entire time, Carlota had spent her days traveling in Europe, going from one head of state to another, begging for help. Watching as she sailed from Mexico, Maximilian waved, not realizing they would never see each other again. During her visit to Pope Pius IX, Carlota went mad. Begging asylum, she said she needed escape from the people that were trying to kill her. A woman had never been allowed to stay overnight in the Vatican, but Carlota refused to leave. She was allowed to spend the night, but the Pope refused her plea for an audience.
    The next day, she accused the Pope of trying to poison her. Hearing of her condition, Carlota’s brother took her to a mental institution in Vienna where, at the age of 26, she was pronounced incurably insane. She remained confined for the next 60 years, and died in 1927 at the age of 87. Maximilian died without ever learning about her mental state.
    The reign of the Emperor and Empress of Mexico that had started so gloriously, lasted just three short years.
    (Ed. Note: This is one of the stories appearing in Merrimer’s book Tall Tales & True Stories of Mexico.)