Maxmilián I.

Maximilian I
Maximiliano I
     
Příjmení:
Surname:
Maxmilián I. Maximilian I
Jméno:
Given Name:
- -
Jméno v originále:
Original Name:
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph Maria von Österreich
Fotografie či obrázek:
Photograph or Picture:
Hodnost:
Rank:
- -
Akademický či vědecký titul:
Academic or Scientific Title:
- -
Šlechtický titul:
Hereditary Title:
císař Emperor
Datum, místo narození:
Date and Place of Birth:
06.07.1832 Vídeň
06.07.1832 Vienna
Datum, místo úmrtí:
Date and Place of Decease:
19.06.1867 Santiago de Querétaro (Cerro de las Campanas) /
19.06.1867 Santiago de Querétaro (Cerro de las Campanas) /
Nejvýznamnější funkce:
(maximálně tři)
Most Important Appointments:
(up to three)
císař Mexika Emperor of Mexico
Jiné významné skutečnosti:
(maximálně tři)
Other Notable Facts:
(up to three)
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Související články:
Related Articles:

Zdroje:
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Maxmilian-I-t20709#650848 Version : 0
     
Příjmení:
Surname:
Maxmilián I. Maximilian I
Jméno:
Given Name:
- -
Jméno v originále:
Original Name:
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph Maria von Österreich
Všeobecné vzdělání:
General Education:
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Vojenské vzdělání:
Military Education:
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Důstojnické hodnosti:
Officer Ranks:
DD.MM.1850 poručík
DD.MM.1850 lieutenant
Průběh vojenské služby:
Military Career:
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Vyznamenání:
Awards:
Poznámka:
Note:
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Zdroje:
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Maxmilian-I-t20709#650851 Version : 0
Ferdinand Maximilian

July 6, 1832 - June 19, 1867

Archduke of Austria, in 1864-1867 Emperor of Mexico


Ferdinand Maximilian was born in Schönbrunn, Vienna, on July 16, 1832 to Archduke Franz Karl (1802-1878) and Sophia of Bavaria. Maximilian was a child of a restless, cheerful nature with a sense of humor. Maximilian did not excel in teaching, but it was mainly because the reckless Archduke was not very interested in teaching. He was intelligent and if he was interested in any subject, he achieved good results.

Rumors circulated at the Habsburg court that Maximilian was not the son of Napoleon's son, the Duke of Zákupský, to whom Empress Sophia the Great bred affection. The charismatic Maximilian enchanted his surroundings and was able to entertain the whole society, and his older brother, the future emperor Francis Joseph I (1830-1916), was jealous of his younger brother.
Maximilian, on the other hand, envied his brother's looming ruling career in secret, because, despite his reckless nature, he longed for great deeds.

Their uncle, the weak-minded Ferdinand V. (1793-1875), and their father, Archduke Francis Charles, did not have high intect, so it was expected in court circles that František Josef will become the next emperor. This situation occurred in the revolutionary year of 1848, when Ferdinand V. abdicated in favor of Maximilian's older brother, now Emperor Francis Joseph I.

The new emperor, an essential conservative, was provoked by the liberal Maximilian by criticizing the bloody reprisals against the rebel Hungarians. Therefore, the emperor welcomed the military career of Archduke Maximilian, who separated him from the court.

Archduke Maximilian chose a navy somewhat neglected by the monarchy for his military career. In 1850 he joined Trieste as a lieutenant in the Imperial Navy. As a naval officer, Maximilian was popular with officers and men alike, and he also proved his organizational talent and vision for the navy he loved. From 1854 to 1859 he served as commander in chief of the naval forces. In collaboration with his friend Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, he pushed for a reform of the fleet according to the English model. New ships for the Imperial Navy, steamers with a steel-clad hull, were built in English shipyards. At Maximilian's suggestion, a new military port was built in Pula ( now in Croatia) as an alternative to ports in the politically unstable Austrian Italy. By sailing the frigate Novara around the world in the years 1857-58, Maximilian made the flag of the monarchy overseas visible. His tenure in the navy was also appreciated by the reserved emperor.

Another alienation between the two brothers occurred after the assassination attempt on Franz Joseph on February 15, 1853. Maximilian immediately arrived in Vienna, where he was warmly welcomed by the population. The emperor saw in his swift arrival a desire for the throne and badly defeated Maximilian.

After the so-called Crimean War in 1853-56, during which Austria maintained armed neutrality, the credibility of the Habsburg monarchy abroad declined. Both Russia, expanding at the expense of Turkey, and the naval powers of England and France, which prevented Russia's undesirable dominance by landing in Crimea and conquering Savastopol, expected direct military support from Austria, as they made clear to Austria at the Paris Conference.

František Josef used Maximilian's popularity and his ability to deal with people and sent him to Paris at the head of the delegation to settle the troubled relationship. The meeting with the French emperor Napoleon III became fatal for Maximilian. The two statesmen, who united a liberal worldview, became friends, and this friendship was to bring Maximilian to the execution squad in the future.

In July 1857, Maximilian married a Belgian princess Charlotte. Prior to this marriage, the Austrian emperor increased Maximilian's prestige by appointing the governor general of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venice. He promised to calm the situation in this richest part of the empire. However, the emperor did not trust Maximilian's liberal practices, and therefore removed from his powers the command of the army stationed in the Italian states.

Maximilian was really trying, within his means, to loosen the rigid military-police regime. His proposals for a degree of self-government in the Italian provinces were viewed with distrust in Vienna, and in April 1859 Maximilian was removed from office. Hardliners persuaded the emperor to a preemptive war against the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was blamed for inciting anti-Habsburg sentiment in Lombardy and Veneto.

The Kingdom of Sardinia was supported by France and isolated Austria after the defeats at the battles of Magenta on June 4, 1859 and Solferino on June 24, 1859, during the peace negotiations in Zurich on November 10, 1859, had to agree to the resignation of wealthy Lombardy from the Kingdom of Sardinia.

After leaving Italy, Maximilian lived with his wife at Miramare Castle near Trieste, which he generously converted into a representative residence with the help of his rich wife's money. Apart from a trip to Brazil, what was happening in faraway Mexico tore Maximilian out of his peaceful life in Miramar.

Mexico, independent since 1821, was in the throes of civil wars and coups. Internal weaknesses were exploited by their powerful US neighbor, who occupied a large part of Mexico ( eg California, Texas or Arizona).

A Republican, an Aztec Indian, has been in power since 1858, Benito Juárez Garcia. He did not want and could not repay the loans taken by his opponents in Spain, France and England. These European creditors, associated in the so-called London Convention, intervened militarily in support of their demands, and in early 1862 there were several thousand foreign soldiers in Mexico.

After Juárez showed a willingness to pay, albeit not immediately, Spain and England withdrew their troops. On the contrary, Napoleon III wanted to counterbalance the United States in Mexico and intended to unite and control Mexico through a puppet monarch. In the search for a suitable candidate, he bet on Maximilian, who made a good impression on him during the Paris mission.

Napoleon officially offered the Mexican throne to Maximilian. The emperor Francis Joseph I, despite his doubts, did not rule out this possibility and interpreted the offer to Maximilian. Eager to make history as a great monarch and backed by an ambitious wife Charlotte, he accepted the offer. Once Maximilian was enthusiastic about the idea, it was almost impossible for him, even with reasonable arguments, to talk about the grand plans. He did not warn England or the American ambassador, he also rejected the possibility of running for the Polish or Greek throne. He was hoped for by the success of the French intervention corps, commanded by a capable marshal Achilles Bazaine, who succeeded on 7 June 1863 in conquering the capital Ciudad de Mexico and driving the republican army north. .

On October 3, 1863, a delegation from the Mexican Provisional Government officially offered the Mexican throne to Maximilian. On April 9, 1864, Maximilian signed, under pressure from Francis Joseph, a family treaty in which he relinquished his accession to the throne before witnesses, and on April 10, 1864, became Maximilian I, emperor of Mexico. On April 14, 1864, aboard the frigate Novara, he sailed from Trieste to meet his destiny.

After arriving in his new homeland, he found that the situation was not as rosy as he thought, and that the 75% of the population who allegedly voted in a referendum for the monarchy was a mere chimera. Maximilian settled in Chapultepec, where the emperor's palace once stood Montezuma, and began building a new imperial palace there.

Maximilian Ihe intended to rule as an enlightened liberal monarch. However, by his actions he provoked influential strata of Mexican society against each other. He outraged conservative circles with a general amnesty for political offenses and the lifting of censorship. The influential clergy repented that he had not annulled Juárez's confiscation decrees, which confiscated the church's property. His attempts to bring in the government and the liberal opposition failed because she saw in him a usurper installed by French bayonets. And despite the establishment of only a limited imperial court, the common Mexicans blamed him for extravagance.

The primary task was to defeat the rebel republicans. The French army conquered the important cities of Acapulco and Durango, but the rebels avoided a decisive battle by withdrawing to the mountains.

After the planned departure of the French, the volunteer units recruited in Belgium and Austria were to become Maximilian's support. The planned contingent of 6,000 was quickly fulfilled thanks to lucrative contracts, and at the beginning of 1865 it was combat-ready. Volunteers, including 600 recruits from the Czech Republic, signed six-year contracts, after which they could return home or stay in Mexico, where they were entitled to a land allotment.

Volunteer units quickly proved themselves in combat. They managed to conquer the rebel bastion of Tezuitlán ( on February 6, 1865), on which French soldiers broke their teeth and seasoned. The conquered territories were to be controlled by volunteers, who also had cavalry and artillery, deployed in garrison towns and strategic posts.

The decisive factor in the fate of the Mexican Empire was the victory of the Union's troops in the American Civil War in 1861-65, which marked the reunification of the United States. The Mexican monarchy was a thorn in the side of the United States that it was unwilling to tolerate on the American continent.

On January 15, 1866, Napoleon III gave in to American pressure and undertook to withdraw all troops from Mexico within 18 months. He did so without first consulting Maximilian, to whom he promised all possible support. According to the treaty with Maximilian, part of the French contingent was to last until 1874, and its withdrawal was perceived by Emperor Maximilian as a betrayal. He could not even rely on the help of Austria.

On July 3, 1866, the Austrian army suffered a crushing defeat by the Prussians in the battle of Hradec Králové. The lost wars did not prevent the destruction of the Sardinian fleet, an ally of the Prussians, in the Battle of Vis, where Maximilian's friend proved his abilities Wilhelm von Tegetthoff.

Maximilian's generous plans to rebuild Mexico City into a modern European-type metropolis also failed due to lack of funds. Maximilian's remarkable success was the establishment of the Mexican National Museum, where he managed to collect valuable historical monuments to the Aztec Empire. In 1865, Maximilian founded the Imperial Academy of Sciences. However, school reform remained unfinished.

From March 1866, French troops withdrew from Mexico, and Juárez's followers quickly filled their vacancies. Maximilian began to lose ground. Contrary to his lifelong philosophy, the bitter emperor ordered that each prisoner be treated as a rebel.

Juárez reacted in the same way, so both sides committed violence against prisoners. The war has hardened. The attempt to replace the French with new volunteers from Europe failed both in the diplomatic efforts of the United States, which protested against it, and in the general skepticism of Europeans, who no longer believed in Maximilian's success. Maximilian even considered abdication and leaving the country, even reconsidering the Polish throne. Empress Charlotte spoke to him about the abdication. The emperor cannot give in to the rebels. On June 28, 1866, he called Maximilian to resign and Napoleon III.

On July 9, 1866, Empress Charlotte traveled to Europe to personally request help for Maximilian in Rome and Paris. She missed Vienna and Brussels, where they stopped recruiting volunteers under US pressure. They were traitors to her. Napoleon did not even want to accept her at first, nor did he succeed with the pope. Charlotte collapsed mentally.

Mexican conservatives persuaded Maximilian to the last desperate resistance, fearing the victorious Juárez. In December 1866, Maximilian disbanded volunteer units and called on their members to join the regular Mexican army. However, most of the volunteers had already resigned and opted to return home. On March 15, 1867, Marshal Bazaine left Mexico.

Maximilian and the remnants of the army retreated to Querétar, where he intended with 7,000 soldiers to face 40,000 Republican troops. He rejected his generals' proposal to flee to the mountains. He also did not accept the Republicans' offer to leave Mexico freely, conditional on unconditional surrender. The emperor intended to share the fate of his most faithful. On May 17, 1867, Querétaro was betrayed by Republicans and the emperor surrendered.

On June 16, 1867, the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I, along with Generals Mejia and Miramón, was sentenced to death and executed despite numerous interventions by statesmen from Europe and the United States on June 19, 1867.

Maximilian's remains were transported to Trieste by his beloved frigate Novara. On January 18, 1868, Maximilian was buried in the Habsburg family tomb in Vienna.

With Maximilian's death, one of the few liberal and religiously tolerant Habsburgs left his life, a man who, with his entire life as an idealistic and somewhat impractical dreamer, was so different from his relatives.
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