Maximilian’s rule over Mexico was never truly solidified or legitimized, and the would-be emperor faced relentless resistance from liberal Mexican forces led by reformist president Benito Juarez. Eventually the emperor (always just a puppet of the French) would lose his foreign backing, get holed up in a siege, get captured, and eventually die ingloriously in front of a firing squad.

The painting below by Edouard Manet shows the execution of Maximilian and two of his generals by Juarez’s republican forces.

Related Links:

The New York Times in 1865 on the Second Mexican Empire.

The New York Times’ Disunion Blog on the Battle of Puebla and Mexican foreign policy in the Second Empire.

The Grey River Argus on the Queretaro.

A photo purporting to show the execution of Maximilian and two of his generals.