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Emperor Maximilian I
Ferdinand Maximilian Josef Maria von Habsburg-Lothringen

Born on July 6, 1832, Passed away on June 19, 1867
Reign: 10 April 1864 – 19 June 1867

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He was an Austrian archduke who reigned as the only Emperor of the Second Mexican Empire from 10 April 1864 until his execution on 19 June 1867. A member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, Maximilian was the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. He had a distinguished career as the Austrian viceroy of Lombardy–Venetia and the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Austrian Navy.

His involvement in Mexico came about after France, together with Spain and the United Kingdom had occupied the port of Veracruz in the winter of 1861 to pressure the Mexican government into settling its debts with the three powers after Mexico had announced a suspension on debt repayment earlier in the year; the Spanish and British both withdrew the following year after negotiating agreements with the Mexican government and realizing the true intention of the French, who were aiming at regime change. Seeking to legitimize French intervention, Emperor Napoleon III invited Maximilian to establish what would come to be known as the Second Mexican Empire, which gained the collaboration of Mexican conservatives and certain moderate liberals. With a pledge of French military support and at the formal invitation of a Mexican delegation, Maximilian accepted the crown of Mexico on 10 April 1864.

The Mexican Empire managed to gain the diplomatic recognition of several European powers, including Russia, Austria, and Prussia. The United States, while it did not protest formally against the empire, continued to recognize Juárez as the legal president of Mexico and saw the French presence as a violation of the Monroe Doctrine. The U.S. was unable to intervene politically due to its ongoing civil war. Franco-Mexican forces never completely defeated the Mexican Republic but pushed their troops to the border with the U.S. Republican guerillas also continued to be active throughout the Empire. With the end of the American Civil War in 1865, the United States began providing more explicit aid to Juárez's forces. French armies began to withdraw from Mexico in 1866. The Mexican Empire began to falter and Maximilian was captured after the last stand at Querétaro. He would be tried and executed by the restored Republican government alongside his generals Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía Camacho in June 1867.

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This skin was requested by Maximillian3288