Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/236

* MAXIMILIAN. 208 MAXIMILIAN. was crowned King of Bohemia and elected King of the Romans in 1562, and was elected King of Ilungaiy in 1503. In 15G4 he succeeded his father on the Imperial throne of (icrmany, in l!i)heniia. and in tlic portion of Hiingarv not under the sway of the Turks or the Transylva- nian princes. In 15(iG Solyman the .Magnilicent determined to make a fresh onshiught upon the power of Austria. His vast army was ar- rested by the heroic defenders of Sziget, and the great Sultan died in his camp before the strong- liold fell. Maximilian displayed great inactivity in the face of tlic impending danger, and con- cluded a disailvantageous treaty with Solyman"s successor. The marriage of Maximilian's daugh- ter Anne with I'hilip II., and the hope held oxit to hira by the Pope that he miglit acquire the I'olish Kingdom, acted to repress the Emperor's interest in the Protestant cause. He interceded with Philip in behalf of the Protestants of the Low Countries, but without nuich success. Un- der his tolerant rule Germany enjoyed a period of comparative tranquillity, which was followed by one of religious strife under his successor, Rudolph II. Consult: Koch. Quellen :ur (le- scliichte Maximilians 11. (2 vols., Leipzig. 1857- Cl); Hopfen, Kaiser ilaj-imilian 11. und der Conipromisshatholizismus (Munich, 1895). See ArSTRIA-IllXCARY. MAXIMILIAN, Ferdinand .Iosepii (1832- 67). Archduke of Austria and Emperor of Mex- ico. He was the second son of the Austrian Arch- duke Francis Charles, and a brother to the Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria. He was liberally educated, became commander of the Austrian Xavy in 1854. and later served with success as (lOvernor of Lombardy and Venetia. In 18(i2-3 the French troops of Napoleon III. oc- cupied the principal parts of Mexico. (See Mexico; Juarez.) An assembly of notables, named by the French commanders, was convened, and on July 10, 18G3, this body offered the crown to Maximilian, who as a Hapsburg represented the dynasty which had preceded the Bourbons upon the throne of Spain. JIaximilian annnunce<l that he would accept only on condition that "the vote of the assembly of notables could be ratified by the Mexican people in a general election, and that the European nations would give sufhcient guarantees that the throne would be protected from dangers which might threaten it." The Mexican popular vote was easily secured by Marshal Razaine. and Xapoleon signed the Treaty of Miramar. by whieh he bound himself to main- tain the French army in Mexieo until the army of the Empire should be thoroughly organized. On May 20 Maximilian, with the Empress Carlot- ta, daughter of King Leopold nf Ridgium. landed at Vera Cruz. The new ruler annonnceil that his misHion was "the rejuvenation of Mexico." I'nfortunately. he knew nothing of the charaeter- isties of the country' or of the people over whom he had come to rule. . xious to ermciliate all parties, he soon found himself without the eorilial support of any. Hi-; desire to rule with- out the French led him to neglert their repre- sentatives, until he suddenly realized that the foreign army, hated equally by all divisions of his subjects, was the only power really behind his throne. In despair of accomplishing anything by conciliation, the Emperor was persuaded to issue a decree. October 3, lS(i5, declaring that all persons bearing arms against his empire were bandits, and if caught would be tried by court- martial and shot, iiefore the end of the month four highly esteemed Republican olliccrs had been executed in accordance with this decree, and the last hope of pupular support for Maximilian's rule had been destroyed. Meantime, the Cnited States Government, relieved of its embarrass- ments by the fall of the Confederacy, succeeded in convincing the French Emperor that his inter- vention in ilexico would not be tolerated. In consequence, on May 31, 1860, Maximilian re- ceived dis])atelies announcing that all French troops would be withdrawn from ilexico. Maxi- milian would probably have resigned at once had not the Empress Carlotta dissuaded him, undertaking to go to Europe and use her inllu- ence with Xapoleon III. She proceeded to Paris, where the Emperor at first refused to see her, and finally brutally asked her to leave France. The Pope gave her little better consolation, and she became hopelessly insane. ( See Carlott.. ) JIaximilian determined to abdicate, but the French commissioners sent by Xapoleon III. were unable to agree to the terms which he stipulated, and eventually he decided to accept the oiler of Generals Miramon and JIarquez (qq.v,), who promised to raise a force sufficient to replace the French troops and maintain his empire. The Church Parly urged the Emperor to remain, jiromising its sujiport. and ^laximilian estab- lished his headquarters at Quen'taro. There he was surrounded by the Rc])ul)lican army in the early part of March. 1807. On May 'l4th plans were made for a sortie by which the Em- peror might escape to Mexico City or to the coast. Before such plans could be carried out. Colonel iliguel Lo])ez. a constant favorite of the Emperor and Empress, and one who had received many Iiroofs of their g(>nerosity. informed the enemy of the plan and arranged to admit them into the Imperial camp, ilaximilian and his generals were forced to surrender, and after a short con- finement were tried by a military court. The Emperor was accused of treason, usurpation of liublic power, filibustering, trying to prolong the civil war. and of signing the decree of Octolwr 3, 1805, He was declared guilty and condemned to be shot, together with Generals Miramon and Mejia. The execution took place on the morn- ing of June in. 1807. The Emperor's body was eventually surrendered to the Austrian Govern- ment, and now rests in the Imperial vault in Vienna. Maximilian was a prolific writer, and seven volumes of his |)rose and verse were pub- lished in 'ienna in 1807. .mong the best ac- counts of the Emperor are: Chynoweth. Tlir Fall of Maximilian (London. 1872). and Prince Salm- Salni, l/i/ Diarii in Mr.rico in IfHiy ( Eng. trans., I/indon. 1808)! Hall's Life of Maximilian I. (New York. 18fiS) is especially valuable for its account of the legal aspects of the trial and exectit iiiTi. MAXIMILIAN L ( 1.-.73-1051 1. A Duke of Bavaria, prnmiiicnt in the Thirty Years' War. born in Munich. He was educated at the .lesuit I'niversity of Ingolstadt. and in the internal administration of his realm displayed much statecraft. He improved the judicial and execu- tive departments, organized a militia etiective for ilefense, maintained a well-disciidined stand- ing army under the famous Count of Tilly (q.v.), and phiccrl the treasury upon a secure basis. In the affairs of the Empire he was an active oppo-