Maximilian I Hapsburg

Born July 6, 1832, in Vienna; died June 19, 1867, in Querétaro, Mexico. Emperor of Mexico in 1864-67; Austrian archduke. Brother of Austrian emperor Francis Joseph I.

From 1857 to 1859, Maximilian I was governor-general of the Austrian possessions in Italy. During the intervention by the English, French, and Spanish in Mexico, which was aimed at overthrowing the progressive government of B. Juárez, Maximilian I, the protégé of the French emperor Napoleon III, was elevated to the Mexican throne in April 1864. His power extended only to the areas occupied by French troops. In March 1867 the French troops left Mexico, and in May the army of the conservatives, which supported Maximilian I, was routed by the Mexican popular army. Maximilian was taken prisoner. A military tribunal sentenced him to death, and he was shot.