Show IFO M A 41 I 1 I 1 r t ahe of the emperor and empress lancen 11 mexico A A 2 za 4 LJ VI 7 71 end last moments of carlota PA P A 7 G ary LA t 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON JOHANN STRAUSS of I 1 menna lenna was very busy compos gah ing waltzes so begins chapter one of a new book phantom crown tl TI e story of maxin illan and carlota of mexico written by bertita harding and published re bently by the Bobbs Merrill company A dreamy strauss waltz played in the ro mantle city on the danube Is an appropriate theme song for the m mim ain character in the drama that Is about to begin maximilian was like that a dreamer an ideal st a man of nary purity and simplicity but lacking utterly the clear vision and the ability to deal with 1 I rac radical matters if he had been otherwise some north american history even a part of the history of the united slates states might have been d phantom antom crown is an ail appropriate title too for the story of maximilian and carlota who made the last grand bewildered gesture of royalty on the american continent and who attempted a visionary conquest which ended so tragically for them both lor I 1 or the theme song given to the austrian archduke in the opening chapter of the hard ng book soon changed the notes of a strauss waltz were drowned out by the crackling of the names flames of rebellion and that sinister sound rose to a crescendo in the crashing volley of rifle shots on the hill ot of bells in where he who would be era em geror of mexico died facing a firing squad maximilian wore more his phantom crown only three years carlota wore hers for more than fifty maximilian facing death declared I 1 die in a just cause I 1 forgive all and pray that all may forgive me may my blood flow for the good of this land long live mexico in his last few moments on earth he heard a faithful subject salute him with hall I 1 emperor farewell I 1 carlota lived to become the mad empress to linger on in the twilight of in sanity to cherish a delusion that she was still a sovereign and to tall with the imaginary members of an imaginary court who then can say which was the greater tragedy maxim I 1 an s or carlota s archduke maximilian the youngest brother of emperor franz joseph of austria was mas born at runn on july 6 1832 1812 in 1857 the tall fair dalre I 1 I 1 it e en ed young e was mar ried to seventeen year old princess charlotte marle abelle augustine victoire clementine daughter of king leopold I 1 of bel glum when franz joseph made the archduke v viceroy of the austrian ruled provinces of I 1 enice and lombardy in italy his bride changed I 1 er name to carlotta the ital an for charlotte after two vears of rule in the italian brov inces maximilian was glad enough to retire to the ease of private life in the splendid cl CI atcas miramar at trieste meanwhile affa rs across the atlantic which were mere to affect the destiny of the austrian arch archduke dule were mere rapidly taking hape chape mexico had thrown off the aole 3 oke of spain but was troubled by the internal strife which wis to characterize that turbulent land for the next century because of these unsettled condi condl eions I 1 european loans became so endangered that in october 1861 france england and sp tin signed a joint agreement to intervene in mexico in order to protect the investments of their citizens Iti zens other factors however entered into this dec slon at least so far as I 1 ranee rance was concerned for france was ruled by napoleon III napoleon the little a master of intrigue and political scheming besides desiring to collect the french debts in mexico he was dreaming of a friench empire in america to save catholicism as bell nell as the latin races from being engulfed by the anlo saxon culture true the monroe doc doe had been a hirning to the european na I 1 ons to keep hands off in the new world but II 11 t th s time the united states was in the throes aa of a civil chiv il war and therefore in no condit on to back up thit doctrine or at least napoleon thought that this was a good time to put its strength to the test and england and spain too no doubt were mere willing enough to see it tested on december 14 1861 vera cruz was mccu pied pled by spanish troops soon afterwards the french fleet arrived with a laige force of sol diers and great britain sent ships ind landed 00 marines when it became apparent how ever that prance france was intending to interfere in domestic politics in mexico especially in regard to the relations of church and state beyond the cope of the agreement spain and great britain withdrew their forces in march leaving france to go it alone france thereupon upon in creased the number of her troops by many thou sands and set about to conquer mexico the following spring her army besieged and reduced puebla and on june 7 1863 entered tl e city of ilex co A provisional government of mexicans was set up as the tile puppets of the french and this temporary organ bation voted in favor of a monarchial form of government it was napoleon s idea to offer the crown to arch dal e maximilian of austria put maximilian enjoying his books and the life of a private gen tieman at miramar refused to accept the honor and went ment off on a botanical expedition to brazil returning from biazi biaz I 1 he was api again N napoleon was persistent the giant shadow of bismarck wl ich tell loomed with an in creasing menace across the prussian border was caus calls ng both france and austila some concern and the french emperor hoped that an alliance with the house of hapsburg might lessen that menace but emperor franz joseph was sus licious of this upstart emperor in france and he strongly advised his brother a against ainest having anything to do with ith napoleons schemes but carlotta was ambitious she had tasted the delights of being a ruler even though a minor one during the time her husband had been viceroy of the italian provinces she was dazzled by the idea of being an empress for all her yo ith she was a stronger char character acter than her husband and he exerted all of her influx ence oi over er him to get him to accept napoleons napoleon s offer at last he yielded to her persuasion and after renouncing his rights of succession to the austrian throne accepted the title of emperor of mexico on may 28 1864 the new emperor and empress arrived at vera nera cruz and al though their reception was mas not as ardent as they might nave hoped for yet tl ey were warmly welcomed by the clergy and the military ele merits ments which hoped through the monir monarchy chy to regain some of the prestige and the property they had lost prior to the establishment of the empire ilex ico had known two factions one was tl ti e li liberals berils led by benito juarez an indian patriot who mho had been exiled by banta santa anna nna the dictator and returning to mexico after the fall ot 0 santi sant t anna had succeeded to the presidency upon the death of jean alvarez and in 1807 had primul gated the great reform measures mei which brought about a complete severance of church and state when maximilian was set upon the throne by french troops juarez was aga n forced to flee but although he be was mas aga n do doan n he was far from out the other party was ras the conservatives or the church party to whom maximilian owed omed his crown and it had the support of the mil tary the french troops maintained there by napoleon and commanded by marshal bazaine who was almost as much the ruler of mexico as maxi milian millan was mas As ti tie e civil war drew to a close it became apparent that the north was mas sure to win min the united states then would be able to turn its attention to enforcing the monroe doctrine na saw the handwriting on the wall ut terly forgetful of all his promises to maximilian he Ire prepared pared to abandon him to his fate although gh fer some time the french ruler kept up a pre tense of supporting his puppet emperor across the sea finally in 1666 in response to urgent representations by the united states napoleon promised to withdraw his troops from mexico in the meantime open revolt had sprung up in mexico 1 in october 1805 maximilian had Is sued a proclamation threatening death to all who mho offered resistance to the government it was aimed primarily at the bandits who had been ravaging the country but the imperialist and french officers took advantage of the proc la mation matlon to execute many liberals who were classed as brigands after their capture and this strengthened the hand of juarez in his revolt the usurper it gained rapid headway an I 1 an real zing at last that napoleon could not be trusted to support him saw that the end was almost in sight for a long time he had been blind to the fact that he was an unwanted unman ted ruler in mexico and that his reign was destined to failure even EN en bl ndel was mas his empress carlota she had changed to the mexican spelling of her name upon becoming empress em when he proposed to abd cate his throne th rone the empress stormed at him bo so it was decided that she should go to fu rope tor for a personal appeal to napoleon to abide by his promises of support and protection to the III fated imperial venture falling failing in her efforts to win min such a promise from the wily ily frenchman carlota went ent on to rome to appeal to the pope for aid in the vatican she developed her first traces of insanity and so violent did she become that it was necessary for her to spend the night there thus history accords her the honor of being the only woman ever to remain overnight in that historic building elming hav ing failed utterly in her efforts to gain support in either pans paris or rome and with her health and her mind falling failing carlota was re moved to her castle in her native belgium mean while back bach in mexico events were drawing to a swift close in february 1887 1867 after the depar ture lure of the french troops maximilian withdrew from mexico city and went to where he assumed command of a small army there he was as besieged by the revolutionists he ile made a last denpei desperate ate effort to break through and escape but he was betraver bet raved by a colonel lopez and taken prisoner A month later he was court marti aled and after a trial that was something of a farce he wa sentenced to die the end came for him on the morning of june 19 1807 1867 the following winter they brought his body to vienna ani an the another crept of capuchin monks A long line of Haps burgs slumbered I 1 ere and he was laid quietly among them and while he slept eternally ete mally she roamed through the corridors of a distant bel gian glan castle as far removed from him as their separate childhoods at times it was as if he had never been five empires crashed while she sat in her garden brooding in her arm chair sl e ed the sunset of five dynasties bonaparte braganza ho lio ifould there be a sunrise death came quietly on january 10 16 1927 until that moment however hers was an epic hold on life she knew herself to be a bonu ment meat to maxim lian and while she lived she would not allow men to forget him to all who paid her visits while she would whisper let them remember the fail haired stranger who gave his life for the ambitions of that grasping unscrupulous napoleon Napoleo nl let them know that we me acted in good faith and may god grant that our memory be sad but never hateful in mexico they remember carlota as the ill III fortuned mexican empress who was an innocent victim in the game of european politics she will remain engraved upon our history in her goodness goo drIess her nobility and above all as the most loving of women momen the world kemem bers hers her and her emperor as two tv 0 royal waifs of chance whose tragic misadventure calla calls more for pity than for blame a 0 by western newspaper union |