Mexican History Break!

This painting depicts the final moments before execution of Emperor Maximilian, a man who is said to have loved Mexico so much he prayed for it even in his last moments. What happened to him? Ask many Mexicans and the answer you get is "He had to die."
Max took the throne in 1864 (During the US Civil War) after being told Mexico
wanted him to do it (but really it was more Euro/Mexico power struggle stuff).
"If you succeed in bringing order out of this chaos, fortune into this misery, union into these hearts you will be the greatest sovereign of modern times. Go poor fool! You may regret your beautiful castle of Miramar!
- François Claude du Barail
While the European powers that put Maximilian in power expected him to roll back liberal reforms once he got to Mexico, he did not. Instead he:
- Created laws to protect freedom of speech and protect workers' rights
- Extend amnesty for his political rivals (got his hand slapped by Benito Juárez)
- Stood up to the pope and said the Mexicans didn't need no dang ol' state religion
- Tried to set up national public schools
And what did it get him?
Because the US still acknowledged Benito as the rightful leader of Mexico, Max was never acknowledged emperor. Just the prospect of the US siding with Benito was enough for some of Maximilian's men to abandon him. With guerilla attacks increasing in rural areas, Maximillian issued "the black decree" which said anyone found to be aiding the guerillas was to be executed. It was very unpopular - so unpopular he sent his wife back to Europe and told her to just stay there if she couldn't get them help.
In 1866 he tried to set up a national assembly on what to do, but Juárez refused the ceasefire necessary to actually pull it off. Max was captured and killed almost immediately after the remaining French troops left and he had to switch over to using the Mexican ones.
He was succeeded by Benito Juárez.
"I'm on your side!"
Here's a video about that first painting, by the way:
Let's see what the comments say!





So what do we learn?
There is nothing Max could have done to "win" here. It wasn't
what he did that mattered, it was
who he was. He could not win. There was no policy, no behavior, no choices he could have made that would have saved him. His very existence needed to be erased.
"He had to die."