Maximilian and Juarez

Maximilian wanted to be wanted. Probably he wished it so badly he was blinded to the facts. Comparisons between the Ridley work and the earlier one are probably needless. The French invasion of Mexico in the 1860s is such an obscure piece of historical knowledge for most outside Mexico as to render the point moot. A new work every few years to remind a few readers is most likely a positive development. With each reiteration of the tale a few more Americans might have a dawn of awakening that, while North and South filled the gutters with blood inside the US boundaries the world continued to turn elsewhere.Comprehensive histories of Mexico from 1800 to 1870 are rare. Most US citizens only know about the Texas War of Independence. Few even know about the events in the adjacent province, New Mexico, during those violent years. The Ridley work covers a lot of ground. The details of what Napoleon III intended, why Britain became involved, and why Ferdinand Max persuaded himself Mexico needed and wanted him are generally made plain in this book. Politics in the US and the Civil War made this a saga to be watched only out of the corner of the eye while a major European power invaded a neighbor and installed an emperor. The book is also a middling introduction for the casual reader to become familiar with the first popular leader in Mexican history, Benito Juarez.I consider it a good read and a worthy addition to my bookshelf.

I started doing some basic reading about Juarez prior to writing a newspaper article about Cinco de Mayo. A number of sources recommended this book, so I found a copy and dug into it. Ridley doesn't "whitewash" any of the main figures, nor is it a hatchet job. I'd certainly gained more respect for Benito after reading Ridley's book.

Ridley does a more than credible job of portraying the conflict surrounding the attempt to install a foreign emperor in Mexico. Much emphasis is placed on the internal power struggle between conservatives and liberals and the ultimate succes of the Mexican hero Benito Juarez. Many of the leaders of the times are introduced but seldom with any great depth. The title is Maximillian & Juarez and this is not a biography I suppose. Napolean III is obviously given more treatment since it was his idea to install the ill fated Maximillian. The other leaders who are involved in the story are Mexican Generals Santa Ana, Leonardo Marquez, Porfirio Diaz, Miguel Miramon, Melchor Ocampo and other foreign major role players like Marshall Achille Bazine, William Steward. United States major role players brought tot life are Generals Grant amd Sheridan and of course President Lincoln. Their are also some pages dedicated to the plan(adopt) of Maximillian to install his successor Augustin Iturbide(grandson of Emperor Iturbide) but this was not to be. Of particular interest is the international scheme and involvement of various nations in this attempt to install Maximillian. Light is shed on the United States involvement although it was preoccupied with it's own internal problems since it was during the time of the Civil War. The difference between the South's attitude is also discussed. It was also interesting to see the interaction between the foreign French society in Mexcio and the ruling class of Mexico, many marriages were conveniently arranged to preserve the strength of families. I thoroughly enjoyed this glimpse into a part of Mexico's past and learned some interesting facts about the players and places involved. The importation of arms and the circumvent route was fascinating as was the involvement of the French Foreign Legion. The importation of 500 captured black Sudanese by Egyptian forces I found quite alarming and cruel as they were taken unwillingly from their families not knowing their fate. The thought behind this was that they would be better suited for the heat and could fight(for their lives) better than the French. Many of the cruelities and manipulations of war are revealed in this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a history buff or has a particular interest in Mexico or France. Although the title features the main players the emphasis is not neccessarily just focued on them and gives a much broader and realistic scope. A very readable and enjoyable portrait of a part of Mexico's history of foreign intervention that does not read like a history book but more like a novel, a bittersweet story of foreign intervention, war and triumph.

I began Ridley's book knowing only the basic outline of the story of Napolean III's attempt to establish Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico, and when I finished I felt that I knew a great deal indeed about the subject. Best of all, Ridley piqued my interest in all sorts of ways that I didn't expect. His presentation of the politics of the day takes us back to a time when Liberal simply meant believing that all human beings have certain rights, and Conservative meant believing that all power should flow from the supreme authority of the Catholic Church and hereditary monarchs. It's not hard for most moderns to make a choice in that conflict, although many still have the infuriating tendency to romanticize "nobles" of Maximilian and Carlota's ilk. Ridley doesn't glamorize any of the players (inlcuding the crafty Juarez), but he does tend to humanize even the worst of them and he shows that both sides engaged in one atrocity after another. He also shows the global politics involved in the French attempt to establish a monarch in Mexico, and especially the reaction of the United States, which was facing its own crisis with the Civil War. All in all, a fascinating story, extremely well told.

Having friends on both sides of the argument I will say that Ridley gives a great study of the French intervention in Mexico. I took the book with me for a month in Mexico and it helped me as I studied both sides of the story of Maximilian.