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The Coronation

A little something I originally started on back in May to coincide with Cinco de Mayo but gave up on and have finally finished, some four months later. Here is a depiction of the Mexican Imperial family, circa 1870 with Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota with their two adopted sons: Salvador de Iturbide y Marzan and Agustin de Iturbide y Green. Brought to power amid a nation wracked by chaos with the support of the French, Austrians, Belgians, Egyptians, Sicilians, British, and Californians, Maximilian and Carlota managed to weather the storm and solidify their base of power by the end of the 1860s despite both Austria and France withdrawing their troops from the country during the Austro-Prussian War. Most of the credible threats to Imperial power were either dead or in exile, most notably former dictator Santa Anna who spent his final years living in New York City. Now, with British and Belgian financial backing, they sought to rebuild Mexico after decades of strife and implement liberal reforms that did help win over the peasantry, especially those indigenous groups who have had a tumultuous relationship with the central government (such as the Yacqui).

Both Emperor and Empress were the youngest in their respective broods, Maximilian being the younger brother of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph while Carlota was the last child born to British Queen Charlotte II and Belgian King Leopold I. They had originally come to Mexico under rather unpleasant circumstances with Maximilian desiring a title and a crown of his own and his wife being rather dour about the whole affair; they had yet to produce children so Maximilian adopted two members of the family of the previous Mexican Emperor, Agustin de Iturbide. In reality, Max hoped to eventually find a Habsburg boy to bring over to serve as his heir but the two were finally able to bear their own brood in 1872. Unfortunately, the daughters born would prove to be rather unfit to rule and there seemed to be no suitable member of Maximilian's family, so he was forced to settle with the Iturbide boys who were able to marry and have prosperous families of their own. The elder, Salvador, wed a Hungarian countess by the name of Gizella while staying in Austria in 1871 and would have four daughters and two sons; a decade later, Agustin would marry a descendant of Moctezuma and they had two saughters. In the meantime, Maximilian, formerly Navy Minister in his native Austria, would see the reorganization and rebuilding of the Mexican Navy with the aid of Admiral Tegetthoff, a number of local officers, and even some Americans who were looking for adventure in the postwar US Navy downsizing, who saw battle against the British and Confederates and looked for employment elsewhere; those efforts would see the Imperial Mexican Navy become a force in the region, one of the largest navies in all of the Americas and would result in similar buildup in both Texas and Haiti. Salvador would eventually die in 1895 of a ruptured appendix while visiting his friend Don Carlos de Borbon y Parma in Venice and his eldest daughter, Maria Josefa, would be next in line for the throne after Agustin, who was coronated after Maximilian passed away in 1907. Doña Carlota returned to Belgium after her husband's death and lived in first the Palace of Laeken and then Bouchout Castle at the behest of her nephew King Albert, the latter she resided in during the Great War and care was taken by the occupying Germans not to disturb her residence. She died in 1927, the same year as Agustin II, her mental health having deteriorated since originally arriving in Mexico back in 1862, and her funeral was attended by members of both the Belgian and British royal families, several Austrian Archdukes and Archduchesses, Kaiser Wilhelm, and various Mexican princes and princesses, with Maria Josefa refusing to attend due to her shut-in nature as she awaited her own coronation.

Description

The Coronation

A little something I originally started on back in May to coincide with Cinco de Mayo but gave up on and have finally finished, some four months later. Here is a depiction of the Mexican Imperial family, circa 1870 with Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota with their two adopted sons: Salvador de Iturbide y Marzan and Agustin de Iturbide y Green. Brought to power amid a nation wracked by chaos with the support of the French, Austrians, Belgians, Egyptians, Sicilians, British, and Californians, Maximilian and Carlota managed to weather the storm and solidify their base of power by the end of the 1860s despite both Austria and France withdrawing their troops from the country during the Austro-Prussian War. Most of the credible threats to Imperial power were either dead or in exile, most notably former dictator Santa Anna who spent his final years living in New York City. Now, with British and Belgian financial backing, they sought to rebuild Mexico after decades of strife and implement liberal reforms that did help win over the peasantry, especially those indigenous groups who have had a tumultuous relationship with the central government (such as the Yacqui).

Both Emperor and Empress were the youngest in their respective broods, Maximilian being the younger brother of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph while Carlota was the last child born to British Queen Charlotte II and Belgian King Leopold I. They had originally come to Mexico under rather unpleasant circumstances with Maximilian desiring a title and a crown of his own and his wife being rather dour about the whole affair; they had yet to produce children so Maximilian adopted two members of the family of the previous Mexican Emperor, Agustin de Iturbide. In reality, Max hoped to eventually find a Habsburg boy to bring over to serve as his heir but the two were finally able to bear their own brood in 1872. Unfortunately, the daughters born would prove to be rather unfit to rule and there seemed to be no suitable member of Maximilian's family, so he was forced to settle with the Iturbide boys who were able to marry and have prosperous families of their own. The elder, Salvador, wed a Hungarian countess by the name of Gizella while staying in Austria in 1871 and would have four daughters and two sons; a decade later, Agustin would marry a descendant of Moctezuma and they had two saughters. In the meantime, Maximilian, formerly Navy Minister in his native Austria, would see the reorganization and rebuilding of the Mexican Navy with the aid of Admiral Tegetthoff, a number of local officers, and even some Americans who were looking for adventure in the postwar US Navy downsizing, who saw battle against the British and Confederates and looked for employment elsewhere; those efforts would see the Imperial Mexican Navy become a force in the region, one of the largest navies in all of the Americas and would result in similar buildup in both Texas and Haiti. Salvador would eventually die in 1895 of a ruptured appendix while visiting his friend Don Carlos de Borbon y Parma in Venice and his eldest daughter, Maria Josefa, would be next in line for the throne after Agustin, who was coronated after Maximilian passed away in 1907. Doña Carlota returned to Belgium after her husband's death and lived in first the Palace of Laeken and then Bouchout Castle at the behest of her nephew King Albert, the latter she resided in during the Great War and care was taken by the occupying Germans not to disturb her residence. She died in 1927, the same year as Agustin II, her mental health having deteriorated since originally arriving in Mexico back in 1862, and her funeral was attended by members of both the Belgian and British royal families, several Austrian Archdukes and Archduchesses, Kaiser Wilhelm, and various Mexican princes and princesses, with Maria Josefa refusing to attend due to her shut-in nature as she awaited her own coronation.