Dreaming of a Mexican Empire: The Political Projects of the “Imperialistas”

Abstract

In the narrative of Mexican national memory, the struggle against the French intervention and Maximilian’s empire seems to have retained, even in the face of increasing revisionism, all the qualities of a pristine patriotic myth: the color, excitement, and simplicity of a triumph of good over evil. If we are to believe the textbook version, between 1862 and 1867 the nation—except for a few traitorous Conservatives—led by Benito Juárez, rose heroically to vanquish French imperialism, sweeping away the ridiculous throne set up by the invader. For added drama—and poetic justice—the Hapsburg usurper was shot; his wife went crazy. Mexico’s victory in such an unequal struggle confirmed its commitment to democracy and freedom and its providential destiny as an independent liberal republic.As a building block for Historia patria, the imperial episode fades before this promethean “Second War of Independence.” Interestingly, the depiction of the Second Empire as an exogenous event, as the frivolous, misbegotten experiment of degenerate Europe, in which Mexicans played practically no role, has been pervasive in Mexican historiography. After Maximilian was defeated, those who had fought against him pen in hand—José María Iglesias, Vicente Riva Palacio, and José María Vigil—blissfully gave into deriding and ridiculing his regime and its supporters.1Conversely, historians who resisted the official version of the story and tried to defend the imperial project—self-proclaimed clerical monarchists such as Francisco de Paula Arrangoiz and, to a lesser degree, Spaniard Niceto de Zamacois—sought to wash their hands off its disastrous results: the regime ratified the Reforma laws that nationalized church wealth and legalized religious toleration, and culminated with the spilling of Hapsburg blood in Querétaro. In other words, they strove to minimize the role of the Conservatives in such an experiment.2 Subsequent works of diverse ideological orientation—from Sierra and Rivera Cambas to García Cantú3—have not only repeated the original arguments but also reiterated the strident images of traditional historiography: the static imperial government run by thieving central Europeans who did not even speak Spanish; the omnipresence and omnipotence of the French army in the affairs of the Mexican government. More recent work has focused on more specific aspects of the imperial experience such as its cultural, social and foreign policies, or the roles played by Napoleon’s soldiers. It has started to chip away at this monolithic Historia de bronce.4 Nevertheless, historians who have attempted to present an overall vision of the period—José C. Valadés, José Fuentes Mares, and Gastón García Cantú—do little to disturb the ways in which official national memory has chosen to remember the empire.5Thus this period has remained the picturesque, romantic, amusing realm of Austrian music, Zorrilla’s theater, and hollow court ceremonial; of a womanizing emperor and his bossy wife; of a perverted upper class who, too preoccupied with mimicking European aristocracy, abandoned the affairs of state to a group of swindling foreigners. The regime is painted as having been glaringly detached from Mexican social and political realities. As such, it has been considered totally alien to Mexico’s historical development. It would seem that the so-called empire—el llamado imperio—does not even deserve to be called a Mexican government; consequently, its laws do not appear in any of the legislative compilations that have since been edited.6The traditional version of the story tells us that the empire was the “feeble, puny, rickety” creature of the French monarch’s ambition; of Maximilian’s gullibility; and of the misguided dreams of monarchy of a minuscule, senile, and impotent Conservative party. Who then, manned the machinery of government between 1864 and 1867? Who took on the day-to-day task of governing? Only “traitors” and “imbeciles” could have collaborated with the imperial administration. So has historiography passed judgment on the men who answered Maximilian’s call.7 Nevertheless, a quick survey of the empire’s political personnel yields an impressive list of Mexicans of diverse social and ideological or in the of and with experience in since the few the and Francisco of for men but political 1864 and men as of imperial and of the of and of other government such as the de and the de to as it was their to Maximilian’s regime that into a group the political It was a with the more by and to The of this is to men with the imperial It is that of men the of the empire Conservative who had up the the of the Reforma War that the had with no other but to the French army and the imperial the other monarchists such as José María and José who had been for a European since the that their was for with a regime by French was a José who of state and foreign painted his in as a of the imperial in of his of a as have in and the have this be men of political experience and have their and to the of the they not the of up the of the in in the of a foreign that an the empire did not appear to be a political would be was to be patriotic of the Mexican political class the imperial regime to the that had the Mexican state and did this group of Maximilian’s did they believe that a monarchy was not only the but also the of state did they the was in with of and the of who the they any that could the they between 1864 and 1867? of had been before of which had been before Only or at the of Maximilian’s In the of their the that had manned the Reforma of the they to a and could remember the and of men of it as a memory, that of the of considered the monarchy of to be an the period had little more a for this group of the of the with the with that at of men with the as or as of the government that the of experience their of their to the José that could be in a by would in a that had been by the The between the of the imperial government and the army was with for and Nevertheless, for of the the of French and even the only that could the of the of the had of that off as of the and for only the could in with a few of and Francisco to the of de Maximilian’s did not from of social or to but their social on their not this who had the on a and the and political at the on the in for the state set up as a in for to with and was a in and a of state in for a regime that would the government of of which is to that of and in to the of the of this class had for this was of Mexico’s political the of the the men who all and who had been and in the a having from the in and José had even In other words, men and not who had their on the In its with the the other that and the empire to a its for the for the men who had been in the had been in the of in or its to the It is to that of only in not only to the of the government but also to the that with the empire have been and historiography has us to only men and only even by the The of imperial who in was a and would of the in is Nevertheless, in legislative even who had the was a of the that the also and to and over and the de the de the and the de to the on the men as and in the and who to Maximilian’s at had their political as of had been of and, of had the more had been or of of had been of the had been with had in a state or and had been Mexico’s As of a they in the and of an that too of they could not but to the national and that would their political the tried to at on a they was too its its national its its of of and of the de the and the de de over the de and José tried to Mexico’s and on the for a of his and José María the at the de de with in the and de the of national and that its the would of their wealth and impressive historical Francisco de was the that the of the of the not the of their also the to the de which was to a to the in which we to the of an Mexican historical by and men who hands to the Second Empire had but to up in the In the that the with the they had and to political had even at other from of the political of de to the of de between and by of has it for historians to José has been as and a as a and as of the and they not for the was a of of of that did not to ideological for all historiography has on it as a struggle between and and such men have been as and of a state did they as they political a that to believe that their dreams could be the imperial has the and of a of Mexican After the of a national government that could and to be as an For the more of the José María José María and Francisco with the from the of a the and other as as the of a for all the to the of the the was as a that would and and which had and had by the of and on they considered to be the of the of independent they the of the of an that the would In to to to the and freedom the The of independent had In the since the triumph of of the diverse political in and into Mexico’s for building a government to and As we have their men had been to and for as of and to be with and as in José of a in and for an independent of a in As José in his French de have not against any of government but do we In a government is not of its but of its its its are The good of a government do not could a could a state could and the national The the of the Mexican political that they not in this for a government that they in on the and of the on a government be the of and the of had been by the of the political and of the and and their for they with a a and set of and the they and French and it was not only such a of to their but also they that of all the that has on the social of all the of is on in other for the of for The Mexican political class did not to the in to and of European but did they their European in a the of a that would all political and and and as as and social in is this of and the national state and that the that a government was only as it was they the that the state be an into which its its and of would not as of the the but only even as they the of the state as the of and which from the between its the did not that government could the of In a with such as the state to be and to be to of the vision of government as a men that of the who Maximilian’s Mexican and in the state not a but the in all social then, to In the of and imperial Vicente government not be but a The of government was since it was that the to any a government was an with no the of is the of in on the state with a of in which and would be by the of the on for it only the of government the and by the and which the of have on the was a of that would the state with the it to its The those that French and had been since the and the Nevertheless, by a men did not the of a on the since but the and of of a the of they would to be a more to and the of which had been little more on a played on the a the national government to the of the as de would those and which to the of freedom and other and their Only a and set of was in could be and only would the be set for which would that be and which the of the Nevertheless, the on and on a for their the to an for It is of the in an the of and had but which had to men considered the state in and the It is José who this as of the for it is that to the and it its a a of a which all the only is a which they do not the judgment of which they or the of which they are not we have the to government as a that would by with and of the of political and in and The was a was no at and could not be by the national government it had to its to a to the in as the had in a they with no to their or in their between which all men could and the in the of the of to the that of the have been but it was with the It was their to into a of men the of and as of the of the The of was no as the of of laws and to the and As has the of the and the the of the the ideological on which all the of would have to be even as of the political the or those who independent did in the they had to or the with to their the struggle for and for which of men The to an and the struggle between political for government. to José in such a not of but who had their to the their to up a or to an could be at at a in by the the political in its had the of which was the of that of the even in the only to the considered to be of all could the of a government of of have been with the of the Only with and for men had little in the in and in Mexicans in for that de would the of an empire that had from the of the but that at the was to be a government of and not then, of the considered the regime to be more to the Mexican and a of such that was not to be even by the in which could only be by the by work and and by which would from the the they did in the a monarchy was considered to be more for a that had been by the for over considered the of the to the of the from to be of the of the other imperial the and they it was the of the the de to or the de could the with the emperor and his or up against the The empire that the of the could be not to for of Mexican political such as the the or The their not their we have or the of the would be of the central for in as it the of the by official the by they considered to be to be of a to who for all their and the Mexican and on the to In their the Mexicans had not been to and the of government that they was of that and their José María of the of and in of the would in the independent Mexican had not a for the to had only in the of to that it was the political the of between such as and had the national government of all and the state was by the between the of the legislative and the the of with their and that the of struggle for with all it and over the to and the this not only and to It was also to as the of the political the of and the of could not be but to and government its only to the they would have on the the before it was not to but to as as a which had and the traditional of by only to was not to at but only to the political it was with the of the and the this over the and of all of Mexico’s the that the with the The of the task before the and of the and which would to independent Mexico’s It also the of into men of all political and all for the of into the hands that and for the in as to the but not the It is in the of this for a which we the of a group of to the Second It to be they the imperial regime would had did men their in an empire by an The a who for had for the of the de in the of the that the of a would the of a for the empire of a would and to and foreign and the it as the only to the of the Nevertheless, the of diverse the imperial in and of that to those and that a and group of then, was the imperial that it even the of had been considered good had the French and had of all to the of the imperial that the empire was to with it the and to of from to that this regime would have a of since it would be by the of a to and and the and Mexican that to a had of the to from a monarchy would throne was at a the of the of government from the would that the emperor was not the but only its a which would and the empire did not but no to it no to other no for could no be at the of the state from the imperial Mexicans could be they to all to but they could not be was If political could no as to and the would have to we are to believe the of the empire that their would into a monarchy with a national legislative would only their in of the in a of would to other in the would which would and even In the as the emperor and legislative the regime on The of an machinery could be we have the empire was as an by of by political it with the they they in to set up the the of good government. in have been the empire the and disastrous imperial for of of their to the of by the only to be by a more of which remained on the of Nevertheless, the Second Empire did a few with the of the the of the emperor and to the dreams of a a a a went into up the empire into The political to the as has been had in the of the of the national government. had not The of and the of that the of the but their of the In the on that to the the it could few its to the of the by their their The more on on his of and on his to the in for political and the the and of all to political in was to up by the of in to political the of the in The of the was the of that had away with the of the which in his was on more political and a for all that had was not on the of political and with and on the of and the to have between as those of and had to be to the of and not to be up by the of the had and to the into as political as would be as and as in of and and his this would the of the more over and their to the national It would also the and of to the had the in the Mexicans would be of the empire and or a at all such as and and and took in to that the by of would the to be by by the of the and into by into all to in policies, and to be it a of only in the of Vicente to of the and a of which the of the central government could from the that by for the of the government would be in all the with that it could the of and The tried to a political of political and the and of for the and only in to to It is to the of this political for the empire only the central of the and the from the to After 1867 to be by the of by the of the Francisco and had the of the of It of and was in it was in laws to the to the the and its of by it from the of the on the of a of an of the on the of an or the was not to be by the who had no to judgment on the of a but by a court by the In this the a vision of the state be that was to that by the the of this version of the men Francisco or José María who, as it with the was and would its then, be its to the of the the as the the who was to of the and of only the could be to the it was to be with of the of its and of its and its on a and it the of the its could not be by a court as a between of the the the of the imperial and of the of tried to of the they had to the for the as Maximilian the and legislative laws by they by a of men who, as we have of as in the of In with the to the of in to its The the had which to be considered is from the of the as the of and It that those which could but was to the its the of consequently, the of and and and all for the the of as all those by any or a or which they has been by the government or its or those who in its in a of any of the from an this all of the not to the of but to the between and the to be before the of of the to José María of the from the against the or of the of the a and of the of a it that the state could and the empire was to in of the of the laws of and of considered that the empire’s was to the of all which the of the It not be then, that it was the imperial regime a legislative that had of little the of the in the empire the of a national to of the of the it that in a which to in the of the and in little had been to the the empire’s and would and the their by their their to of those and of government that the the empire would the and to and the of which of all political had since the of the empire’s also those of with and Mexican which run the imperial and which traditional historiography has to The of who the of the had been by to Sierra in their José José María and the of the the the and the their the imperial was men that by an the of a by the over its of would be to all of that could not be more such as and After 1867 no to the imperial in Mexican or in Nevertheless, its up of the in José Fuentes who would have been a the between 1862 and we to have that the they not the who to the regime and on his to on the also Mexican who to Mexican and the regime of the Austrian as an to do The political that they tried to not or from the the of the they and up and which had Mexican political from and from in since and which did not as the on the de the to set up a central state and the to the of a of the of as an to the such, the a not a to they the that had been state since The imperial regime was as that have tried to by a of of the w

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