The Children of Adam and Eve

He became an admiral of the Austrian navy and governor from 1857 to 1859
of the Lombardo-Venetian territory. In 1863 the French emperor Napoleon
III persuaded Maximilian to accept the crown of Mexico. Believing that
they had the support of the people, he and his wife went to Mexico in
1864. Backed by French troops, they were installed as the country's rulers
over the opposition of the republicans. After 1865, the United States,
which objected to France's intervention but had been distracted by its own
civil war, began pressuring the French to pull out. When they did withdraw
in 1867, Maximilian refused to go with them. After that, republican forces
under Benito Ju?z quickly regained control of Mexico. Captured by the
republicans at Quer?ro, Maximilian was tried by court-martial and shot.