Habsburgs on the Rio Grande (Paperback)

Raymond Jonas

ISBN 10: 0674305000 / ISBN 13: 9780674305007

Published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, 2026

About this Item

Paperback. "Vividly reconstructs how Maximilian's power was forged and maintained by the sharp end of a French bayonet." -New York Times Book Review The story of how nineteenth-century European rulers conspired with Mexican conservatives in an outlandish plan to contain the rising US colossus by establishing Old World empire on its doorstep. The outbreak of the US Civil War provided an unexpected opportunity for political conservatives across continents. On one side were European monarchs eager to counter growing US power, which threatened their hegemony. On the other, Mexican antidemocrats needed backers to fend off the republicanism of Benito Juarez. When these two groups found each other, the Second Mexican Empire was born. Raymond Jonas argues that the empire, often dismissed as a historical sideshow, is critical to appreciating the global effects of US power in the nineteenth century. In 1862, at the behest of Mexican reactionaries and with the initial support of Spain and Britain, Napoleon III sent French troops to Mexico. There, he installed Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian as a ruler who could resist democracy in North America. But the French were routed at the Battle of Puebla, and republican guerrillas spent the next four years bleeding the would-be empire. After the Civil War, African American troops were dispatched to Mexico to hasten the French withdrawal. Habsburgs on the Rio Grande fundamentally rewrites narratives of global history. Far from a footnote, the Second Mexican Empire was central to great-power struggles that set the terms of twentieth-century rivalry. Largely forgotten today, the Second Mexican Empire was a transformative nineteenth-century moment. Raymond Jonas explores the conspiracy of European rulers and Mexican conservatives to erect an Old World empire on New World soil. Though quixotic, it was a scheme with a purpose: to contain both Mexican democracy and the rising United States. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780674305007

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Habsburgs on the Rio Grande (Paperback)
• Publisher: Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674305000
• ISBN 13: 9780674305007
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

“Vividly reconstructs how Maximilian’s power was forged and maintained by the sharp end of a French bayonet.” ―New York Times Book Review

The story of how nineteenth-century European rulers conspired with Mexican conservatives in an outlandish plan to contain the rising US colossus by establishing Old World empire on its doorstep.

The outbreak of the US Civil War provided an unexpected opportunity for political conservatives across continents. On one side were European monarchs eager to counter growing US power, which threatened their hegemony. On the other, Mexican antidemocrats needed backers to fend off the republicanism of Benito Juárez. When these two groups found each other, the Second Mexican Empire was born.

Raymond Jonas argues that the empire, often dismissed as a historical sideshow, is critical to appreciating the global effects of US power in the nineteenth century. In 1862, at the behest of Mexican reactionaries and with the initial support of Spain and Britain, Napoleon III sent French troops to Mexico. There, he installed Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian as a ruler who could resist democracy in North America. But the French were routed at the Battle of Puebla, and republican guerrillas spent the next four years bleeding the would-be empire. After the Civil War, African American troops were dispatched to Mexico to hasten the French withdrawal.

Habsburgs on the Rio Grande fundamentally rewrites narratives of global history. Far from a footnote, the Second Mexican Empire was central to great-power struggles that set the terms of twentieth-century rivalry.

About the Author

Raymond Jonas is the author of several books, including The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire, a Choice Outstanding Academic Book and winner of the Toyin Falola Africa Book Award. Previously a Fulbright Senior Scholar, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, and a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, he is the Jon Bridgman Endowed Professor in History at the University of Washington, Seattle.