Mexican Empire

The Mexican Empire comprised two short-lived monarchies established after Mexico gained independence: the First Empire under Agustín de Iturbide (1822–1823) and the Second Empire under Maximilian I (1864–1867).

Mexican War of Independence: The armed struggle that ended Spanish rule in Mexico and produced an independent state in 1821. Its conclusion opened the political contest that first produced a Mexican monarchy.
Agustín de Iturbide: A Mexican military leader who helped secure independence and ruled as Emperor Agustín I from 1822 to 1823. He founded and ruled the First Mexican Empire.
Mexican monarchy: A system of government in which a monarch serves as Mexico’s head of state. Both empires tried to establish this form of rule after independence.
First Mexican Republic: Mexico’s federal republican government established after the fall of Iturbide’s empire in 1823. It replaced the First Empire and rejected hereditary monarchy.
Plan of Iguala: A 1821 political program proposing Mexican independence, Roman Catholic unity, and a constitutional monarchy. Its monarchist settlement helped shape the First Empire’s founding.
Maximilian I of Mexico: An Austrian archduke installed as emperor of Mexico in 1864 and executed by republican forces in 1867. His reign embodied the Second Empire’s foreign-backed monarchy.
Constitutional monarchy: A monarchy in which a constitution limits the sovereign’s powers and defines government institutions. The First Empire claimed constitutional foundations, though its institutions quickly broke down.
Second Mexican Empire: The monarchy ruled by Maximilian I from 1864 to 1867 under French military protection. Its foreign sponsorship and setting differed sharply from Iturbide’s domestic bid for power.
Treaty of Córdoba: A 1821 agreement between Agustín de Iturbide and Juan O’Donojú recognizing Mexican independence under a proposed monarchy. It endorsed independence and supplied a constitutional framework for the first regime.
Carlota of Mexico: The Belgian-born empress consort of Maximilian I, who sought European support for his Mexican throne. Her diplomatic mission exposed the Second Empire’s reliance on foreign backing.

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