He spent his youth in Monza, where his family had fled after the French invasion of the Duchy of Modena.

After staying in Verona, Padua, Trieste and Laibach, his family moved to Wiener Neustadt.

After studying in the Theresian Military Academy of Wiener Neustadt, he was named Major General in the Austrian Army (1805).

In 1809 he fought in Germany against the French; he clashed with the Napoleonic troops at Regensburg, leading his army towards Linz.

Maximilian erected several fortifications in the Austrian possessions in Italy, such as the Torri Massimiliane of Verona and the Torre Massimiliana of Venice.