Monarchism in Mexico

However, lacking a prince to ascend the Throne of Mexico, Agustín de Iturbide, a criollo royalist general who made an alliance with the insurgents for independence, was proclaimed president of the Regency.

"[3] Nonetheless monarchists such as Lucas Alaman continued to hope that monarchy was a viable solution to Mexico's political turmoil by inviting a European prince to assume the Mexican throne, following the precedent set by nations such as the United Kingdom, Greece, and Belgium, who elected their monarchs from different countries.

[6] These ideas attracted interest in European courts, culminating in a French intervention in Mexico in 1861, with the aim of helping the Conservative party establish a Mexican monarchy, this time with Archduke Maximilian of Austria as emperor.

The victorious liberal government of Benito Juárez suspended payment to bond holders, which gave European powers the pretext to intervene militarily for debt collection.

[8] Spain would retain direct control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other islands deemed necessary for Spanish trade, while the king would assume the overarching title of "emperor of the Indies".

Iturbide's pretext for closing the legislature had been that congress had accomplished nothing in the eight months it had been in session, work on a constitution had not begun despite that being the main purpose for its convocation, and that the matters of justice and finance had been completely neglected.

In 1828, Spain attempted to reconquer Mexico, and the conservative paper El Sol pondered the Bourbonist cause, ultimately arguing that it was futile to join the Spaniards when popular opinion against Bourbon rule was overwhelming, and so it urged all its readers to unite patriotically against the Spanish intervention.

The plan called for the establishment of a congress with representation of one deputy per 100,000 citizens, who would draft a "moderate" monarchist constitution, elect an emperor, and form a state council within six months.

Paredes would march from San Luis Potosí to Mexico City after a requirement by notables and high-ranking military to overthrow the government of José Joaquín Herrera, citing the latter's passiveness against US expansionism.

[22] Paredes and Alamán favored Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain, due to being a daughter of Ferdinand VII, but Isabella II preferred Infante Enrique, Duke of Seville.

[22] Paredes was unhappy with the lack of Spanish financial support, but Bermúdez de Castro won generals Nicolás Bravo and Anastasio Bustamante to the Infante's candidacy.

[24] The presentation of the journal, written by Bermúdez de Castro, omitted the word monarchy but supported the San Luis manifesto[22] and defended that Mexico must be willing to explore any form of government that was most suitable for the nation.

The editors of La Reforma nonetheless welcomed discussion on the merits of monarchy, but warned El Tiempo that a call for foreign intervention ought to be prosecuted as treason.

La Hesperia, one of two Spanish-owned journals in Mexico City, reprimanded Bustamante, and Bermúdez de Castro lodged a protest to Mexican foreign minister Joaquín María del Castillo y Lanzas, demanding his retraction.

In March, Bustamante wrote a new article "To my republican nation", in which he claimed to have not wished to offend Spain's rights, Isabella II, or Maria Christina, but did not retract his defense of the Mexican republic.

However, due to the attacks of the republican press against Paredes, which called him a "bourbonist" and "enemy of the fatherland" who wished "to give the country to a foreign prince", the government banned journals from discussing politics, which damaged the monarchists the most.

[22] In February 1846, Paredes suggested sending ambassadors to Great Britain and France to ask if they would support a monarchy in Mexico, but Bermúdez de Castro convinced him to leave this to Spain.

Doubling as foreign minister and a seasoned diplomat himself, Miraflores gave absolute priority to reviewing the Mexican plot and wrote a memorandum criticizing virtually every aspect of it.

Regardless of candidate, the matter should be discussed by the council of ministers reunited with Isabella II and her mother Maria Christina, because the latter had been named head of the royal family in Ferdinand VII's will.

[22] Despite this criticism, Miraflores told Bermúdez de Castro that he approved his conduct and had given him access to the whole Havana sum, but that he should be cautious with it, abstain of signing any document, and not make his involvement known in any way.

If the assembly proclaimed the monarchy under a Spanish prince and he was asked about it by the British ambassador, he should say that Isabel II felt flattered but that Spain would not intervene in Mexican affairs without approval of her allies.

No candidate should be named, giving Isabella II freedom to choose, and a Mexican delegation should travel to Spain, moreso if their choice was Luisa Fernanda, in which case they should allow her to marry a European prince.

[30] Bermúdez de Castro wrote an unsigned farewell article for El Tiempo, claiming that while the unnamed author still believed monarchy was convenient for Mexico, his patriotism forced him to stand with the republican government.

[32] Independent of the Spanish, Gutiérrez de Estrada sounded the British and Austrian courts in July 1846, for support in installing a Mexican monarchy headed by a member of the House of Habsburg.

[36] The government contacted José María Gutiérrez de Estrada and granted him official diplomatic credentials, instructing him to look for a royal candidate in the courts of Britain, France, Austria, and Spain.

[42] The President of the Mexican Supreme Court Luis de la Rosa Oteiza expressed his support for a monarchy to the French minister to Mexico, Jean Gabriac, but he died in 1856.

[43] Gutiérrez de Estrada and Hidalgo continued to lobby Napoleon III for a Mexican monarchy, but he replied in 1857 that he had no pretext to intervene and did not wish to antagonize the United States.

In response, Spain, France, and a reluctant United Kingdom signed the Convention of London, agreeing to joint military intervention to force Mexico to resume payments.

Napoleon III now had a pretext to intervene and a free hand to carry out the plans that had been laid out to him by Estrada, Hidalgo, and Radepont, as the wartorn United States would be unable to enforce the Monroe Doctrine.

After the defeat of the empire, Maximilian and the leading monarchist generals Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía were executed in June 1867, putting an end to Mexican efforts at establishing a monarchical government.