When Diplomacy Fails Podcast
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Age of Bismarck #17: France in Mexico
🕑 Added 2025-05-15 05:30:03 +0000 UTC[PATRONS]
Of all the infamous tales of adventurous imperialism in the nineteenth century, the case of France in Mexico must rank near the top. What possessed Emperor Napoleon III of France to send tens of thousands of soldiers to Mexico? Was it to install a new Emperor, Maximilian of the Habsburgs? Or perhaps it was to acquire satisfaction for French debts, and vindicate those French merchants who had been mistreated?
Maybe it was all of these things, but as we see in this episode, Napoleon's seemingly flawless plan to restore French influence in the New World went over like a lead balloon. Not only was the venture unpopular at home, but Bismarck was watching and learning, drawing his own conclusions about what the debacle meant for France, and its beleaguered Emperor...
