The Republic Prevails Over Emperor Maximilian

On 19 June 1867, on the Cerro de las Campanas outside Querétaro, Ferdinand Maximilian of Habsburg stood before a firing squad alongside his top Mexican generals, Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía. Their execution ended the Second Mexican Empire, a monarchy erected with European military backing during the French intervention in Mexico. After years of civil conflict and foreign occupation, the triumph of the Republican armies under President Benito Juárez restored the authority of the constitutional government over the entire nation.

The collapse of the imperial regime accelerated dramatically after French troops withdrew from Mexican territory, leaving Maximilian dependent on a dwindling circle of conservative commanders and Mexican imperialist soldiers. Rather than abandoning the country, the emperor resolved to concentrate his remaining strength in the interior. In mid-February 1867, Maximilian reached Querétaro with his remaining Mexican troops, uniting his followers with the forces already assembled under Miramón and other loyalist generals.