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Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who was appointed as emperor of Mexico by French Emperor Napoleon III in 1864, met a tragic end. On the orders of Benito Juarez, the president of the Mexican Republic, Archduke Maximilian was executed.

In 1861, Benito Juarez, a liberal Mexican leader, assumed the presidency of a financially devastated country. Mexico defaulted on its debts to European governments, leading France, Britain, and Spain to send naval forces to Veracruz, demanding repayment. While Britain and Spain negotiated and eventually withdrew, France, under Napoleon III, saw an opportunity to establish a dependent empire in Mexican territory. In late 1861, a well-equipped French fleet attacked Veracruz, pushing President Juarez and his government into retreat.

With confidence in a swift victory, General Charles Latrille de Lorencez led 6,000 French troops towards Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east-central Mexico. President Juarez, from his new headquarters in the north, assembled a loyal but untrained force and sent them to defend Puebla. Under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza, a Texan-born general, the 2,000 Mexican soldiers fortified the town, ready to face the French assault. On May 5, 1862, Lorencez's well-supplied army, supported by heavy artillery, attacked Puebla from the north. The battle raged from dawn until evening, and despite being heavily outnumbered, the Mexicans emerged victorious, with nearly 500 French soldiers lost compared to fewer than 100 Mexican casualties.

Although not a decisive military triumph in the overall war against the French, Zaragoza's victory at Puebla became a significant morale boost for the Mexican government. It symbolized the nation's resilience in defending its sovereignty against a powerful foreign nation. Today, Mexicans celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla as Cinco de Mayo. Six years later, due to pressure from the reunited United States, France withdrew its forces from Mexico. Left abandoned, Emperor Maximilian was captured by Juarez's forces and ultimately executed on June 19, 1867.

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