Maximilian biography

King Maximilian I of Bavaria. ( –) was prince-elector of Bavaria (as Maximilian IV Joseph) from to , King of Bavaria (as Maximilian I) from to
 
Born in Schwetzingen &#; between Heidelberg and Mannheim – Maximilian Joseph took service in as a colonel in the French army and rose rapidly to the rank of major-general. On the outbreak of the French Revolution however he exchanged the French for the Austrian service, taking part in the opening campaigns of the revolutionary wars fighting against the French.

With the death of his brother, he became duke of Zweibrücken on 1 April, , with the title Charles II, and on 16 February, he became Elector of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, as a result of the death of the elector Charles Theodore. Although initially doubtful of French politics, Maximilian was not as pro-Austrian as Charles Theodore. And so on the latter's death and the initiation of overtures to Bavaria made by the new First Consul led to a rapproch

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MAXIMILIAN I () Emperor of Mexico

The Archduke Ferdinand-Josef, brother of Franz-Josef, and the second son of the Archduke Franz-Karl, at first served in the Navy. He then became viceroy of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia (), a position he occupied only until in He was contacted when the Empire was proclaimed on 10 July, , following extensive diplomatic talks on the subject of occupying the throne of Mexico. He had been suggested by Napoleon III (Ferdinand-Josef was a catholic prince) and he was encouraged to accept the offer by his wife Charlotte of Belgium. On 10 April, , he renounced his claim to the Austrian throne and on 28 May, he arrived at Veracruz. Wanting to be independent, he abandoned the conservative and catholic party in order to lean towards the liberals. This was a fatal error for him. Rouher wrote to Napoleon III &#;It would not seem that the Emperor Maximilian has any practical sense or resolve at all; he has abandoned himself to a sort of philosophical liberal re