Emperor of Mexico

The Emperor of Mexico (Spanish: Emperador de México) was the head of state and ruler of the First and Second Mexican Empires. A hereditary and imperial title and position proclaimed first in 1822, following the Independence of Mexico, then again in 1863, during the Franco-Mexican War.

A Troubled Monarchy
With the Declaration of Independence of the First Mexican Empire from Spain in 1821, Mexico became an independent monarchy. Political instability between conservative and liberal factions soon saw the monarchy replaced by the First Republic of Mexico.

In 1862 and 1863, intervention by the Second French Empire and the support of the Confederate States of America in the Franco-Mexican War saw Mexico reverted back into a monarchy, formally establishing the Second Mexican Empire (1863–1916) at the Treaty of Mexico City.

Despite generally good management and reform efforts by Maximilian I and Agustín II after him; throughout much of the late 19th century and early 20th century, the power of the monarchy remained solidly dependent upon the support of the French and Confederacy.

When the Second French Empire collapsed following the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and the cotton economy of the Confederacy's collapsed in the early 20th century, Mexico was thrown into political turmoil. While the rest of the world was concerned with the Great War, Mexico found itself embroiled in a civil war that soon spiraled into a massive socialist revolution that consumed not only the Second Mexican Empire but the largely unstable and ethnically contentious Confederate States.

The capture and execution of Agustín II in 1916 saw the ultimate end of the Second Mexican Empire and the unification of the Confederate States and Mexico into the Confederacy of American Syndicates (CAS).