Maximilian withdrew to Santiago de Querétaro, where Juárez besieged him. When he attempted to break out, Maximilian was betrayed. Juárez sentenced him to death. ‘I always wanted to die on a morning like this,’ murmured Maximilian as he was taken out before 3,000 troops. He boldly addressed them: ‘Mexicans! Men of my class and race [he meant the Habsburgs] are created by God to be the happiness of nations or their martyrs. Long live Mexico!’ Refusing a blindfold, he choreographed his martyrdom with two of his generals on either side of him like Christ. Franz Josef said nothing about his
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