The Story of Cinco de Mayo - Page 6

Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico

Maximilian’s rule of Mexico was also short lived, lasting only from 1864 to 1867. It ended as the United States began to provide more political and military assistance to Mexico to expel the French. (Click here to view Edouard Manet’s painting Execution of Maximilian.) Despite the eventual French invasion of Mexico City, Cinco de Mayo honors the bravery and victory of the small, outnumbered Mexican militia at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.