In honor of Cinco De Mayo, here is La Paloma from Juarez (1939):

[El Supremo]

[Beacool]

1. Maximilian was doomed and Carlota went mad.

That ended the French conquest of Mexico.

Some years ago I took the "Ruta Libertadora" through the towns where Maximilian went through when he was fleeing from the Mexican forces. Lovely cities: Guanajuato, Queretaro, San Miguel de Allende and some others.

BTW, "5 de Mayo" commemorates the Mexican army's victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. It is not their independence day, as some people think it is.

[AnneD]

2. One of my college Spanish teacher told a story....

of Carlota living her days out in France. When WWI began the troops were careful not to engage in hostilities around Crazy Carlota's estate because everyone felt so sorry for what happened to her. I am sure that she was part of the Hapsburgs and had French connections to Napoleon III insured that she had some measure of peace in her final days.

[El Shaman]

3. And el cinco today:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarrasquillo/anthony-bourdain-perfectly-captures-americas-hypocritical-re

[maddiemom]

4. My dad's absolute favorite song. Thirty or more years later, "lounge" musicians

still knew it and would play it on request. I know from taking my late parents out, back in the day.

[Shoonra]

5. A really nice movie

JUAREZ (1939) cast Brian Ahern as Maximillian, Paul Muni as Benito Juarez, Claude Raines as Napolean 3rd, and Gale Sondergaard as the Empress Eugenie. It simplified and prettied up a rather complex and bloody chapter in Mexican history, emphasizing Maximillian's good deeds and neglecting his (and Juarez's) bad ones.

Unlike a great many heads of state put in place by foreign conquerors, Maximillian arrived in Mexico immediately determined to devote himself to Mexico's welfare; essentially, when he stepped off the ship, he became Mexican.
History might have been very different had his monarchy persisted.