Reconciliación de México y Francia (1870-1880). Texto, notas y prólogo de Lucía de Robina. México, 1963. Publicaciones de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Dirección General de Prensa y Publicidad. Archivo Histórico Diplomático Mexicano. Segunda Serie. Número 16.
As Emperor of Mexico, Maximilian compiled a secret book listing his Mexican collaborators. The manuscript fell into Mexican hands and in 1867 a small book appeared giving the names of the collaborators; this was followed in 1900 by a second edition. Recently, a scholar going through the Díaz papers found the original Maximilian manuscript and from it prepared the edition under review. In this volume the names on the original list are distinguished from those added later, and all those omitted from the first two editions are noted. There is also a convenient alphabetical guide to the collaborators.
Lucía de Robina has written an excellent introduction and gathered together an important set of documents dealing with Mexican-French relations from 1870 to 1880. When Juárez returned to power in 1867, Mexico had diplomatic relations with only one major power, the United States. The Mexican president was willing to reestablish diplomatic ties with the European powers, but under two conditions: 1) they must take the initiative; 2) they must agree that previous treaties were no longer in force. Germany made the first move in 1869 and other European nations soon followed. By way of the United States, France indicated that she too wanted to restore normal relations, but it took over ten years before this could be accomplished. The major area of disagreement came over the Mexican position on the treaties, which France refused to accept. Mexico held firm, however, and finally, before the formal presentation of credentials, an exchange of notes confirmed Mexico’s point. Emilio Velasco was the Mexican government’s chief negotiator.
Most of the documents published here are from the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores de México, but a few are from French and American archives. The material is arranged, as it should be, in chronological order.
