Eduardo I of Mexico (Napoleon's World)

Eduardo Francisco Jose Luis de Iturbide y Hapsburg (March 19, 1851 - January 11, 1900) (German: Edvard Franz Josef Louis von Iturbide und Hapsburg; English: Edward Francis Joseph Louis of Iturbide and Hapsburg) was the third Emperor of Mexico, reigning as Eduardo I, coronated officially in 1861 following the abdication of his uncle Agustin II and assuming direct authority as Emperor upon his 18th birthday in 1869 (having ruled alongside a regency his first eight years).

He is typically known as Eduardo the Great (or simply, El Gran) due to his rapid modernization and industrialization of Mexico during his 39-year reign and the expansion of industry and opportunity for the average Mexican during his reign, as well as his decrease in reliance upon the alemanitos, the insulated upper class of descendant Austrian expatriates that had effectively dominated his predecessors and the past fifty years of Mexican politics. He won a successful victory in the 1890-92 Mexican-Colombian War, expanded Mexico's role in Latin American affairs, brought Mexico closer to their northern neighbor, and expanded the right to vote to all Mexican men regardless of landowning status, affording greater power to the Mexican Parliament once more. He is often regarded as Mexico's greatest Emperor for all of these reasons.