
Trane and Erin plot to escape with the gold, preferably without each other, while an army of Juaristas shadows the escort, waiting for an opportunity to capture the gold.
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The mercenaries quickly realize that the countess’ carriage conceals a strongbox full of gold. Following a few misunderstandings, Trane joins Joe Erin (Lancaster) and his group of thugs who will sell their guns to the highest bidder.Īfter an audition in front of the emperor and his court, the mercenaries are hired to escort a countess to Vera Cruz, where she will take ship to Paris. so he crosses the border into Mexico to make his fortune fighting in the war between the French and the Juaristas. Plot Summaryīen Trane (Cooper) is a Southerner who lost everything in the American Civil War. After the fall of the Confederacy, Maximilian made every effort to avoid giving the Union government any reason to intervene in Mexico. Even though the legitimate government only controlled four out of twenty-four provinces, it stubbornly refused to surrender.ĭespite Maximilian’s neutral stance during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and rejection of the Confederacy’s offer of recognition, the Union government would not recognize Maximilian as the ruler of Mexico. The bankrupt Mexican government could not afford to pay the salaries of Mexican soldiers, so it failed to attract many native recruits. Although armies loyal to the republican government of President Juarez were defeated by a French army in 1864, Maximilian never gained the support of the Mexican populace, just the conservative elite, while the French were unable to control the countryside, which was dominated by Juaristas, guerrillas loyal to Juarez. Seizing the excuse of debts from the civil war, Emperor Louis Napoleon III of France schemed to place Maximilian, the brother of Emperor Franz Josef of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on the throne of Mexico, in order to create a pro-France Catholic empire next to the United States, which led to the French Intervention in Mexico (1861-1867).
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Hoping to keep both his government and the creditors satisfied, Juarez tried to negotiate a long-term payment plan with the nations that held most of the debt, Britain, Spain and France. Although Benito Juarez was elected president, both sides had run up sizable debts to foreign creditors during the war, and the new government was understandably reluctant to repay loans borrowed by a regime that had repressed them. The civil war between liberals and conservatives ended in a liberal victory in 1860. Refusing to meekly accept a diminished status, the clergy persuaded several conservative generals to launch a coup d’etat in 1858, and form a conservative government, which led to The War of Reform. Webbĭirector: Robert Aldrich Historical BackgroundĪfter overthrowing the dictator Santa Anna in 1855, liberal forces established a new government in Mexico that greatly weakened the power of the Catholic clergy. Cast: Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Cesar Romero, Denise Darcel, Sara Montiel, George Macready and Ernest Borgnine
