<P> On 28 and 31 March 1864, men from the French man - of - war Cordelière tried to take Mazatlán, but were initially repelled by Mexicans commanded by Colonel Gaspar Sánchez Ochoa . </P> <P> The French under Bazaine occupied Guadalajara on 6 January 1864, and troops under Douay occupied Zacatecas on 6 February . Further decisive French victories continued with the fall of Acapulco on 3 June, occupation of Durango on 3 July, and the defeat of republicans in the states of Sinaloa and Jalisco in November . </P> <P> Maximilian formally accepted the crown on 10 April, signing the Treaty of Miramar, and landed at Veracruz on 28 May (or possibly 29 May) 1864 in the SMS Novara . He was enthroned as Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, with his wife Charlotte of Belgium, known by the Spanish form of her name, Carlota . In reality, Maximilian was a puppet monarch of the Second French Empire . </P> <P> Maximilian expressed progressive European political ideas, favouring the establishment of a limited monarchy sharing powers with a democratically elected congress . He inspired passage of laws to abolish child labour, limit working hours, and abolish a system of land tenancy that virtually amounted to serfdom among the Indians . This was too liberal to please Mexico's conservatives, and the nation's liberals refused to accept a monarch, leaving Maximilian with few enthusiastic allies within Mexico . </P>

Who did france choose to be the emperor of mexico