The second
French intervention in Mexico , also known as the
Maximilian Affair,
Mexican Adventure, the
War of the French Intervention, the
Franco-Mexican War or the
Second Franco-Mexican War, was an invasion of
Mexico in late 1861 by the
Second French Empire, supported in the beginning by the
United Kingdom and
Spain. It followed
President Benito Juárez's suspension of interest payments to foreign countries on 17 July 1861, which angered these three major creditors of Mexico.