The Second French Intervention in Mexico, 1861–1867; was an invasion of Mexico, launched in late 1861, by the Second French Empire, aiming to establish in Mexico a regime favorable to French interests.
On 31 October 1861, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain agreed to the Convention of London, a joint effort to ensure that debt repayments from Mexico would be forthcoming. On 8 December 1861, the three navies disembarked their troops at the port city of Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico. When the British and the Spanish discovered that France had an ulterior motive and unilaterally planned to seize Mexico, they peacefully negotiated an agreement with Mexico to settle the debt issues. Simultaneously, Britain and Spain withdrew from the military coalition agreed to in London, and recalled their forces from Mexico. The subsequent French invasion took Mexico City and created the Second Mexican Empire, a client state of the French Empire. Many nations acknowledged the political legitimacy of the newly created nation state.