Juárez's debt moratorium and the 1861 intervention

The intervention began in 1861, before Maximilian became emperor. Benito Juárez's moratorium on foreign-debt payments followed the Reform War and his conflict with Spanish support for Mexican conservatives. He also expelled Spanish diplomats. Suspending all foreign payments affected British and French creditors as well. Cooperation with those powers strengthened Spain's ability to act despite commitments elsewhere. Spanish troops moved from Cuba and joined British and French forces at Veracruz, an established coastal approach to Mexico City.