page_title: Second French intervention in Mexico
section_title: Austrian Voluntary Corps December 1864
hierarchical_section_title: Second French intervention in Mexico / Divisions and disembarkation of allied troops / Austrian Voluntary Corps December 1864
caption_attribution_description: English: Contemporary newspaper illustration of the the Austrian Volunteer Corps before debarking to Mexico. 1864. From left:Austrian jäger in formal uniform, Austrian jäger in service uniform, Austrian pioneer, Austrian bombardier, Polish uhlan in decorated service uniform, decorated Hungarian hussar, NCOs, regulars; on horseback: Polish uhlan lieutenant, Hungarian hussar
context_page_description: The Second French Intervention in Mexico, also known as the Second Franco-Mexican War and the Mexican Adventure, was an invasion of Mexico, launched in late 1861, by the Second French Empire. Initially supported by the United Kingdom and Spain, the French intervention in Mexico was a consequence of Mexican President Benito Juárez's imposition of a two-year moratorium of loan-interest payments from July 1861 to French, British, and Spanish creditors. To extend the influence of Imperial France, Napoleon III instigated the intervention in Mexico by claiming that the military adventure was a foreign policy commitment to free trade. The establishment of a European-derived monarchy in Mexico would ensure European access to Mexican resources, particularly French access to Mexican silver. To realize his ambitions without interference from other European nations, Napoleon III of France entered into a coalition with the United Kingdom and Spain.
  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.
context_section_description: While officially designated as the Austrian Voluntary Corps, this foreign contingent included Hungarian, Polish and other volunteers from the Danube Monarchy.
  159 officers
  403 infantry and jägers (Austrian)
  366 hussars (Hungarian)
  16 uhlans (Polish)
  67 bombardiers (mixed)
  30 pioneers (mixed)
  several doctors
caption: Austrian Voluntary Corps
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