Napoleon III sent French troops to Mexico during the conflict commemorated by Cinco de Mayo.
Napoleon III, emperor of France from 1852 to 1870, ordered the French intervention in Mexico after the Mexican government suspended payments on foreign debts in 1861. France joined Britain and Spain in pressuring Mexico, but the European allies withdrew after France pursued a broader plan to establish a French-backed monarchy.
French forces advanced inland and attacked Puebla in 1862. The Mexican victory there became the event remembered by Cinco de Mayo. France later captured Mexico City and installed Maximilian of Austria as emperor of Mexico, but the French-backed regime eventually collapsed.
Napoleon III is sometimes confused with Napoleon Bonaparte, his uncle and the earlier French emperor. They were different rulers and lived in different historical periods. Napoleon III’s intervention in Mexico also unfolded during the era of the American Civil War.