Seven Things About Cinco de Mayo-- Part 1: Not Just France

From the April 28, 2022, History "7 things you may not know about Cinco de Mayo" by Jesse Greenspan.

1.  Mexico had just gotten over a civil war in 1862.

2.  European troops invaded because Mexico was broke.  Owed lots of money to Spain, France and Great Britain.  With the U.S. too tied up with its own civil war, it would be unable to enforce the Monroe Doctrine.  Spain and Great Britain almost immediately left, but 7,000 French troops pushed on, aided by those Mexicans who had lost the civil war.

3.  France was considered a major military power at the time.  On May 5, they encountered Mexican forces at Puebla and despite three charges, were forced to retreat.  A major victory for the Mexicans.

--DaCoot

About That War 100 Years Ago-- Part 3: Forming Alliances

Italy, since her unification, would extend her boundaries to include Italian-speaking peoples to the north and east;  Austria-Hungary, cut off from expansion to the west, looked upon the Balkans as a normal region for expansion and thus came into conflict with Russia.

Obviously, there was enough tinder here for a dozen conflagrations, and it is amazing that, with the exception of the Balkans, Europe maintained peace over a long period.

For this period of peace, Germany was primarily responsible.  Wedged in between hostile nations and anxious to maintain the status quo in Europe, she constructed in 1882 the Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy.

To protect herself, France achieved an alliance with Russia in the early nineties and a close understanding with Great Britain, while the later attempted to iron out her conflicting imperialistic rivalries with Russia and Japan.

Just Waiting for a Spark.  --CootWar