<P> The XYZ Affair was a political and diplomatic episode in 1797 and 1798 , early in the administration of John Adams , involving a confrontation between the United States and Republican France that led to an undeclared war called the Quasi-War . The name derives from the substitution of the letters X , Y and Z for the names of French diplomats Hottinguer ( X ) , Bellamy ( Y ) , and Hauteval ( Z ) in documents released by the Adams administration . </P>
<P> The XYZ Affair was a political and diplomatic episode in 1797 and 1798 , early in the administration of John Adams , involving a confrontation between the United States and Republican France that led to an undeclared war called the Quasi-War . The name derives from the substitution of the letters X , Y and Z for the names of French diplomats Hottinguer ( X ) , Bellamy ( Y ) , and Hauteval ( Z ) in documents released by the Adams administration . </P>
he xyz affair ( 1797 ) led to near formal war with
he xyz affair ( 1797 ) led to near formal war with
between the United States and Republican France
between the United States and Republican France