The Napoleonic invasion was one of the bloodiest episodes in the history of Spain and it marked a change in the monarchy of Spain when King Carlos IV of Bourbon abdicated, in favor of his son Fernando VII. The invasion was carried out under a stratagem by Napoleon, who had reached an agreement with the Spaniards – hence the Treaty of Fontainebleau -, to invade Portugal as a whole, so they did not put up resistance against their entry but, once Once they reached Portugal, they turned against the Spanish and occupied the country. We will tell you below in detail this part of the History of Spain: the Napoleonic invasion.
The Napoleonic Invasion
The Spanish War of Independence was part of the so-called Napoleonic Wars, which hit almost all of Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. France (Napoleonic Empire) faced an alliance between Spain, the United Kingdom and Portugal, whose objective was the control of the Iberian Peninsula.
Initially, Spain was an ally of France, through the agreement signed by Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy and by Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of the French, through the Treaty of Fontainebleau. In this treaty it was agreed that France and Spain would invade Portugal together, which was an ally of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and despite the fact that Napoleon had prohibited trade with that country, they had not complied, so he decided to invade them. To carry out this invasion, Spain would allow the French troops and army to cross the borders and camp on the Spanish peninsula in order to carry out the objective.
The strategy was to divide Portugal into three zones: the north would be given to King Etruria, Ferdinand VII’s nephew, to compensate him for the Italian territories that had been given to Napoleon. The southern area for the family of Manuel Godoy, the central area to change it for Gibraltar and the island of Trinidad. The Portuguese colonies would be divided between the two, between France and Spain.
But in 1808, France turned against Spain and this was the background for the subsequent War of Spanish Independence in order to throw off the yoke of the French. Bass the pretext of reinforcing the Franco-Spanish army occupying Portugal, France began sending imperial troops to Spain. In February 1808, Napoleon ordered French commanders to seize strategic Spanish military fortresses. It was the beginning of the war.
The Spanish army was practically paralyzed: surprised, poorly equipped, without its best troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte a Denmark or scattered from Portugal at Balearic Islands.
To ensure your skillful military manoeuvre, Napoleon he wove a series of intrigues against the Spanish royal family. It is what is known as the Bayonne abdicationsthrough which Napoleon obtains the rights to the crown of Spain. The emperor cedes his rights to his brother Joseph Bonapartewho takes office as King of Spainunder the title of Joseph I.
This usurpation of the throne caused a popular uprising that spread throughout the country. The citizens of Madrid they rose in rebellion against the French occupation on May 2, killing 150 French soldiers.
The response was a brutal crackdown on the protesters that ended with the infamous executions of May 3. The Spanish resistance has just begun and the War of Independence.
Development of the War of Independence
After the outbreak of the revolt in Madrid, so cruelly crushed by the French authorities, the seeds of discord began to spread throughout the rest of the Iberian Peninsula. The population reacted aggressively against a French occupation that they generally did not understand or share and began to band together to fight the invader.
With Fernando VII exiled in France and José I installed on the throne of Madrid, the rebels began to fight in the name of the legitimacy of the king in exile at the same time that they formed, over time, an increasingly organized opposition system. Thus, the power vacuum in the different regions was being solved by the rebels with the creation of small boards that were in charge of controlling a specific area. Over time, these little local boards they evolved until provincial boards were created and, finally, a Supreme Central Governing Board of the Kingdom that was proposed as a system of Central government opposed to the Napoleonic system that existed in Madrid under José I. This Board, in addition to being considered as a governmental body legitimate, it also had the objective of uniting the efforts of the rebels and creating a unified and organized army that could stand up to the powerful Napoleonic system. It was precisely the Central Supreme Board that was in charge of convening the Cortes Generales where the famous Cadiz constitution of 1812although the capacity of the provisional government to put into practice the reforms agreed by the Junta and those enshrined in the Constitution in times of war was quite limited.
On the other hand, the war operations continued while the rebel population tried to organize itself. The Napoleonic army, hitherto practically undefeated in Europe, suffered a heavy defeat in the famous Battle of Bailen in 1808 and it hardly controlled the territory of the Iberian Peninsula. However, Napoleon, realizing the levels of chaos that the situation was beginning to reach in his brother’s new kingdom, decided to go personally with a larger number of troops to bring order. His strategy was enormously successful and from 1809 the French began to gain ground, to the point that Cadiz, where the Central Supreme Board was meeting, was the only city left for him to achieve.
The success of Napoleonic troops it was resounding during the years of 1809, 1810 and 1811 and the still disunited rebel opposition could not stop its advance. However, they made things very difficult for the Napoleonic troops, especially when trying to impose an effective administrative and political domain in the different territories they were conquering, organizing an effective guerrilla warfare policy that was very costly for the French army. . The progressive weakening of Napoleon in Europe, which forced him to attend other military fronts by removing troops from Spain, the better organization of the rebels and the strong military and economic support that Great Britain gave them meant that the French were progressively losing more and more ground. In the Iberic Peninsule.
After suffering defeats as important as that of Arapiles and seeing how he was losing more and more ground in Europe, Napoleon signed the Treaty of Valençay in 1813, which is named after the castle where Fernando VII had been held during the war. war of independence along with his brother and uncle. In this treaty, the Spanish crown was returned to Ferdinand VII and Napoleon undertook to withdraw all his remaining troops from Spanish territory. Ferdinand VII thus returned to Spain as king, the defeat of Napoleon having been considered complete. All the bodies linked to the Spanish struggle against the Spanish troops, including the Central Board, had acted on behalf of Ferdinand VII and even the 1812 Constitution recognized his authority as monarch, although he was expected to recognize and swear to the agreed Constitution.
However, Fernando VII did not intend to recognize either the Constitution or the reforms that had been made during the war. Shortly after arriving in Spanish territory, the so-called «Persian Manifesto» in which, with the support of the most traditional nuclei of power, the Cadiz chamber was abolished and the state of real absolute power was returned prior to the arrival of Napoleon on the peninsula, ending all the advances made during the period of the Courts of Cadiz. It is this fact that marks the end of the War of Independence and the inauguration of a new historical period, where the absolutist system is taking its last steps and in which the Old Regime as such will completely end with the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth II in 1833.
What consequences did the Napoleonic invasion of Spain have?
We have learned very important details about Napoleon’s invasion, but are you wondering What were the consequences of the Napoleonic invasion of Spain?? The answer is that even today, in the 21st century, its effects are being felt, because in history, every event leaves consequences, whether positive or negative. Among the Spanish, as with the Portuguese, Napoleon’s acts aroused nationalist sentiments. The so-called “War of Independence” arises due to this fact.
Nor should we ignore the fact that Napoleon’s invasion meant nothing less than the defeat of the Bourbons and, with it, the fall of the monarchy in Spain. In this context, the Spaniards were encouraged to give free rein to their desire for freedom, creating a Constitution that defended principles that had never before been so claimed, such as equality, freedom and fraternity, all of them inspired by the Revolution itself. the French.
What was the cause of the Napoleonic invasion?
To fully understand the entire framework of the Napoleonic wars, one must first of all know their causes and know why they originated. Perhaps an alliance that turned against it? Everything points to yes, because in principle, French troops entered Spain to invade neighboring Portugal. However, once their objectives were fulfilled, the French decided to continue their attempts to dominate territory and found all the facilities in Spain. The French army was occupying more and more Spanish territory.
A chain event happened and it is that, after Spain, the Latin American territories also decided to fight for their autonomy.