ISSUE 14 : Jan/Feb - 1979 - Australian Defence Force Journal

NAPOLEON AND SPAIN 47proved intransigent and in addition the prizeof the Portuguese fleet was even more tanalizingfollowing the British capture of the DanishFleet."Napoleon first tried to cower the Portugueseinto submission and addressed himself publiclyat a diplomatic reception to the Portugueseambassador thus:"If Portugal does not do what I wish, theHouse of Braganza will not be reigning inFurope in two months." 7When Portugal failed to sever relations withBritain, Napoleon sought Spanish permissionfor Marshal Junot's army to pass throughnorthern Spain to occupy Portugal and at astroke gave Britain the means of attackinghis army on favourable terms, for in occupyingPortugal he sent a small unprotected armyclose to a coast where Britain's sea powercould land and support troops to crush it.Nor did he succeed in blockading the British,as large scale smuggling was carried outthrough the Spanish ports, despite Spain beingtheoretically at war with Britain. 8Napoleon next decided upon determinedaction in Spain and was able to exploit thepolitical intrigues of the corrupt Spanish courtwith factions led by King Charles IV, CrownPrince Ferdinand and Manuel Godoy, thequeen's lover. He was able to remove theSpanish Court to Bayonne on the pretext ofmediating in their disputes and at the sametime insert troops into northern Spain underthe guise of reinforcing Junot in Portugal.Following civil rebellion against the Spanishthrone in March 1808, Marshal Murat occupiedMadrid and Joseph was named King ofSpain."He had compounded his initial error, foralmost immediately the Spanish in Madridrebelled against France even before Josephcould ascend the throne, while guerrilla warfareswept the country. The war which ensued wasto tie down large French armies at enormouscost for the following five years.Not only had Napoleon committed largenumbers of troops on the Peninsular but hehad lost the opportunity of turning to use thetraditional enmity of Spain toward Britainand Portugal. The situation was exploited byBritain who moved quickly to re-establishpeace with Spain, harbour the Portuguese royalfamily and remove the Portuguese fleet fromNapoleon's reach. In Napoleon's words,". . . when that disastrous affair of Spainpresented itself to effect a sudden changeagainst me and reinstate England in thepublic situation. She was enabled from thatmoment to continue the war; the trade withSouth America was thrown open to her; sheformed an army for herself in the peninsular,and next became the victorious agent, themain part of all plots which were hatchedon the continent . . ," 10Had Napoleon supported a Spanish regimehe could have neutralized Portugal and keptBritain out of Europe. Ultimately he couldeven have built a fleet powerful enough to haveinvaded her. As things turned out even hiscontinental blockade failed for it depended onthe co-operation of the civilian population andthis he never won." British trade continued toflow into Europe by smuggling under neutralflags, and by the bribery of customs officials.On 23 July 1808 Dupont's army was surroundedby Spanish forces and surrenderednear Baylen, the first surrender of a Napoleonicarmy. Over 18,000 French troops were forcedto lay down their arms and many were latermassacred. 1 '-' Apart from arousing tremendousenthusiasm throughout Spain the defeat had afar reaching effect on Europe. Austria hadalready begun re-arming against Napoleon inthe hope of just such an event. In the wordsof Metternich:"Napoleon's mind was full of the overthrowof Spain. He was preparing to appear personallyon the scene where the great dramawas to be played. This might lead to contingenciesfor which the Vienna cabinet mustprovide. The preparations made in Austriapointed to warlike designs." 13The downturn in Napoleon's fortunes becamesvident from the concessions he made whennegotiating with Tzar Alexander at Erfurt inOctober 1808. He agreed to withdraw his troopsfrom Prussia, reduce Prussian indemnities, givereassurances concerning Poland and drop hisearlier insistence that Russia evacuate Moldaviaand Wallachia. 14His standing was also damaged at home asdefeat encouraged Talleyrand and Fouche to