Having invested heavily in the fleet lost at Trafalgar, due to errors by the French Admiral Villeneuve and an instruction to ‘never surrender to superior forces without reaching glory in brave resistance’, Spain was financially broke.
In 1807, French forces were invited into Spain in order that Napoleon could attack Britain’s ally Portugal, Spain hoping to bag a piece of Portugal in the process. It turned out to be a grave error, as France declared its intention of occupying Spain permanently. Spain, having exhausted its finances on building a fleet to take on Britain was unable to defend itself in the field – relying on Britain, Portugal and her own meagre army to engage France in the so-called ensuing Peninsular Wars.
Seeing the writing on the wall, Spain’s King Ferdinand VII fled Madrid and went into exile, forever damaging the prestige and authority of the Spanish crown. Brazenly, Napoleon appointed his slightly older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as the new king of Spain. The war lasted six years and affected all parts of the country. Some Spanish hoped for a French-style republic and democracy and encouragingly Joseph Bonaparte adopted some enlightened principles, learned the language and made progressive changes – such as ending the Spanish Inquisition, reintroducing bullfighting and reopening many bars – although most Spaniards regarded the invader as ‘Joe the bottle’ for this last act.
Napoleon’s forces entered Madrid on 2nd May 1808 and were met by a brave uprising of citizens throughout the city. It was the catalyst for the ensuing Peninsular Wars. The largest resistance was in Puerta del Sol, where armed with crude weapons the rebels were quickly defeated by the professional French forces. A plaque outside the headquarters of the Comunidad de Madrid (i.e., the regional government as distinct from city-wide administration based at Cibeles Palace) commemorates the date. The uprising failed and Madrileño rebels were rounded up and executed the following day on La Montana del Príncipe Pío in the west of the city (also the location of the massacre during the Civil War in 1936). Goya depicted the uprising and executions in his painting The Second of May 1808 and The Third of May 1808 – both hanging in the Museo Nacional del Prado.
France suffered its first major defeat of the Peninsular Wars in 1812; when British, Portuguese and Spanish forces defeated them at the Battle of Salamanca. And two years later, Spain regained its independence.
During the war, many provinces in Spain attempted to establish independent arrangements for government. Under attack by the French and lacking funds they established a national government in Cadiz and hosted an inaugural session of the new Spanish Cortes in September 1810. The Cortes ratified ‘The Constitution of 1812’, proclaiming allegiance to the king and progressive principles like freedom of expression, free press, a national education system and primary schools for every town.
Extract from The Culture Lover’s Guide to Madrid. See link to book below:
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Callum-Moy/a/5905
Photographs from the reenactment of the French invasion of Madrid each May.
All photographs copyright Essential History.
