Editing Peninsular War (section)

==1807==

===Extortion of Portugal===
The [[Treaties of Tilsit]], negotiated during a meeting in July 1807 between Emperors [[Alexander I of Russia]] and [[Napoleon]], concluded the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]]. With [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] shattered, and the [[Russian Empire]] allied with the [[First French Empire]], Napoleon expressed irritation that [[Portugal]] was open to trade with Britain.{{sfn|Chandler|1995|p=588}} Pretexts were plentiful; Portugal was Britain's [[Anglo-Portuguese Alliance|oldest ally in Europe]], Britain was finding new opportunities for trade with Portugal's colony in Brazil, the [[Royal Navy]] used Lisbon's port in its operations against France, and he wanted to deny the British the use of the Portuguese fleet. Furthermore, [[John VI of Portugal|Prince John of Braganza]], regent for his insane mother [[Maria I of Portugal|Queen Maria I]], had declined to join the emperor's [[Continental System]] against British trade.{{sfn|Chandler|1995|p=596}}

Events moved rapidly. The Emperor sent orders on 19 July 1807 to his Foreign Minister, [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord]], to order Portugal to declare war on Britain, close its ports to British ships, detain British subjects on a provisional basis and sequester their goods. After a few days, a large force started concentrating at [[Bayonne]].{{sfn|Chandler|1995|p=597}} Meanwhile, the Portuguese government's resolve was stiffening, and shortly afterward Napoleon was once again told that Portugal would not go beyond its original agreements. Napoleon now had all the pretext that he needed, while his force, the First Corps of Observation of the Gironde with [[divisional general]] [[Jean-Andoche Junot]] in command, was prepared to march on Lisbon. After he received the Portuguese answer, he ordered Junot's corps to cross the frontier into the [[Spanish Empire]].{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=7}}

While all this was going on, the secret [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (October 1807)|Treaty of Fontainebleau]] had been signed between France and Spain. The document was drawn up by Napoleon's marshal of the palace [[Géraud Duroc]] and Eugenio Izquierdo, an agent for [[Manuel Godoy]].{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=8}} The treaty proposed to carve up Portugal into three entities. [[Porto]] and the northern part was to become the [[Kingdom of Northern Lusitania]], under [[Charles II, Duke of Parma]]. The southern portion, as the Principality of the Algarves, would fall to Godoy. The rump of the country, centered on Lisbon, was to be administered by the French.{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=9}} According to the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Junot's invasion force was to be supported by 25,500 Spanish troops.{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=26}} On 12 October, Junot's corps began crossing the [[Bidasoa]] River into Spain at [[Irun]].{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=7}} Junot was selected because he had served as ambassador to Portugal in 1805. He was known as a good fighter and an active officer, although he had never exercised independent command.{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=8}}

<gallery widths="145px" heights="200px">
File:Jean-Baptiste Debret - Retrato de Dom João VI (MNBA) - cores compensadas.jpg|alt=Portrait of Prince John of Braganza.|''Portrait of Prince John of Braganza'' by [[Jean-Baptiste Debret]] (1817).
File:Napoleon I of France by Andrea Appiani.jpg|alt=Portrait of Napoleon as King of Italy.|''Napoleon Bonaparte'' by [[Andrea Appiani]] (1805).
</gallery>

===Spanish dilemma===
{{Further|History of Spain (1700–1810)}}

By 1800, Spain was in a state of social unrest. Townsfolk and peasants all over the country, who had been forced to bury family members in new municipal cemeteries rather than churches or other consecrated ground, took back their bodies at night and tried to restore them to their old resting-places. In [[Madrid]], the growing numbers of ''[[afrancesado|''afrancesados'']]'' (Francophiles) at court were opposed by the ''majos'': shopkeepers, artisans, tavern keepers, and laborers who dressed in traditional style, and took pleasure in picking fights with ''petimetres'', the young who styled themselves with French fashion and manners.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=22}}

Spain was an ally of Napoleon's First French Empire; however, defeat in the naval [[Battle of Trafalgar]] in October 1805, which had decimated Spain's navy, had removed the reason for alliance with France. Manuel Godoy, the favorite of King [[Charles IV of Spain]], began to seek some form of escape. At the start of the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]], which pitted the Kingdom of Prussia against Napoleon, Godoy issued a proclamation that was obviously aimed at France, even though it did not specify an enemy. After Napoleon's decisive victory at the [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt]], Godoy quickly withdrew the proclamation. However, it was too late to avert Napoleon's suspicions. Napoleon planned from that moment to deal with his inconstant ally at some future time. In the meantime, the Emperor forced Godoy and Charles IV into providing a division of Spanish troops to serve in northern Europe.{{sfn|Gates|2002|pp=6–7}} The [[Division of the North]] spent the winter of 1807–1808 in [[Swedish Pomerania]], [[Mecklenburg]], and towns of the old [[Hanseatic League]] and Spanish troops marched into [[Denmark]] in early 1808.{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=367}}

<gallery widths="175px" heights="200px">
File:Fernando VII, by López.jpg|alt=Portrait of Fernando VII de España.|''Prince [[Fernando VII of Spain]]'' by [[Vicente López Portaña]]
File:Carlos IV de rojo.jpg|alt=Portrait of Charles IV.|''[[Charles IV of Spain|King Charles IV of Spain]]'' by [[Francisco Goya]]
</gallery>

===Invasion of Portugal===
{{main article|Invasion of Portugal (1807)}}
[[File:Departure of H.R.H. the Prince Regent of Portugal for the Brazils (Campaigns of the British Army in Portugal, London, 1812) - Henry L'Evêque, F. Bartollozzi.png|thumb|alt=Painting shows crowds of people dressed in early 1800s clothing getting off horse-drawn carriages near the sea.|[[Transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil]], 1807.]]

Napoleon instructed Junot, with the cooperation of Spanish military troops, to invade Portugal, moving west from [[Alcántara]] along the [[Tagus]] valley to Portugal, a distance of only {{convert|120|mi|km|0}}.{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=27}} On 19 November 1807, the French troops under Junot set out for Lisbon and occupied it on 30 November.{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=28}}

The Prince Regent John escaped, loading his family, courtiers, state papers and treasure aboard the fleet, protected by the British, and fled to Brazil. He was joined in flight by many nobles, merchants and others. With 15 warships and more than 20 transports, the fleet of refugees weighed anchor on 29 November and [[Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil|set sail for the colony of Brazil]].{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=30}} The flight had been so chaotic that 14 carts loaded with treasure were left behind on the docks.{{sfn|Chandler|1995|p=599}}

As one of Junot's first acts, the property of those who had fled to Brazil was sequestered{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=31}} and a 100-million-[[franc]] indemnity imposed.{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=32}} The army formed into a [[Portuguese Legion (Napoleonic Wars)|Portuguese Legion]], and went to northern Germany to perform garrison duty.{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=31}} Junot did his best to calm the situation by trying to keep his troops under control. While the Portuguese authorities were generally subservient toward their French occupiers, the ordinary Portuguese were angry,{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=31}} and the harsh taxes caused bitter resentment among the population. By January 1808, there were executions of persons who resisted the exactions of the French. The situation was dangerous, but it would need a trigger from outside to transform unrest into revolt.{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=32}}