Feature History - Peninsular War

in today's episode we will talk about when the legendary general when Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte met his Waterloo well not actually Waterloo that has been the expression to make your war forget it [Music] hello and Bienvenue Bienvenue Joe and Ben Vindu to feature history featuring the Pin Civil War which I recall once in the series claiming to be a failure it seems however that even a man of God like affection such as myself who's prone to mistakes enough about myself though as interesting as I am instead that indulge is seen in 1808 one man ruled Europe and that man was Napoleon Bonaparte Italians Germans Austrians Russians all humbled before him his unparalleled power left him unrivaled on the continent but across the channel whose true enemy eluded him Great Britain the two unable to best each other remained in a perpetual state of war in the early 19th century allow me to roll back a tab in the late 18th century the French Revolution happened we all know what happened we all know when it happened and we all bloody well know what it did so I'll spare you the details during it however the great French war began the French Revolutionary Government would find itself at war with everyone on the continent and with this war began the rise of a young Napoleon he took some decisive victories in Italy and some fairly murky ones in Egypt in 1799 he'd flee the front lines of war for the back rooms of politics to allow for a coup d'etat that installs himself as the first Consul of France it soon after in 1802 signed the Treaty of Army on making peace with the British Austrians Russians Portuguese Ottomans Neapolitans Tuscans it goes on in doing so France had confirmed itself as a sovereign Republic and taken many client states and sister republics and when they went beating around the bush straight-up annex places this status quo did not satisfy a Napoleon and certainly didn't pleased his rivals hostilities would resume in 1803 with the War of the third coalition in it France and their allies Spain's navies were shat all over in the Battle of Trafalgar but on the continent Napoleon reigned supreme by 1807 Napoleon was emperor of the French had destroyed the Holy Roman Empire seized much German and humiliated Prussia Russia Austria Sweden and generally confused the whole map with his many many satellite states however he would not have a way to invade Britain the English Channel did far better than any wall could ever do and simply France had no Navy to equal his majesty's Napoleon would instead fly it with a weapon more powerful than any army or navy or other thing he'd fight economically in 1806 Napoleon decreed a large embargo against the British Empire and their trade this was to be later known as the Continental System from Russia to Spain just about every possible coast that Britain could land refused their trade as they had learned to fear Napoleon and heed his decrees there was but one exception to the system and that was Portugal as Britain's ally for over 400 years the two countries were besties and Portugal refused to conform Napoleon would respond with the Drule French and Spanish invasion of Portugal in the autumn of 1807 the Portuguese offered little resistance and their royal family simply fled to Brazil leaving the French and Spanish to carve off the abandoned kingdom those two nations had been allies for some time now about a decade and Spain had found itself trapped in France's non-stop warring Napoleon saw the Spanish is unable to pull their weight whereas the Spanish Prince Ferdinand the seventh started to see the French as responsible for the destruction of Spain's Navy an alienation from their colonies a political struggle in the Spanish crown would break out the King Charles of six selected his favourite Manuel de Godoy to lead his prime minister Ferdinand hated Godoy as the man seemed Pro French Napoleon also headed the prime minister seeing him as pro British so with an abstruse Prime Minister making a power play the conspiracy for third then to serve his father and growing French distrust in Spain Napoleon seemed eager to cut this crap at its foundation under the pretext of sending reinforcements to Portugal a hundred thousand French soldiers had simply found themselves in Spain so when in March 1808 the princes supporters mutiny and deposed Charles Napoleon would invite both to Bayonne to allow for the Emperor to mediate for them it was however a trap Napoleon arrested the two forcing them to renounce the throne in favor of his brother joseph bonaparte becoming king joseph the first of spain french soldiers made their way to all major centers of spain as the indigenous people were very displeased I'm a Madrid head rose up in the dost mio uprising in protest of French occupation and the abduction of their royal family the French soldiers would seek brutal requires against the population only provoking a mass Iberian insurrection sporadic fighting erupted across the peninsula and for the first time in named guerrilla fighting would be witnessed French columns scattered across Spain and attempted pacified revolt constantly harassed in transit by militias formed from both soldiers and civilians Napoleon could only see this as a temporary setback and though it was inevitable this addition would be suppressed however the Battle of Berlin in July saw a Spanish army defeated French won decisively it seemed the French would have to commit more and more focus to the region than first anticipated given the new theatre opportunist and Britain saw a chance to open a new land front against Napoleon in August an expeditionary force of 30,000 men under General Arthur Wellesley future Duke of Wellington would land in Portugal to drive out the French and connect later with Spanish resistance the generals earliest moves saw him deal an unexpected defeat to the French in the Battle of the Mara the French retreat offered an opportunity for Wellesley could crush that army however his command would be superseded by General Dalrymple the man lacking either confidence or intelligence or both signed the convention eccentric it permitted the French to evacuate Portugal with all their weapons men and loot the Convention was outrageous so those in Portugal and Britain Dalrymple would receive the sack and Wellesley though eventually cleared of blame was taken off the season General Sir John Mohr would take over command for the remainder of the expedition King Joseph would be driven from Madrid by the Spanish people around the same time it had set a trend as he was forced to abdicate four times over the duration of the war in response to this and more Napoleon realized everyone had lost their head and so he and his Grand Army entered Spain personally more and the British would drive north pulling Napoleon's focus from the insurrectionists in the south when the Grand Army approached Moore's expedition he was forced into a harrowing retreat through the winter of 1808 1809 dead end in the Dunkirk s Battle of Chaeronea in January 1809 more would be struck down by a cannonball as the British evacuated two ships covered by the Rankin Patriots and Spanish fighters the sacrifice was not in vain as the survivors would Swilly return to britain when the public witnessed the distressing sight of their battered troops wearing rags and wound it became apparent the peninsula would demand for total war with Portugal once again abandoned its residents would claim the British er for the sea as the audacious French marshal John Davis salt-free invaded Portugal taking a portal in the north at the same time Austria would begin the war of the fifth coalition which drew Napoleon from Spain to Central Europe general Wellesley would return to Portugal shortly after an assumed control of an Anglo Portuguese force he'd pushed the French from Oporto and Portugal in May and begin his approach to Madrid he and his Spanish allies would come so close in July but a pre-emptive French strikes or the Battle of Talavera it would be a costly victory Wellesley now officially by account of Wellington losing a quarter of his men forcing his retreat back to Portugal he'd start replenishing his forces and constructing the lines of torres vedras a set of impenetrable defences surrounding Lisbon 1809 closed with Austria's defeat and 1810 carried on with little action until September where France once again invaded Portugal upon approaching Wellington's creation they could do little but wait and soon winter came and forced an embarrassing retreat across 1811 Wellington could finally return to the offensive in January 1812 he had proven himself as a defensive Massimo but his offensive had remained to show the break-in to Spain he sees both Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz butter horse or mass atrocity committed as no one was spared the bloodbath the offensive had become Wellington would reign his men back under control and take victory in Salamanca that then allowed him to enter in the beret Madrid in August it seemed as if the tide had turned and France itself would soon be open to the British only Buddha Goths remained Wellington siege would be in vain as he was repelled in October he retreated from Buddha ghosts then from Madrid and then from butter horse across the winter after much sacrifice that ended up right back where they started the same winter however saw Napoleon driven from Russia and a spectacular retreat after having earlier invaded in June of 1812 as he back pedaled across Europe the Prussians Austrians and Swedes came out against him in the war of the sixth coalition lastly the winter had also seen increased harassment from unrelentless Spanish Gorillaz they had been a costly thorn in Napoleon's side since of stuff and now the reignited war and the rest of Europe's all reinforcements of Spain suspended Wellington re-entered Spain with his biggest and best army yet in May he thrusts forward into the country avoiding battles the bench armies were caught off guard as Wellington headed north his maneuvers caused them to pull from Madrid to reorganize they could not let Wellington simply sidestep them into France King Joseph and his armies would finally set up a defensive position in Vitoria only to be decisively crushed and routed in the ensuing battle when Napoleon heard he was outraged at his own brother stating if there was a man too many it was the king barring Joseph's return to Paris Ferdinand the seventh would see his release the following year to finally take back his place as king of Spain the Peninsular war had turned irreversibly against the French and the larger war threatened to do the same Wellington would struggle with martial salt across the Pyrenees for months finally breaking into France itself in October 1813 he'd however only see off salt at the Battle of Ortez in February of 1814 the coalition's resolve was tested greatly in Napoleon's vigorous defense of France in the early months of 1814 but Paris would fall in March Wellington would siege the city of Toulouse in April only receiving news of Napoleon's abdication after the city had fallen after a long struggle on both the behalf of Spanish guerrillas the Portuguese Army in the British expedition they had done the impossible and defeated Napoleon they had through thick and thin stood as a steadfast middle finger to Napoleon of course Napoleon returned and famously fought the Battle of Waterloo against no other than Wellington himself who admittedly narrowly defeated Napoleon France carried on as a monarchy after Bern old habits die hard and they'd witnessed some more revolutions and empires across the 19th century Wellington received much fame for his achievements and used them to lead a political career back home and so you can't help but receive a somewhat propaganda view of him under occupation Spain had lost much of its influence and certainly it's bed at ever becoming a great power again its foreign possessions break away and Spain shrunk Portugal to saw a similar effect you can't have a Peninsular war without a peninsula aftermath the peninsula wall was generally a sudden and painful transition period for the Iberian Peninsula its governments were uprooted and reworked in occupation and has had sweeping cultural impacts to a sense of Spanish and Portuguese nationalism was spurred and broadly the Napoleonic Wars had done this at large to every European nation it saw the degradation of imperialism inside of Europe and as well as intercontinental conflict the people also got a taste of French liberalism which paved the way for many many 19th century revolutions and movements that helped carve our world and whatever the current year is this is the outro where I thank the patrons and a tad bit more specifically David Kendall Thomas Curley Steve Graham Anil scrubs Amir resin Skyler Hagar you too you can become a patron it's a lovely privilege that you get to give me money and then if you're a lucky boy or girl had I discriminate you might receive a reward sure the reward to your friends and family and they'll all say why are you showing me the shoe size little rodent and then you hurt we'll need to find a coping mechanism and what better coping mechanism is there than giving me more money on patreon if I sold out enough good I got places to be

Channel: Feature History

Views: 533,586

Rating: 4.9441166 out of 5

Keywords: Feature History, History, Education, Entertainment, Academic, Presentation, Peninsular War, Napoleonic, Napoleon, Napoleonic Wars, Spain, France, Portugal, Gunpowder Era, Politics, War, Joseph Bonaparte, Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Battle of Vitoria, Siege of Badajoz, Convention of Cintra, Sir John Moore, Great Britain, War of the 6th Coalition, Iberian Peninsular, War of the 5th Coalition, Battle of Waterloo, Muskets, 19th Century, Great French War

Id: sie4qjpOLfo

Length: 12min 13sec (733 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 20 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/the_adept_novice]

The Peninsular War is part of the Napoleonic Wars fought in the Iberian Peninsula between the French and the British, Portuguese, and Spanish forces. This struggle contributed to Napoleon's waning power and influence in the continent and his eventual downfall. It also made the fortune of one Arthur Wellesley, who went on to become the Duke of Wellington. But more profound was how it affected Spain and Portugal, being the overlords of a great number of colonies in the Americas. Their occupation and costly war against the French diminished their capability to hold onto their colonies which indeed hastened their break from the mother country and by 1822 most Spanish colonies and even Portuguese Brazil were independent.

Edit: Someone pointed out that I linked to the middle of the video, so here is the link to the beginning.

[u/Zero_point0]

Thanks OP, this looks like a really cool channel.

[u/I1lI1llII11llIII1I]

Why did you link to the middle of the video?

[u/Greenmushroom23]

This is one of my favorite channel. Time to hope over YouTube and check this out. Thanks OP!