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How Napoleon’s Betrayal Cost Spain Her Empire
Spain and France were Allies — until they weren’t
At the onset of the Napoleonic Wars, France and Spain were friends. Allies even. They had lashed themselves together against British dominance over the world’s oceans. Unfortunately, the alliance between France and Spain did nothing to quell the British control of the seas. In fact, it made the problem far worse for Spain who quickly found itself unable to administer its far-flung empire.
Things got worse when Napoleon turned on his former allies during his Peninsular Campaign that saw his forces initially target Portugal only to find themselves in a bloody fight for the entire Iberian region. There was a lot of nuanced behind the scenes royal politicking going on at the time that turned Napoleon against Spain that do not matter much today. What does matter is how the Napoleonic Wars stripped Spain of its ability to control the empire.
Naval woes
Spain’s naval woes began in earnest in 1805 with the Battle of Trafalgar. A combined fleet of French and Spanish ships engaged the British navy off the coast of Spain. Napoleon believed that if…
