The appointment of Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain, following the resignations of Bayonne (5 and 6 May) raises questions on the Spanish authorities. The council of Castile compliance is torn between the new king or opposition clearly.
The war begins on May 2, 1808 with the rebellion of the people of Madrid against the French army when soldiers tried to take the force of the royal palace at Infante Francisco de Paula (son of Charles IV) bound for Bayonne. Marshal Murat commanded to shoot all those involved in this. The rebellion is spreading to Castile, Extremadura, Andalusia and other parts of the country.
As generalizes the French occupation, arise in several Spanish cities citizen boards, popular election. Of them leave the provincial boards (supreme), who assume sovereignty in the absence of the king, seized by Napoleon and act as representatives of the sovereign state, ignoring the orders of the discredited council of Castile, under the French.
They consist of the military, clergy, nobles and local owners who do not cooperate with the French.
Organized from the outset resistance and defense against the French territory.
In September of 1808 to lead and coordinate the action of Aranjuez together constitutes the central board, headed by the elderly Floridablanca and the following year will move to Sevilla and Cádiz finally, fleeing the French army. In 1810 transfers its power to a regency of five members, until the return of Fernando VII.
· It is a guerrilla war or total where anything goes (food poisoning, bomb, kill horses, assault by surprise), while during the day the guerrillas mix with the population.
· In urban sites, the population for months heroically resists the siege of the French army supply and preventing attacks constantly, like Zaragoza Gerona or where a woman, Agustina de Aragon, took charge of the resistance to encourage by example the inhabitants of this city.
Here you have some interesting links abaut this:
http://cdaworldhistory.wikidot.com/napoleon-s-empire-collapses
http://peninsularwar200.org/history.html
Hi Fernando,
ReplyDeleteI´ll check your post tomorrow (today I´m fed up of checking exams), but you should include a picture on your post related to what you´ve written.
See you!
Hello again, Fernando,
ReplyDeleteI´ve read your post and the content doesn´t correspond to the topic you were supposed to write about. You´ve written about the Peninsular WAr, but not about the guerrilla fighters. I sent you some links you could have used. Please, redo the post without translating word by word and focusing on the idea of the title.
- Explain what guerrilla was
- Read about the main guerrilla fighters: el Empecinado, Espoz y Mina, el cura Merino... and explain what happened to them after the war, during Ferdinand VII´s rule.
It´s not difficult. Try to do it again and include a picture.
Bye!