Sold – Napoleon’s Original Decree to Maintain Order During the Spanish Revolt

In 1807, Napoleon signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau with Spain and sent an army to invade Portugal, thus beginning the Peninsular War. The Spanish government sent troops to join the French, having been assured that, in return for cooperating, it would receive Portugal’s territories. France’s purported ambition was the seizure of the Portuguese fleet, which was circumventing its blockade of British shipping. On December 1 Lisbon was captured with no military opposition. Then, under the pretext of reinforcing the army in Portugal, Napoleon bolstered his troop presence within Spain itself. His intention was, in fact, to ultimately occupy his nominal ally, Spain, by force.  In February 1808, Napoleon finally dropped the charade and turned on Spain, ordering French commanders to seize key Spanish fortresses and removing the Spanish royal family from power.

The Spanish had only 100,000 men, who were under equipped, leaderless, and scattered from Portugal to the Balearic Islands.   A puppet council approved a new king, Napoleon’s brother Joseph.  But when Joseph tried to enforce his rule, he provoked a popular uprising that eventually spread throughout the country. Citizens of Madrid rose up in rebellion against French occupation on May 2, 1808.  The next day, in an event immortalized in a painting by Goya (The Third of May 1808), the French army shot hundreds of Madrid citizens in retaliation.  Soon, bloody, spontaneous fighting erupted in much of the rest of country, and reprisals were repeated in other cities. These did nothing but strengthen the resistance. This fighting became known as guerilla war ("little war"), and the term "guerilla" has been used ever since to describe such combat.

As the situation deteriorated, the French responded by increasing their military presence. In February, Napoleon had boasted that 12,000 men would suffice to conquer Spain; by June, more than 165,000 troops had poured into the country in an effort to control the revolt. Napoleon, moreover, was worried not merely about Spain, but that the situation there would embolden other peoples dissatisfied with French rule, such as the Italians, to rise up as well. Such a spiralling crisis could get out of hand and draw French troops from Spain that were needed there. Thus, a central part of Napoleon’s military strategy was to maintain order in Italy so as to give a free hand to the army in Spain.

In this official decree, an integral part of that strategy, he ordered additional funds to pay and supply a growing force in Italy. 

Document Signed, Bayonne, France, May 14, 1808.  “Article 1, The amount of 960,000 Francs is put at disposal of the Minister of the War of our Reign of Italy in increase of the funds granted to Him by the budget for the salary of the Army during the year 1808.  Article  2, This sum will be taken for one half from the reserve funds of the Minister of the War and half from the General Reserve of the budget of this year for the Reign.  Article 3, Our Ministers of the War and of the Treasure are charged each one for what regards them of the execution of the present decree.”  A true rarity, this is our first decree of Napoleon.

Napoleon had unwittingly provoked a total war against the Spaniards, a mistake from which the French Empire would never truly recover.