Spain and the Fifth Coalition

Spain and the Fifth Coalition BLACK: Feat BLACK HIGHLIGHT: Enemy Feat RED: Blunder BLUE: Personal Assessments THE PENINSULAR WARS: THE CAPTURE OF LISBON Portugal still maintained illegal ties with British shipping, which undermined Napoleon's Continental Strategy. It represented a hole in the Continental System, a British economic gateway into Europe, and also served as a naval support base for Britain and a future staging ground against France (Napoleon already anticipated that this front would eventually see war). He therefore decided that Portugal had to be occupied. Napoleon would settle the treaty of Fontainebleau with Spain, to make Spain cooperate with him, and allow him to introduce his troops to cross Spanish territory. Then he would send Junot on a campaign to: * Capture Lisbon * Capture the Portuguese royal family * Seize the Portuguese fleet in the Tagus River * Prevent a repeat of Copenhagen, where Britain had seized a fleet before France could * Survey Spain and Portugal militarily for future use (this is important. remember it later) Junot would have a very difficult time doing so, but ultimately he captured Lisbon and achieved the rest of Napoleon's objectives, except for capturing the Portuguese royal family, who managed to flee. David G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon, pp. 598-599. (Planning Formulation>Strategy Foresight) NAPOLEON’S PLAN TO TAKE OVER SPAIN Taking Spain is a debatable decision in his career, as it would later spark many debates over …