622px el tres de mayo by francisco de goya from prado thin black margin

Spain's occupation and liberation by the Napoleonic Empire

  • Carlos IV becomes King of Spain

    Carlos IV becomes King of Spain
    His reign coincided with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire, as well as otherr events that affected Spain's power and independence.
  • Battle of Trafalgar

    Battle of Trafalgar
    French and Spanish forces were defeated by the British
  • Treaty of Fontainebleau

    Treaty of Fontainebleau
    Spain signed this treaty with France. This gave French troops permission to pass through Spain on their way to attack Portugal. At the time, Portugal was allied with Great Britain.
    In the end, the French forces occupied Spain and sent Carlos IV and his son Fernando to Bayonne, in France. In Bayonne, Carlos IV and Fernando renounced their rights to the Spanish throne in favour of Napoleon.
  • Beginning of The Spanish War of Independence

    Beginning of The Spanish War of Independence
    People of Madrid rose up against de French Occupation.
    During this war, two important processes were taking place at the same time: the war itself, and a political revolution.
  • Joshep Bonaparte becomes the new King of Spain

    Joshep Bonaparte becomes the new King of Spain
    Napoleon made his own brother, Joshep Bonaparte, the new King of Spain.
  • Battle of Vitoria. Defeat of the French

    Battle of Vitoria. Defeat of the French
    The French were finally defeated in June 1813, thanks to suppoort from British forces led by the Duke of Wellington, and to groups of Spanish citizens who carried out guerrilla attacks on the French forces.