Bonapartist Spain was a Napoleonic client state established in 1808 after Napoleon, who had stationed his Imperial Army in Spain under the pretense of a joint Franco–Spanish invasion of Portugal, forced the ruling Spanish Bourbons to abdicate, and installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne, which ignited a people's revolt by Spanish citizens and led to the Peninsular War, where France was defeated and forced to retreat from Spain.
The kingdom was officially known as Kingdom of Spain and the Indies, with "the Indies" referring to the East and West Indies as well as Spain's colonial possessions more broadly. The texts of the Bayonne abdications and the Bayonne Statute take care to distinguish the traditional titles of King Joseph from the name of the kingdom. It never managed to exert control over these territories however, not only did the French invasion weaken Spain's grasp on its overseas empire, without Joseph Bonaparte being recognized as king anywhere in the Americas, but even on the Spanish mainland, the House of Bonaparte's grip was tenuous. Large parts of the country came under the control of juntas, which remained loyal to Ferdinand VII and the old Bourbon kingdom, allying with the Coalition forces of Britain and Portugal to undermine the French occupation.
Guerrilla warfare bogged down French troops for years in Iberia, which hindered the French military and Napoleon referring to Spain as the Spanish Ulcer. A series of decisive Coalition victories from 1812 to 1813 at Salamanca and Vitoria meant the defeat of the Bonapartist régime and the expulsion of Napoleon I's troops. In the Treaty of Valençay Napoleon recognized Ferdinand VII as the legitimate King of Spain, though the Bourbon and Anglo-Portuguese forces continued to pursue the retreating French Imperial Army as part of the Sixth Coalition in an invasion of France.
Background: From alliance with First French Republic and First French Empire to the Peninsular War
The abdications of Ferdinand VII and Charles IV
Spain had been allied with France against Great Britain since the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso (1796), which aligned Spanish foreign policy with that of the French Republic during the Revolutionary Wars.Charles Esdaile, Spain in the Liberal Age: From Constitution to Civil War, 1808–1939 (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), 9–15. The alliance suffered a major blow when the combined Franco-Spanish fleet was defeated by the British Royal Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), resulting in the destruction of much of Spain's naval power and weakening its position as a maritime empire.Andrew Lambert, Trafalgar: The Biography of a Battle (London: Faber & Faber, 2004), 312–320. Relations between the allies grew increasingly strained in the aftermath of Trafalgar. Spain resented both the loss of its fleet and the economic consequences of adherence to Napoleon’s Continental System, which aimed to exclude British trade from European markets.Alexander Grab, Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), 144–150. Despite these tensions, France and Spain agreed to the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1807), which provided for the partition of Portugal, a long-standing ally of Britain that had refused to comply with the Continental System.Charles Esdaile, The Peninsular War: A New History (London: Penguin, 2003), 35–42.
Napoleon was well aware of Spain's internal political instability and the weakness of the Bourbon monarchy under Charles IV of Spain.Adam Zamoyski, Napoleon: A Life (New York: Basic Books, 2018), 461–470. Under the pretext of preparing the invasion of Portugal, French troops were permitted to enter Spain. However, additional forces continued to arrive even after Portugal had been occupied, creating suspicion that Napoleon intended to intervene directly in Spanish affairs.David Gates, The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War (London: Pimlico, 2002), 49–55.
The growing French military presence intensified domestic tensions within Spain, contributing to the Tumult of Aranjuez (March 1808), a popular uprising led by supporters of the heir apparent Ferdinand VII. The revolt forced Charles IV to abdicate in favor of his son, while the king’s chief minister Manuel de Godoy was dismissed and arrested.Charles Esdaile, The Peninsular War, 52–58.
Ferdinand VII entered Madrid as king, but Napoleon summoned both Ferdinand and Charles IV to Bayonne in France. There, in a series of negotiations known as the Abdications of Bayonne (1808), Napoleon compelled Ferdinand to renounce the throne in favor of his father, who in turn ceded his rights to Napoleon.Michael Broers, Napoleon: Soldier of Destiny (London: Faber & Faber, 2014), 386–392. Napoleon then installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain. The carefully staged abdications were intended to provide a veneer of dynastic legitimacy for the new Bonapartist regime.Jeremy Black, Eighteenth-Century Europe (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1990), 241–244.
The installation of Joseph Bonaparte
Charles IV hoped that Napoleon I, who by this time had 100,000 troops stationed in Spain, would help him regain the throne.Charles Esdaile, The Peninsular War: A New History (London: Penguin, 2003), 63–70. However, Napoleon I refused to help Charles IV, and also refused to recognize his son - Ferdinand VII, as the new king. Instead, he succeeded in pressuring both Charles IV and Ferdinand VII to cede the crown to his brother, Joseph Bonaparte.Michael Broers, Napoleon: Soldier of Destiny (London: Faber & Faber, 2014), 386–394. The head of the French forces in Spain, Marshal Joachim Murat, meanwhile pressed for the former Prime Minister of Spain, Manuel de Godoy, whose role in inviting the French forces into Spain had led to the mutiny of Aranjuez, to be set free.Adam Zamoyski, Napoleon: A Life (New York: Basic Books, 2018), 468–472. The failure of the remaining Spanish government to stand up to Murat caused popular anger. On 2 May 1808, the younger son of Charles IV, the Infante Francisco de Paula, left Spain for France, leading to a widespread rebellion in the streets of Madrid.David Gates, The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War (London: Pimlico, 2002), 66–72.
The Council of Castile, the main organ of central government in Spain under Charles IV, was now in Napoleon's control.Charles Esdaile, Spain in the Liberal Age (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), 17–23. However, due to the popular anger at French rule, it quickly lost authority outside the population centers which were directly French-occupied. To oppose this occupation, former regional governing institutions, such as the Cortes of Aragon and the Board of the Principality of Asturias, resurfaced in parts of Spain; elsewhere, juntas (councils) were created to fill the power vacuum and lead the struggle against French imperial forces.Jeremy Black, Eighteenth-Century Europe (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1990), 244–247. Provincial juntas began to coordinate their actions; regional juntas were formed to oversee the provincial ones. Finally, on 25 September 1808, a single Supreme Central Junta was established in Aranjuez to serve as the acting resistance government for all of Spain.Gabriel Paquette, Enlightenment, Governance, and Reform in Spain and its Empire 1759–1808 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), 198–205. The Supreme Central Junta was pushed out of Aranjuez in November 1808. The Junta relocated to Alcázar of Seville, and resided there from 16 December 1808 until 23 January 1810.
The French occupation
Joachim Murat initiated military operations intended to suppress centers of resistance loyal to Ferdinand VII. French forces advanced along key strategic routes linking Madrid with northern Spain, besieging important strongholds such as Zaragoza, Girona, and Valencia.Charles Esdaile, The Peninsular War: A New History (London: Penguin, 2003), 79–88. Another French army, commanded by General Pierre Dupont de l'Étang, advanced south into Andalusia and captured Córdoba, where the city was subjected to significant plundering.David Gates, The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War (London: Pimlico, 2002), 74–81.
Rather than continuing toward Cádiz as originally intended, Dupont was ordered to reverse his advance and return toward Madrid. During this withdrawal, his forces encountered a Spanish army under General Francisco Javier Castaños. On 22 July 1808, the French suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Bailén, marking the first major open-field defeat of Napoleonic forces in Europe.Charles Oman, A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. I (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902), 543–560. The capitulation of Dupont’s army had significant political repercussions, strengthening resistance movements both within Spain and elsewhere in Europe by demonstrating that French imperial forces were not invincible.Michael Broers, Napoleon: Soldier of Destiny (London: Faber & Faber, 2014), 402–408.
Following the defeat, King Joseph I temporarily abandoned Madrid and withdrew northward to Vitoria.Adam Zamoyski, Napoleon: A Life (New York: Basic Books, 2018), 486–490. In the autumn of 1808, Napoleon I personally entered Spain at the head of a large army. French forces recaptured Madrid on 2 December 1808, restoring Joseph Bonaparte to the capital and reasserting French control over much of central Spain. Alexander Grab, Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), 166–170. At the same time, a British expeditionary force under Sir John Moore advanced into Spain from Portugal in support of Spanish resistance. Faced with Napoleon’s superior forces, Moore was compelled to retreat toward the northwestern coast, culminating in evacuation by sea following the Battle of Corunna (January 1809).Rory Muir, Britain and the Defeat of Napoleon, 1807–1815 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996), 58–66.
French offensives continued in subsequent campaigns. By early 1810, French forces had advanced deep into the Iberian Peninsula and approached Lisbon. However, they were unable to overcome the extensive defensive fortifications known as the Lines of Torres Vedras, constructed under the direction of Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington. These fortifications successfully halted the French advance and preserved Portugal as a base for continued Allied operations.Ian Fletcher, The Lines of Torres Vedras 1809–11 (Oxford: Osprey, 2004), 12–25.
Calls for Spanish resistance
The juntas forming after the installation of Joseph issued public appeals for their countrymen to take up arms to restore the Spanish monarchy. These juntas used many ideals from the French revolution; many would invoke the doctrine of national sovereignty.
The Supreme Junta of Government called on their countrymen in the Proclamation of Seville, May 29, 1808. "The fundamental laws of the monarchy have been trampled on; our property is being threatened along with our customs, our women, and everything else that is precious to the nation". The proclamation brought up duty "the scared obligations we swore as Spaniards" and liberty "your liberty, your monarchs, your holy religion... is in clear, immediate, and urgent danger".
The Proclamation of Galicia was a more conservative version of the Proclamation of Seville, which invoked the Reconquista; "From the immense Mohammedan armies our fathers achieved to liberate the soil we stand upon under the banner of Religion, now we will fear to fight the horde of vile Atheists, led by the protector of Jews?"
The juntas invoked many of the ideals from the enlightenment, these ideals had been tempered throughout the French occupation as to not to lose international support.
Reign of Joseph I
The Josephine State had its legal basis in the Bayonne Statute.