Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a conflict in Iberia from 1807 to 1814 in which Spain, Portugal, and Britain fought Napoleonic France after French forces invaded Portugal.

Treaty of Fontainebleau (1807): An agreement allowing French troops to cross Spain to invade Portugal, while proposing the partition of Portugal. It gave Napoleon a pretext and route for sending French forces into Portugal.
Continental System: Napoleon's policy of restricting European trade with Britain to weaken the British economy. Portugal's refusal to comply gave Napoleon a stated reason to invade.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington: British commander who led Allied forces in the Peninsular War and later became prime minister. His campaigns drove French forces out of Portugal and Spain.
Cortes of Cádiz: The Spanish assembly that met during the war and drafted the liberal Constitution of 1812. Wartime resistance produced a constitutional challenge to absolutist monarchy.
Battle of Austerlitz: Napoleon's decisive victory over Austrian and Russian armies on 2 December 1805. Unlike this Iberian struggle, Austerlitz was a concentrated battle between regular armies.
Dos de Mayo Uprising: A popular revolt in Madrid against French occupation on 2 May 1808, suppressed by French troops. Its suppression helped ignite wider Spanish resistance to French rule.
Treaty of San Ildefonso (1796): An alliance between Spain and revolutionary France directed against Britain. Spain's alliance with France preceded the occupation that turned Spanish forces and subjects against Napoleon.
André Masséna: French marshal who commanded the 1810 invasion of Portugal. His retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras marked the failure of Napoleon's third Portugal campaign.
Spanish Constitution of 1812: A liberal constitution adopted by the Cortes of Cádiz during the Peninsular War. It set out a new political order while Spain resisted French occupation.
Battle of Waterloo: The 1815 battle in which an Allied army under Wellington and Blücher defeated Napoleon. It ended Napoleon's rule, whereas the Peninsular War had already drained French forces for years.

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