Treaty of Fontainebleau (1807)

On October 27, 1807 France and Spain joined in secret the Treaty of Fontainebleau. In this they agreed upon the conquest and division of Portugal. Thus the French troops Portugal could reach by land, Spain granted the French to march through Spain.

The planned division of Portugal

Portugal should be divided into three parts according to the contract.

• The province of Entre - Douro -e- Minho with its capital Porto should Nordlusitanien Kingdom ( Reino Lusitânia Setentrional ) and will fall to the King of Etruria.
• The Alentejo and the Algarve should the Principality of Algarve ( Principality dos Algarve) are and go to the Spanish statesman Godoy. This had arranged the Treaty of Fontainebleau Napoleon.
• About the rest of Portugal should be decided if there was peace again.

Background

Portugal's main trading partner was Great Britain. Why could not and did Portugal not join the Continental System of Napoleon, the British goods should keep away from the French controlled continental Europe. For example, Portugal was a Einfalltor for British goods and smuggling. This hole in the Continental System Napoleon wanted to cram with the conquest of Portugal.

Follow

Portugal

The conquest of Portugal took place without much resistance. On November 30, 1807, the French general Junot marched his troops into Lisbon. Portugal was occupied by the French until the summer of 1808. On August 21, 1808 Anglo- Portuguese army under Wellington defeated the French army under Junot at the Battle of Vimeiro. Subsequently, the withdrawal of the French was agreed in the Convention of Cintra.

Spain

Napoleon used the walkover rights granted by the Treaty of Fontainebleau, to send many more troops than foreseen in the contract to Spain. With these he brought parts of Spain under his control, seized the Spanish royal family, forced them to abdicate and placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as a Spanish king. Thus it caused the Spanish War of Independence, the tie a lot of his troops to the Iberian Peninsula and ultimately should make a significant contribution to his downfall.