Good morning, and I am working on a documentary series about Napoleon. The last episode was a bitter disappointment. Hopefully, this next episode will be better. I wish this series had episode numbers so I would know how many episodes to expect and what episode I am on. The run time for this episode is 48:51 and is called The Spanish Ulcer.
It is 1807 and Napoleon is getting ready to invade Portugal. Portugal was allied with England and this alliance was becoming a thorn in Napoleon’s side. British and Portuguese were trading behind Napoleon’s back. Nobody in Europe was allowed to trade with Britain. This policy would ruin every country under Napoleon’s control except for France. However, smuggling would grow and would be rife throughout Europe. Napoleon was actively trying to stop the British from exporting their manufactured goods into Europe. Napoleon was going to overthrow the Bourbon dynasty in Spain and would replace the Spanish King with his brother. Charles IV occupied the Spanish Throne, however, his wife and her lover were the true rulers of Spain. The Spanish were interested in working with Napoleon because of their traditional feelings against Britain and to help make quick money. The Spanish would help Napoleon invade Portugal for a price. Napoleon would believe that there was widespread support for Spain to join the Empire. However, he underestimated the support and many people depended on British manufactured goods. Napoleon horribly miscalculated the situation in Spain. The Spanish people loved their royal family and particularly loved the Spanish Crown Prince. The people had a deep sense of patriotism and loved the church. Napoleon also did not factor in the Iberian Terrain. There were no supplying soldiers from the land. Outside supplies would have to be brought in, and the territory would prevent easy transportation. The roads were in horrible condition. Spain was a place where “small armies got defeated and large armies starved.” The countryside was barren. In 1807, Napoleon followed through with a deal anyway in exchange for dividing Portugal. The French army would eventually invade and advance through Spain into Portugal. When the army arrived, they discovered that the Portuguese fleet had fled. In the meantime, there was a plot to overthrow Charles and put his son Ferdinand on the throne. There were riots in Spain which caused the Royal Family to flee. Both Charles and Ferdinand were forced to give up their throne and Napoleon’s brother Joseph was installed as King. The Bonaparte family controlled a large chunk of Europe. French rule would be imposed on Spain. However, the population would revolt against French Rule. The Spanish people felt betrayed by Napoleon, especially when they thought he was supporting Prince Ferdinand. Instead of King Ferdinand, they got King Joseph. Revolts would spread throughout Spain and Napoleon would send troops and brutally put them down. Mass executions would follow and Spain was torn apart by civil war. Eventually, the French army would be forced to surrender. This surrender would send shockwaves through Europe and would spur others to resist. Napoleon himself would have to intervene in Spain. 100,000 French soldiers would march to Spain, while the Spanish would turn to the British for help. Napoleon would eventually withdraw from Spain. King Joseph would take control of the French army but this would prove to be a disaster for the king. Napoleon was a successful general, but when he left his brother and generals in charge the army fell apart. The result was a disaster for the French Army. The British-Portuguese combined army was growing in veteran status and would soon find success on the battlefield against the French. To learn more about the Spanish and Portuguese campaigns continue to watch the rest of this documentary. Well, this was an episode that was divided into chapters which could make it easy to pull clips out for lectures and showing purposes. This was a good overview of the Spanish-Portuguese campaign, although it would have been interesting to hear more about Joseph’s reign in Spain. This documentary is way too old school and I am slowly concluding that it could be used for research purposes. I am not going to recommend showing this series to a classroom.
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The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |