Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Vimeiro (1808) - Peninsular War DOCUMENTARY

Napoleonic Wars are back! It is 1807, and we find the Emperor of the French Napoleon Bonaparte at the height of his power, as he controls most of Europe after the War of the Fourth Coalition and the treaties of Tilsit. Napoleon decided to strangle his remaining enemy the United Kingdom economically by enacting Europe-wide Colonial Blockade, yet as Portugal defied him, he invaded it and then Spain. This was the beginning of the Peninsular War. Soon Spain and Portugal were in open rebellion. The first phase of the war ended when the British forces under Wellington landed in Portugal and fought the French General Junot at Vimeiro.

#Documentary #Kingsandgenerals #Napoleon

[rayanhey]

Fun fact: Portugal and the UK have the longest lasting alliance in the world, it was signed in 1373.

Now that is truly amazing

[alexandrejosedacostaneto]

The Portuguese royal family fleeing to Brazil was the only case of a American colony ruling over a major European empire, as Brazil was elevated to the status of a Kingdom and Rio de Janeiro became the capital of the Portuguese Empire, with control over Angola, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Principe and Guiné Bissau in Africa, also with East Timor, Goa and Macau in Asia.

[vinodvarghese]

The Spanish & Portuguese expedition was Napoleon's Vietnam War. You cannot win a war without winning the hearts and minds of the people. Great video and look forward to see more. Cheers!

[HistoryMarche]

Thoroughly enjoyed this while working on Napoleon myself. Great job! Thumbs up! 👍👍👍

[enzorodrigues]

Napoleon Bonaparte about John VI of Portugal: "That Portuguese was the only one who deceived me."

[ViriatusYT]

"You do not conquer Portugal withouth conquering England and you do not conquer England withouth conquering Portugal"

[MrAlexkyra]

It's quite amazing how much Napoleon's actions influenced the world, in ways that he couldn't have expected. By invading Iberia he made the Portuguese monarchy flee to Brazil and rule their empire from Rio de Janiero until 1821, helping pave the way for Brazil's independence. Placing his brother on the throne of Spain inadventantly helped trigger the Latin American revolutions, especially in Mexico and Venezuela. He tried and failed to re-establish slavery in Haiti, resulting in the Haitians breaking away entiery from French rule and becoming the world's first black republic. The loss of Haiti led him to cut his losses in the Americas and sell the Loisiana territory to the United States, doubling the size of that country and boosting the emergence of manifest destiny. Destroying the Holy Roman Empire, simplifying the 1000s of principalites into a few dozen states, made it possible for Germany to be united under Prussia. A similar effect happened in Italy. His conquests helped introduce the ideals of the French revolution to oppressive places like Russia and Austria. He briefly resurrected Poland as the Duchy of Warsaw, giving new life to Polish nationalism. The list goes on and on.

[EndOfSmallSanctuary]

The artillery, musket and smoke effects in the overhead battles have dramatically improved. It’s always satisfying to see.

[ruibranco]

Alminhas, Obrigado! From Portugal, continue like this!

[Pikazilla]

"[Portugal] as Britain's ally for 400 years, the two countries were besties" - Feature History

[danielconde]

It's not the size of the battle, it's its importance. Thumbs up for covering this relatively small but absolute turning point for Napoleon in Iberia, that Roliça and Vimeiro battles were!


Napoleon himself said that the Peninsula would be a hard nut to crack. Spain's compliance in allowing French troops to pass - btw, did you know Godoy, that usurped the Portuguese town of Olivença in 1801, is known as the "Prince of Peace"? Go figure! - was compensated in blood and destruction. The majority of operations in the Peninsular War were drove in Spain, but Portuguese campaign allowed a step by step consolidated and successful fight against the French Army.


Bottom line, Roliça, Vimeiro, Porto, Linhas de Torres, and Buçaco, may have been small in comparison with monsters like Austerlitz or Jena, but were decisive in Napoleon's defeat in the Iberian Peninsula, by granting the allies a solid base of operations.

[Muguratiu]

Iberia was Napoleon`s smaller Achilles heel (the big one being Russia). Imagine his reign without this mistake/s!

Thanks for the video! Never heared of this battle until now.

[FinnishDragon]

I think the next entry on the Napoleonic Wars should be the Finnish War of 1808-1809 between Russia and Sweden. Napoleon wanted Sweden to join the Continental System but the Swedish king Gustav IV Adolf refused and Napoleon asked his ally at that point, Russia to force Sweden follow his orders. This war changed the political geography of the Nordic region drastically:

"The Finnish War (Swedish: Finska kriget, Russian: Финляндская война, Finnish: Suomen sota) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland (which was the predecessor of the modern Finnish state) within the Russian Empire. Other notable effects were the Swedish parliament's adoption of a new constitution and the establishment of the House of Bernadotte, the new Swedish royal house, in 1818."

[ysk]

Replacing Carlos was stupid move. It made Spain to fight back and angered/feared monarchs of Europe... who would respond with another resolute coalition.

[phbrinsden]

Wellington started in a corner of Portugal and started enlarging his allied forces, Portuguese and Spanish. The Spanish were notorious for not following through with supply commitments but the Portuguese were formed into steady, reliable and effective units that stayed the course. Wellington won battle after battle and eventually entered France through the Pyrenees and invaded from the South. This plus the Battle of the Nations in the east brought Napoleon down. The occupation of Spain was a huge mistake and created incredible brutality on both sides. It also created guerrillas as a significant factor in war.

[JAfonso]

Excelent! Keep going with this productions, this really shows how important was the defeat of Napoleon in Spain and Portugal as a turning point for the colapse of his rulling.

[jorge]

Curious fact: The Portuguese were the first whose guns, offered by the British, didn't get captured by the French. British fondly appreciate this value for money.

[Neutralerd]

These documentaries are so helpful about the Napoleonic Wars and these videos are what all the people need about recalling history and this is great just GREAT! Thank You!

[theblackprince]

Great that you're doing the peninsular war. You're the only channel have done a video on it when doing a series about the Napoleonic wars btw.

[Bojanglesz]

I would say Napoleon was too ambitious when he tried to make his brother king of Spain