The Fontainebleau Treaty explained
The Napoleon Pact with Russia in Tilsit (July 7, 1807) left him free to direct his attention to Great Britain and to Sweden and Portugal, the two powers that remained allied or friends with Great Britain. It was decided that Russia would deal with Sweden, while Napoleon, ally to Spain since 1796, summoned (July 19) to the Portuguese ‘to close their ports to the British and declare war to Great Britain’. His intention was to complete the continental system designed to make an economic war against Britain, since there was no other means to lead him to seek peace to attack in his trade. Napoleon decreed a continental block, which prohibited the trade of British products throughout the European continent. Portugal, a traditional ally of England, refused to obey him. Napoleon ordered General Andoche Junot, with a force of 30,000, to march through Spain to Portugal (October-November 1807). To invade Portugal, Napoleon required a route for his land troops through Spain, which requires a treaty with that country. The Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil, and Junot arrived in Lisbon on November 30.
The Treaty of Fontainebleau was a secret agreement signed on October 27, 1807 in Fontainebleau, France, between King Carlos IV of Spain and the French emperor Napoleon. According to the treaty, the house of Braganza had to be expelled from the kingdom of Portugal with the country later divided into three regions.
Negotiated and agreed between Don Eugenio Izquierdo, Plenipotentiary of Carlos IV and Marshal Géraud Duroc as representative of Napoleon, the agreement contained 14 articles together with complementary provisions related to the allocation of troops for the planned invasion of Portugal.
However, the French army conquered Portugal also occupied parts of northern Spain, and Napoleon, whose intentions were becoming clear, claimed all Portugal and certain provinces of northern Spain. Unable to organize government resistance, Spanish minister Godoy persuaded his king, Carlos IV, to imitate the Portuguese royal family and escape South America. The trip from Madrid stopped in Aranjuez, where a revolt organized by the faction ‘Fernandista’ (March 17, 1808) got Godoy’s dismissal and the abdication of Carlos IV in favor of his son Fernando VII. Napoleon, taking advantage of the situation, sent General Joachim Murat to occupy Madrid and, through a mixture of threats and promises, induced Carlos and Fernando to go to Bayona for the conferences. There, on May 5, 1808, Napoleon forced Fernando to abdicate in favor of Carlos and Carlos in favor of himself. In return, Napoleon promised that Spain should continue to be a Roman and independent Catholic, under a ruler who would name. He chose his brother José Bonaparte. However, on May 2, the town of Madrid had already risen against the invader, and the war for Spanish independence had begun.
The rebellion in Madrid began the movement that was finally fatal to Napoleon’s power. Although the revolt of Madrid was mercilessly repressed by the French, there were provincial insurrections throughout Spain, and the Spaniards showed a great capacity for the guerrilla war. The French were expelled from Valencia, and General Pierre Dupont, who had advanced to Andalusia, was forced to retire and finally capitulate with all his army in Bailén (July 23). The Spaniards now advanced on the capital and expelled José Bonaparte (August).
The French counterattack, which led to the recovery of Madrid (December 1808), forced the Board to withdraw south to Seville. In January 1810, General Nicolás de Dieu Sault began the conquest of Andalusia and, with the fall of Seville in the same month, the Central Board fled to Cádiz. Only Wellington’s stubborn resistance in Portugal, the continuous activity of guerrillas and dissensions between the French saved the final submission peninsula. In fact, the British forces, which landed for the first time in Portugal on August 1, 1808, quickly achieved some successes, conquering Lisbon and forcing the evacuation of the French of Portugal (Convention of Cintra, August 30, 1808). In 1809 the French returned to Portugal, briefly holding Porto and Lisbon;But Wellington, with some difficulties, could flank them and lead a force towards Madrid. However, his victory in the Battle of Talavera (July 27, 1809) was short-lived and was forced to retire to the center of Portugal, where he was fortified within the country around Lisbon, now again under British domain. His famous ‘Vedras Torres Lines’ were defensive works designed to resist any army that Napoleon could send against them
According to historian Charles Omanan, Napoleon is likely to have never intended to carry out the provisions of the Fontainebleau Treaty. Apart from his desire to occupy Portugal, his true purpose may have been to substitiously introduce a great French force in Spain to facilitate his subsequent acquisition.
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