Good to see the fighting move from Portugal at last to Spain. That said with the losses they have experienced, is it not possible that members of the Spanish army would start privately beginning talks to end the fighting? The cream of the Spanish forces and French just got their butts handed to them over the last few battles. There are advantages to a fighting on home turf. Hopefully you keep this TL going.
The Prussia of The South - A Portuguese TL
I'm going with the OTL Spanish reaction. Some parts will side with France but most of the Spanish forces are going to make a armistice with the Anglo-Portuguese, but a peace treaty will only be signed when the War is over.
Also despite the victories the last battle was brutal for the Anglo-Portuguese Army in the South, too many casualties for no great gains, but they still have the First British division fresh and the FL is also fresh. Also the Portuguese Army of the North and the Spanish Army of Galicia are still intact but the Portuguese is just two divisions strong, and only one for them is made up of peace time battalions, and the Army of Galicia as the numbers but lacks equipment. And the French still have the Beauharnais' army intact and Soult was able to retreat in good order into Spain.
The main problem will be when the Prussian-Russian alliance makes peace with Napoleon, the Anglo-Portuguese forces will have to run to ensure that the roads are under their control before Boney can turn his gaze into Iberia.
The TL is still alive, despite my hiatus, and I plan to post something when my Semester ends, so second week of December, maybe sooner but no promises because I don't have my books with me in Uny.
Lusitanian Spirit
Lusitanian Spirit
The Battle of Castelo Branco, can either be considered as one of the great feats of arms of the Portuguese Empire and its Army, or as one single act of butchery, has never had been seen in our lands since the days of the Reconquista.
While no one, can refuse our claim of a strategical victory, after all we did managed to stop the French Armies under the command of the Marshal of the Empire Jean Soult, our tactical objectives, that were to cripple the French Army under Soult, and that would later be renamed Armée du Centre, were not accomplished despite the three thousand casualties, our armies suffered.
In contrast, the French failed to accomplish all of their objectives, that were a successful invasion of our Fatherland and the destruction of our armies, thus ending the Iberian defiance, against the Armies of Bonaparte.
But, despite all, the Battle was also a turning point in our making of war.
Until then me, and the rest of the officers corps, had decided that defiance, the act of fighting despite enormous odds against us, could, and should, used as a political weapon. Our main goal was to make the, possible, French conquest, of our homeland, too expensive to the enemy, thus forcing Napoleon to the table of negotiation, where we hoped to achieve soft peace terms, so that both sides could save their prestige and honor.
We had created this strategy, basing ourselves on the idea, that balance of power would be what Napoleon would favor.
Unfortunately for us, the peace that the French Emperor forced upon the Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire, showed that Napoleon had no regard, for the cost of lives that his wars would cause, and that he would only be appeased, and convinced to make peace, when his enemies were on their knees.
It was this event that caused us, and our British and Spanish allies, to formulate another strategy, to face the French, and their allies.
With war no longer being an arm of politics, and with the old principal of balance no longer being applied, it was decided to engage, in what we called the principal of "Guerra até à morte", War until death.
The basis of our strategy, was to deny the French armies all we could, from food to weapons to even drinking water when possible. War would now be waged, with the only purpose of destroying the enemy, to the point where he could no longer dream of raising itself from the pit, to which we dragged him.
"Principios da Guerra Moderna" by Henrique Pinheiro, Marshal of the Portuguese Empire and Governor of the Province of Angola-Congo.
The Armies of France were paralyzed in Spain, after the Battle of Castelo Branco.
General Castaños spent, wisely, the year of 1807 avoiding direct battle with the Armée d'Italie, latter to be renamed Armée du Sud, under Beauharnais, while the French General was forced to abandon his advance towards Portugal, eventually retreating to Ciudad Real, from where he managed to control La Mancha.
Beauharnais treatment of the civilian population, was one of the reasons why he, unlike his successors in Spain, managed to avoid the worst of the Guerrilla, the Little War. His strict orders to punish thefts and acts of brutality against the Spanish population, even made him relatively popular in the area and the guerrillas, while still attacking French supply trains, didn't tortured or mutilated the soldiers of the Armée du Sud, instead they removed them of their gear and forced them, to walk naked back to their camps.
"La Campaña Española de 1807" by José de la Cruz, University of Madrid.
Our armies were crushed.
While its painful to said it, our forces, allied with the Russians, were unable to defeat the French. The once Great Kingdom of Prussia, was dismembered and our spirit was almost broken.
Almost.
While the Fourth Coalition failed miserably, the outrage and anger that came out of our defeat largely outgrew our shame.
In defeating us, the French replanted the seed of war, into our burning spirit and we learned from them and then we reforged our forces. While we were reforging our armies, on the other side of Europe in Iberia, Portugal, Spain and Great Britain, gained us time, dragging what most thought would be a easy war for Napoleon, into a conflict that would last almost a decade and that would claim more lives than most thought possible.
Its thanks to our defeat, and to the efforts of our allies in Iberia, that the Prussian Eagle was able to rise to the skies once more.
"Studium der Preußischen Armeen nach dem Tode Friedrichs des Großen" by Feldmarschall Prinz Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig.
Oooooh. I like where this is going in. This form of warfare wasn't new, but then again I don't think at the time a nation as big a Portugal with as many resources as them, had attempted it. Considering the nightmare that is Spain politically right now, I would say this is going to be very effective. How are the other Spanish factions going btw? Depending on how the Allies handle them, will have a big baring on the conflict in Iberia.
The Spanish factions are on a even greater mess than they were OTL.
The Xunta de Galicia has the full backing of Portugal, while the factions on Seville are backed by the UK, Madrid is a mess with pro and anti French factions fighting on the streets and Catalonia is currently supporting France because they are being told that Napoleon will make them an "independent", aka satellite, state.
Portugal has currently little interest in supporting Seville and because of Coruña the UK refuses to directly support Galicia so the allies are divided about which Junta is the one they consider the one that represents the Spanish Kingdom.
Just caught up and I have to say I love the concept of a stronger Portugal as the POD. I think Portugal has three options after the inevitable defeat of France.
A. Annex Galicia and push the Spanish border back by a few dozen miles. Prevent the domination of Spain by a foreign power other than themselves.
(Annexation Startegy)
B. Just push the Spanish border while creating an independent Duchy of Galicia (de facto Portuguese Client) and a politically malleable faction in Madrid.
(Cautious Domination)
C. Go Full Ham. Dismember Spain creating independent Kingdoms of Andalusia, Catalonia and Navarre breaking the Castilian grip on the peninsula while also doing either A or B.
(Total Hegemony)
A. Annex Galicia and push the Spanish border back by a few dozen miles. Prevent the domination of Spain by a foreign power other than themselves.
(Annexation Startegy)
B. Just push the Spanish border while creating an independent Duchy of Galicia (de facto Portuguese Client) and a politically malleable faction in Madrid.
(Cautious Domination)
C. Go Full Ham. Dismember Spain creating independent Kingdoms of Andalusia, Catalonia and Navarre breaking the Castilian grip on the peninsula while also doing either A or B.
(Total Hegemony)
Lets see how it all goes on
... I can't say how the post war world will be now can I ?But that would mean that I would stop being a frontiersman to become become a simple Minhoto.
Map of 1807 Iberia
So I shall have another update ready either tomorrow or the day past but before that I decided to do a little map.
1 - Reino de Portugal
2 - Under Portuguese Ocupation
3 - Xunta de Galicia
4 - Junta Suprema de España e Indias aka Junta de Sevilla
5 - Disputed territories
6 - Empire Français and territories under its control throw their puppets the Junta Nacional, aka Junta de Madrid, and the Junta de Catalonia.
If you have good sight you will notice some red dots those are the British in Gibraltar.
1 - Reino de Portugal
2 - Under Portuguese Ocupation
3 - Xunta de Galicia
4 - Junta Suprema de España e Indias aka Junta de Sevilla
5 - Disputed territories
6 - Empire Français and territories under its control throw their puppets the Junta Nacional, aka Junta de Madrid, and the Junta de Catalonia.
If you have good sight you will notice some red dots those are the British in Gibraltar.
Lets see how it all goes on
But that would mean that I would stop being a frontiersman to become become a simple Minhoto.
So I guess it's too late for me to take a gander and vote B, since I would be kinda itching to see a return of an vassal Kingdom of Galicia under Pedro Carlos de Bourbon-Bragança...
Technically speaking there are 4 major Juntas. The Xunta de Galicia is backed by Portugal, while the Junta de Sevilla is backed by the Brits. The French control the Junta de Madrid and the Junta de Catalonia, but I placed it all under French colors on the map to avoid confusions.
Even more confusing is that both Portugal and Spain are still technically at war with each other, so you can imagine the political confusion that is Ibeira.
Dirty Politics - Part One
So I'm Back Mates. After a couple of rough weeks, I'm back at writing and here is the first of a couple of small updates relating to the politics at work on 1807. I'm going to keep them all vague, that way if I want to change something I don't have to rewrite everything, and this first one is going to be relating to Portugal and GB. The next one will be about France and Austria, then the Nordic countries, followed by the Netherlands, then Russia and ending with the North German States.
Sir.
As per your instructions, I have contacted the current Portuguese Secretary of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency the Count of Barca, regarding cooperation, between His Majesties Government and the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves, relating to the possibility of extending, the cooperation already in place in the Spanish Peninsula, to Asia and the Americas.
It's my, humble, opinion, that while some of their demands, may be against the interests of HMG, it's still possible to reach a compromise. between theirs and ours positions. specially relating to their interests in the East Indies and the areas of conflict of interest, between the two Governments. Considering all, I ask your permission, to engage in further negations, with the Count of Barca.
I have to honor to be
Sir,
Your most obedient
Humble Servant Percy Smythe, the Viscount Strangford
to: His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, The Right Honourable, George Canning.
*****
Dirty Politics - Part One
Dirty Politics - Part One
Lisbon September 7th, 1807
Sir.
As per your instructions, I have contacted the current Portuguese Secretary of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency the Count of Barca, regarding cooperation, between His Majesties Government and the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves, relating to the possibility of extending, the cooperation already in place in the Spanish Peninsula, to Asia and the Americas.
(...)
It's my, humble, opinion, that while some of their demands, may be against the interests of HMG, it's still possible to reach a compromise. between theirs and ours positions. specially relating to their interests in the East Indies and the areas of conflict of interest, between the two Governments. Considering all, I ask your permission, to engage in further negations, with the Count of Barca.
I have to honor to be
Sir,
Your most obedient
Humble Servant Percy Smythe, the Viscount Strangford
to: His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, The Right Honourable, George Canning.
Extract from a letter, from Percy Smythe to George Canning.
During the Negotiations for the Treaty of Vienna, Metternich, found himself, more and more isolated from his peers. It became clear, that only he was interested, in keeping the Balance of Power in Central Europe[6], while the Prussians, confident on the support of Great Britain and Russia, kept pushing for harsher, and harsher terms to be imposed on the French Government and their former allies[7]. While Metternich, tried to find common ground, for a easier peace treaty, the Anglo-Portuguese Secret Treaties of 1808 and 1813, finally came public, during the negotiations, and it was during this period, that the possibility of a war, between the former Members of the Coalition, became a real possibility.
Metternich, How the Austrian Chancellor shaped 19th Century Europe. Universitätsprofessor Karl Mittermeier, University of Vienna.
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Dirty Politics - Part Two
It appears that I forgot about Spain on Saturday
I know that this are going to be small updates but after this part on the politics of late 1807 we are going back to the third person pov, with a large update, right to the Siege of Salamanca.
In Europe the Junta de Madrid, a French transition puppet, and the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, another French transition puppet, tried to ensure their control of the Spanish American Colonies but their competition over resources and overlapping claims made their attempts fail even before they started. To the south the Junta Suprema Central, with the tactical support of Great Britain, tried to create a government to ensure that Spain, and their dependencies, was kept intact. Their control of the Spanish Navy in Europe ensured them the direct control of the Baleares, Canaries and the North African Enclaves and they also ensured the loyalty of most of the Spanish Americas, with the exception of the Banda Oriental that had been occupied by Brazilian Militias in early 1807, and that had been officially placed under the authority of the Xunta de Galicia even if it had been kept under the control of the Portuguese Empire.
In Asia things were even more blurry.
The Captaincy General of the Philippines had been the last of the Spanish colonies to find about the Bourbon deposition and at the time the Governor Mariano Fernández de Folgueras had been more interested to crush the Basi Revolt in Ilocos and even after crushing the revolt in early October of 1807 the Governor kept his position unknown waiting for more news from Europe before making a decision.
I know that this are going to be small updates but after this part on the politics of late 1807 we are going back to the third person pov, with a large update, right to the Siege of Salamanca.
Dirty Politics - Part Two
The Spanish Nation, in 1807, was a divided state.
In Europe the Junta de Madrid, a French transition puppet, and the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, another French transition puppet, tried to ensure their control of the Spanish American Colonies but their competition over resources and overlapping claims made their attempts fail even before they started. To the south the Junta Suprema Central, with the tactical support of Great Britain, tried to create a government to ensure that Spain, and their dependencies, was kept intact. Their control of the Spanish Navy in Europe ensured them the direct control of the Baleares, Canaries and the North African Enclaves and they also ensured the loyalty of most of the Spanish Americas, with the exception of the Banda Oriental that had been occupied by Brazilian Militias in early 1807, and that had been officially placed under the authority of the Xunta de Galicia even if it had been kept under the control of the Portuguese Empire.
In Asia things were even more blurry.
The Captaincy General of the Philippines had been the last of the Spanish colonies to find about the Bourbon deposition and at the time the Governor Mariano Fernández de Folgueras had been more interested to crush the Basi Revolt in Ilocos and even after crushing the revolt in early October of 1807 the Governor kept his position unknown waiting for more news from Europe before making a decision.
"Las Colónias en La Guerra de la Independencia" by Professor Mario Abascal
Dirty Politics - Part Three
Dirty Politics - Part Three
(...) I can't stress, enough, how tense things are in Paris right now. Emperor Bonaparte's actions, against Prussia, show a clear disregard, of the balance of power in Europe and war will come back to plague us, as I write new regiments, are being trained to be sent to fight in Spain; so I urge for preparations. to be made to fight Bonaparte. With your permission. I shall begin, discrete, negotiations with the Russian diplomat, Count Pyotr Tolstoy, about a possible alliance with Russia.
Extract of a letter from Klemens von Metternich to the Count von Warthausen.
Metternich's letters, during his tenue as ambassador in Pari,s show that Austria had looked to the developments of the peace deals, after the 4th Coalition, with fear. The fact that France, had been imposing itself deeper into Germany, brought Vienna and Paris once again into conflicted areas of influence. Still in 1807 and 08, Austria decided to wait for the right time to strike against France, and kept refusing, very publicly, British offers of subsidies, in exchange for them joining a new Coalition in central Europe.
"Foreign Policy of the Austrian Empire during the Napoleonic Wars", by Karl Philipp Beilstein.
After being dismissed, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Talleyrand, begun to move on the backstage, to create a peace party with the purpose of opposing the current line of diplomacy, that the Empire was following. While it isn't clear, when the Emperor found about this splinter group, it is known that he left them alone, as a means to allow his internal enemies, and the opposition, to be concentrated in a single place, making it easier for him to control them.
It was, also, during this period that Napoleon made the fatal decision, to place his brother, Joseph, as King of Spain and Count of Barcelona. While technically, separating Catalonia from Spain, and thus ensuring that he could say that he had kept his promise to the Catalan nobility, by making Joseph the new Count of the newly "independent" County of Barcelona, Napoleon simply kept things as they had been before, while making it harder of Joseph to rule without foreign support. The controversial decision of placing Joseph as king, was opposed even by the elder Bonaparte, that only accepted after Napoleon spent several days convincing him to accept the title.
That decision of creating a puppet Spanish Kingdom under Joseph and the creation of the Kingdom of Westphalia under Jérôme would have grave consequences in the future for the Bonaparte.
"The Bonaparte Dynasty", by Jean-Baptist Clary.
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Ok I just noticed now. I forgot to mention both Poland and Naples, so I will push both into the Russian political update. Sorry about that.
