After a meteoric and murderous rise to power, by
1807 Napoleon Bonaparte was the undisputed Emperor of Europe. He
did have one enemy left though - Great Britain. In an attempt to
strangle Britain’s economy, Napoleon invaded her trading partner,
Portugal. Although a plucky British Expeditionary Force kicked
the French out of Portugal, it wasn’t long before the Grande
Armée was back not only to occupy Portugal and crush British
opposition, but to conquer Spain. But the Spanish Guerrilla
forces unleashed a seven year campaign of violence and unrelenting
misery for the Grande Armée, which, combined with the steady
pursuit of the Anglo-Portuguese forces under Wellington, prompted the
French Emperor to eventually abandon the Peninsular.
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