What Napoleon planned to be a minor campaign resulted in one of the key areas of conflict in the Napoleonic Wars. After a few unsuccessful attempts to bring the war to Napoleon on mainland Europe, the Peninsula was to prove the forging ground for the British Army and after a mixed start, the one area in which the allies represented by Britain could win victories against Imperial France. For the French it became the 'Spanish ulcer' as Napoleon called it, draining resources both in troops and money but also in Napoleon's time, for at the end of the day no matter how great a general Napoleon was, he could not be everywhere at once.
The war originated from Napoleon's wish to extend the Continental system throughout Europe. Apart from smuggling, which was rife, Portugal remained the only country that would still openly accept British imports. To prevent this Napoleon planned to invade Portugal by first taking control of Spain and then controlling the whole of the Iberian Peninsular. In November 1807 General Junot led a French army through Spain and into Portugal occupying Lisbon on 1st December 1807. The Portuguese Royal family fled to Brazil, at that time a Portuguese colony and appealed to Britain for help.
