The Battle of Trafalgar - Short Summary

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The October 21, 1805 One of the many battles belonging to the Napoleonic War took place, The Battle of Trafagar, named for taking place in front of Cape Trafalgar near the Cadiz coast. In it, a British fleet commanded by Admiral Horacio Nelson emerged victorious against the Franco-Spanish fleet under the command of Villeneuve. Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER we offer you a short summary of The Battle of Trafalgar to find out what this war consisted of.

Index

1. Battle of Trafalgar: Historical Context
2. Napoleon's goal
3. A disastrous battle
4. Final result of the Battle of Trafalgar

We started this short summary of The Battle of Trafalgar placing us historically in this time. The origin of this battle dates back to year 1803 when the English, dissatisfied with Napoleon for wanting to dominate all of Europe, resumed that enmity that they had always had with France despite years before having signed a peace agreement.

By then Spain was the country that had the third largest fleet in the world, after the English and French; your collaboration in favor of any of them could tip the balance decisively. Napoleon at first demanded his participation, however the Spanish government decided to offer him the payment of a subsidy rather than the intervention of naval power, thus avoiding further expenses expensive.

Spain at all times wanted to show its neutrality, but the help to the French government, no matter how little it was, made the British were aware of their fleet, furthermore they instructed their ships to inspect any Spanish vessel that find.

The attacks between the British and Spanish fleets increased throughout 1804 until in October of the same year several frigates British assaulted an expedition that came from America sinking a ship with the passengers inside, this was the fact that Spain declared war on Great Britain on December 12, 1804, months later he would sign an alliance with France taking his side.

Napoleon determined to declare war on the British Now that he had the help of the Spaniards, who put at his disposal some thirty ships, the operation would make the operation much more feasible, he only had to engineer a plan that consisted of distracting the English fleet from the English Channel to enter through it and later take control of the areas closest to this.

For this, three French fleets together with other Spanish fleets went near the Antilles to attract the British navy there, once the The rest of the Franco-Spanish fleet went to the canal to land the imperial army in England, however, the lack of coordination between the two was such what only the Spanish admiral Villeneuve managed to save himself from the British fleet commanded by the famous Horatio Nelson in charge of guarding the Mediterranean.

Back in Spain they found that a British army awaited him at Cape Finisterre blocking the entrance through Ferrol, both came into conflict and despite the fact that the Franco-Spanish fleet was numerically larger than the British, they remained in tables due to the insecurities that often assailed Villeneuve, who chose to set course for Cádiz rather than wait for the arrival of reinforcements French. When Napoleon found out what happened he was furious and decided to dismiss him by François Étienne de Rosily.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover a short biography of Napoléon Bonaparte.

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We continue with this short summary of The Battle of Trafalgar speaking, now, of the arrival in Cádiz. Already in Cádiz, Villeneuve decided to get out of this by heading to Gibraltar. Other Spanish admirals who were aware of the danger posed by this departure because they knew of the advance of the British fleet to Spanish lands made him aware of it, however, the Spanish admiral ignored the advice of his classmates; And if we add to this the arrival of the news of the dismissal of him by Rosily by Napoleon, was what further encouraged that exit, looking for a last action that would reassure him of his Market Stall.

In the early morning of October 21, 1805, both fleets were sighted near Cape Trafalgar, the winds were so weak that slowed the start of the battle, Villeneuve then made a decision that ended up being disastrous: turn the boats. Nelson instead arranged the 27 ships that made up his fleet in two columns headed by his flagship, Victory.

Nelson attacked from the rear and reaching the crucial moment one of the French admirals abandons the battle with his four ships, he decided it would be a definitive victory for the British.

In the contest, only five Spanish ships of the 33 were saved. that started the naval conflict and in a very precarious state, more than 2800 French and Spanish men died in it, in change the English only 400 among whom was the famous Nelson, leaving a saddened victory for his death, despite Hence, her triumph served to consolidate her naval dominance, having the largest fleet in the world until practically the beginning of the century. XX.

For France the defeat meant the total resignation to a forthcoming invasion on British lands and for Spain it assumed that all the efforts that led to Corporal Godoy to have one of the best naval fleets prepared for war with this battle lost.

Villeneuve was imprisoned in England and attended the funeral of the one who was his enemy, once he was released he returned to France and thus justified himself to Napoleon, but he did not want to receive him and ended up committing suicide.

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