History of the combat of the second of May
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Through the Treaty of Fointaineblau, Napoleon Bonaparte had direct access to Spanish territory with the excuse of allowing his troops to pass through by the neighboring kingdom to occupy Portugal, yielding a part to Spain in exchange for its military aid in the contest. In this lesson from a TEACHER we bring you a summary of the history of the combat of the second of May, a fundamental date to understand contemporary Spanish history as it was the beginning of the War of Independence.
Index
- The French occupation of much of Spain
- What happened on may 2nd
- Street combat
- The consequences
The French occupation of much of Spain.
On March 17, 1808, the riot of Aranjuez by which Fernando VII ascended to the throne of Spain after forcing his father to abdicate. This was taken as a great weakness on the part of France since it saw a clear path to the claims they had on the Spanish throne.
In this way, General Murat, under the orders of the emperor, occupied the city of Madrid on March 23. The following day, the new monarch was summoned with his father to appear before Napoleon in the city of Bayonne to solve the problem of the crown. Through the cunning of the Gallic ruler, the crown would ultimately fall into the hands of Joseph Bonaparte who was commonly known as
Pepe Bottle.A key moment in the summary on the history of the fight of May 2 occurred on the day April 27, following General Murat's request for transfer the two sons of Carlos IV, María Luisa de Parma and the infant Francisco de Paula to the city of Bayona, by express order of Carlos IV. At first, the Junta refused, but after a meeting held between May 1 and 2 with emissaries of Fernando VII, they agreed to transfer the royal family.
What happened on May 2nd.
Continuing with our summary of the story of May 2, we reached the climax of it, the day May 2, 1808 at first hour of the morning. A large crowd of people from the surroundings of Madrid (not only would there be inhabitants of the city), crowded at the gates of the royal palace, as the situation of the French troops was becoming untenable by moments.
The Napoleonic troops, from the first moment, had been causing great problems all over the world. parts through which they passed, a fact that undoubtedly brought the civilian population to a point of hatred irrational.
This, together with the news of the transfer of the royal family, caused a certain uproar in the Madrid square which was used by Murat to lead the bulk of the troops to take over the palace and the situation.
That way a real camp battle in various areas of the city.
Image: Slideshare
The street combat.
During the development of the combat on May 2, most of the military bulk remained stationed in the barracks because they were the instructions given by Captain General Francisco Javier Negrete.
We will only find two great characters who rose up against the general and they helped the citizens of Madrid in their struggle, being the names of these heroes, Luis Daoíz and Pedro Velarde. These two, along with the artillerymen, revealed themselves and fought to the death alongside the Madrilenians who, up to that moment, had been fighting with what they found at their hand.
From that moment on, the artillery arsenals were opened and they were able to defend themselves somewhat better from the more than 30,000 Napoleonic men who had managed to penetrate the city.
The consequences.
To conclude with our summary of the story of May 2, we must know that, although the Madrilenians, they put everything on their part, it was the French who ended up taking the control. That way, Madrid fell under French control and the board passed to report to General Murat.
From that moment on, a great repression against the people of Madrid, as we can well see in the paintings made by Francisco de Goya in 1814. On the day of May 2 between 300-500 Spaniards lost their lives, between men and women, while the French troops lost between 70-150 men. Even so, we must know that Murat himself was surprised that the people had managed to defeat the best army in Europe for a time.
Finally, to say that this feat was taken as the beginning of the Spanish War of IndependenceThat is to say, from the first moment, the Spanish would refuse French domination and little by little a series of meetings would be created to organize the defense.
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