FRENCH REVOLUTION
FRANCE UNDER NAPOLEON
|
Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
|
|
|
Portugal had attacked France
|
|
|
Portugal refused to obey Napoleon’s command not to conduct trade with Britain
|
|
|
Portugal’s king insulted Napoleon
|
|
|
Portugal was an ally of Russia and Prussia
|
Detailed explanation-1: -Napoleon’s ire was provoked because Portugal was Britain’s oldest ally in Europe, Britain was finding new opportunities for trade with Portugal’s colony in Brazil, the Royal Navy often used Lisbon’s port in its operations against France, and he wished to seize Portugal’s fleet.
Detailed explanation-2: -Portugal refused to comply with the Continental System because.. it depended on its trade with Great Britain. Throughout the Napoleonic Wars, France’s greatest enemy was.. Great Britain.
Detailed explanation-3: -Napoleon believed that if he could isolate Britain economically, he would be able to invade the nation after its economic collapse. Napoleon decreed that all commercial ships wishing to do business in Europe must first stop at a French port in order to ensure that there could be no trade with Britain.
Detailed explanation-4: -On July 19, 1807, Napoleon informed the Portuguese that they must join the Continental System, and ten days later he ordered the concentration around Bayonne of 20, 000 troops under Andoche Junot.
Detailed explanation-5: -The coast had few permanent defences either. Apart from Dover Castle and a couple of crumbling Tudor forts, Kent and Sussex had no military strong points. The defences were so weak that General Bonaparte and his army would almost certainly be in London within five days of coming ashore.