"British brutality followed the fall of Badajoz" Topic

"On April 6, 1812, the French-garrisoned Spanish fortress town of Badajoz fell to the British after a three-week siege. The fall of the city was accompanied by British soldiers raping, plundering and killing the Spanish residents of the town.

As Napoleon's armies raged across Europe, one of the principal theaters of the conflict was the Iberian peninsula. The French had invaded Spain in late 1807/early 1808, and many Spaniards welcomed the invasion. They advocated enlightenment ideals like liberalism, equality and an end to aristocratic privilege. The majority of Spaniards, however, resented French rule and Napoleon's placement of his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne.

The British landed troops in Spain in late 1808 and before long engaged the French alongside Spanish partisans. After the disastrous January 1809 Battle of Corunna, the British were forced to retreat into Portugal, which had enjoyed a military alliance with Britain. The British commander, Sir John Moore, had been mortally wounded in the battle, and his replacement was Arthur Wellesley, a battlefield commander who had proven his ability in India and who would later be known as the Duke of Wellington…"
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