Page 256 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo I

256 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

Prior to their departure the merchants took dispositions to ensure that their real estate was
not going to be taken by the occupants. For that purpose they used several stratagems. They
contracted mortgages giving their landed property in pledge and declared before a public no-
tary they owed money to Portuguese citizens, guaranteeing the payment of these debts with
their estate if they were never to return. The merchants also left powers of attorney to their
employees, so that they could take care of their business while they were away.
Some British subjects, however, stayed in Oporto, throughout the occupation to look after
their property and their fellow-countrymen’s business and were arrested, in December 1807,
by the Spanish invaders who in accordance with the stipulations of the Fontainebleau Treaty,
signed between Napoleon and Spain, were occupying the northwest of Portugal.
The measures taken by the English merchants, we described, proved to be effective as
they didn’t suffer much loss in the course of the French interventions of 1807-1808 and 1809,
the only ones that reached Oporto. In fact, as soon as the Napoleonic armies retired many of
these tradesmen returned and went on with their business (Ribeiro, 1990: 34, 51, 54-55, 59,
87, 107-130, 183-187; Sanceau, 1970: 63).
At the economic level, war also had an impact on the activities of these merchants as they
shipped wine to the United Kingdom and imported the indispensable foodstuffs to feed the
British and Portuguese armies. In fact, due to war conditions, Portugal was cut from her other
traditional markets such as Spain, France and Hamburg, a British Army was stationed in her
territory and Portugal had to rely mainly on the United Kingdom as a provider of foodstuffs
and as a buyer of her products. Actually, the quantities of products entering Portugal were by
far much superior than the needs, as part of them was to be sent to Spain (RIBEIRO, 1998:
135).
North Portugal was the first place in the country to rebel against the invader and because
of this commanded the restoration’s movement of the legitimate government. This is con-
nected and articulated with the Spanish Junta’s movement of restoration of Fernando VII’s
authority. In fact the 2 of May in Madrid started the rupture of the cooperation between
nd
France and Spain. In the 18 of June in Oporto took place the proclamation of independence
th
(Capela, Matos, Borralheiro, 2008: 23, 57-58; CRUZ, 1970: 21-22).
It can be said that in 1808 there was a popular insurrection and in 1809 a national war,
because in this year the reaction against the invader took place within a military framing. The
people is indeed present in this revolutionary movement in some places and as it dominated
the events obliged the local elites and authorities to join it. Quickly however legal authorities,
military commanders, city halls, magistrates, ecclesiastical institutions, men of letters and
even merchants took over the leadership. at this time what can be described as the populace
seems to remain absent from the dynamics that will organize the political organs issued from
these movements. on the other hand, the dominant classes wanted that the demonstrations
of patriotism to fit into the established system, but the people more anarchically transformed
their actions into guerrilla movements against everybody and everything. In consequence in
some northern municipalities appeared new organs of government, the Juntas, a kind that
will spread all over the country (Matos, 2000: 149-151, 177).
In the course of 1809 a new invasion took place, this time the occupation army was com-
manded by Marshal Soult, duke of Dalmatia, and northwest Portugal was specially attained.