2 May –Dos de Mayo Uprising, the people ofMadrid rebel against the occupation of the city by French troops, provoking a brutal repression by the French.
5 May – Napoleon forces the Spanish royal family to abdicate and hands the throne to his brotherJoseph.
25 May –Asturias rises up in arms, casting out its French governor.
17 April –Bayonne decree, ordering the seizure of American vessels in France.
18–22 July –Peninsular War:Battle of Bailén, Spanish forces surround the French and compel the surrender of almost 18,000 men. It was the worst disaster suffered by the French during the Iberian campaign.