When did Spanish Peninsular War start?

The story behind the answer

1808 is correct because the Peninsular War erupted that year when Napoleon forced Spain’s Bourbon kings to abdicate at Bayonne and installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne. The Madrid uprising of May 2, 1808 (Dos de Mayo) sparked nationwide resistance, turning French occupation into a brutal, sprawling conflict across Spain and Portugal.

This war became a key front of the Napoleonic Wars: Spanish guerrillas harried French forces, while the British—led by Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington)—landed in 1808 to support Iberian allies. Napoleon called it his “Spanish ulcer,” a drain that helped unravel his empire. Memory tip: think “Dos de Mayo ’08” and the timeline “1808–1814” to lock in the start and span of the Peninsular War.