Quote Originally Posted by CountArach
Spain could possibly have been won, it was just that he was busy in Germany and as such could not lead his men personally. This is where his ioncompetent commanders come in.
The problem was, his backstabbing of Spain was probably the most ruthless abusive backstabbing of that entire century, if not of that Millennium. Spain had been allied and loyal to Napoleon for a long time, suffered losses and defeat side by side with the French at Trafalgar and elsewhere, and been perhaps the most important ally France had had during the entire period, only to be thanked for this help by French conquest, desposing of the leader, putting a Napoleon on the throne, and letting French soldiers move around and rape, pillage and murder ruthlessly in the country. It's not surprising, that such an incredibly strong Spanish guerilla resistance, which cost over 500,000 French soldiers their lives, arose. IMO Spain couldn't have been won militarily with such a poor initial diplomatic move - skilled commanders or not.