Military history of Spain Portugal and engage French forces on the frontiers while Spanish "guerrilleros" wore down the occupiers. Acting in concert, regular and irregular allied forces prevented Napoleon's marshals from subduing the rebellious Spanish provinces. The Spanish navy, put to sea in support of France during the War of the Third Coalition in 1805, suffered terrible losses at the Battle of Trafalgar, having been weakened by yellow fever in the preceding years; in many ways this marked the nadir of Spanish naval history. The events in mainland Spain had extensive consequences for her empire. Spain's colonies in the Americas had shown an increasing
Battle of Trafalgar ensure a strategically decisive result. The results vindicated his naval judgement. The Royal Navy proceeded to dominate the sea until the Second World War. Although the victory at Trafalgar was typically given as the reason at the time, modern historical analyses suggest that relative economic strength was an important underlying cause of British naval mastery. In 1905, there were events up and down the country to commemorate the centenary, although none were attended by any member of the Royal Family, apparently to avoid upsetting the French, with whom the United Kingdom had recently entered the "Entente cordiale". King Edward VII