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
History of the French Navy In November, 1942, the Allies invaded French North Africa. In response, the Germans occupied (Case Anton) Vichy France, including the French naval port of Toulon, where the main part of the surviving French fleet lay. This was a major German objective and forces under SS command had been detailed to capture them (Operation "Lila"). French naval authorities were divided on their response: Admiral Jean de Laborde, the commander of the Forces de Haute Mer (the High Seas Fleet) advocated sailing to attack the Allied invasion fleet while others, such as the Vichy Secretary of the Navy, Contre-Amiral Auphan favoured joining