As First Consul, Napoleon attempted to persuade Charles IV of Spain to annex Portugal so that Portugal would be forced into adopting the Continental System, a blockade against Britain preventing British engagement in trade with mainland Europe. He argued that this strategic move would not only benefit Spain territorially but would eliminate Britain’s oldest ally (the Luso-British Alliance, established in 1373 by Edward III of England with Ferdinand I and Leonor of Portugal), giving Spain complete dominance over the Iberian Peninsula. Of course, Napoleon was hardly acting in support of Spanish interests and was simply seeking to facilitate his monopoly over Europe. Nevertheless, Portugal remained defiant of Napoleon and the Franco-Spanish alliance was seen as no threat to the Portuguese-British relationship.
By 1807, only Portugal and Sweden were left untouched by Napoleon’s blockade, and he issued the Braganças an ultimatum: accept the blockade by the 1st of September 1807 or face the seizure of Lisbon and their expulsion. Portugal had to prepare for invasion. The Treaty of Fontainebleau set the stage and planned French expansion into Portugal, which would occur under General Junot, a loyal officer who had served Napoleon in Italy. 30,000 troops began marching through Spain and arrived in Lisbon on the 30th of November 1807, after overwhelming the Portuguese forces. Portugal was in Napoleon’s hands.
Napoleon was outraged to find that only hours before the French arrival in Lisbon, on the 29th of November, the Portuguese Royal Family had fled. Remarkably, Napoleon admitted, for the first time, that he had been outsmarted by João VI. This was also the first instance of a European royal family escaping occupation to a colony rather than succumbing to it. The decision to leave Portugal was authorised by Dom João but came under the initiative of Spencer Percival, the British Prime Minister, who offered a British fleet commanded by Admiral Sir Sidney Smith, consisting of warships, transport vessels and a contingent of troops, to ensure the safety of the Bragança family. The challenging journey across the Atlantic carried the Braganças, all their possessions except the palaces themselves, and some 10,000 courtiers. To reach Rio de Janeiro, a direct route across the sea was avoided to limit the risk of confrontation with the French navy, and so the fleet sailed southwards along the coast of Africa before safely crossing the Atlantic after a few weeks. King João VI and his family were now safe in the haven of Rio de Janeiro.
As a government in exile, Rio became the seat of the Empire. This formally acknowledged Brasil’s significance for Portugal, as it was no longer merely a colony that provided sugar, gold and coffee but now housed the Royal Treasury, the Council of State and other essential administrative bodies that had previously formed the Portuguese government. Recognition of Brasilian importance ultimately culminated in December 1815 when Dom João elevated Brasil to a co-sovereign entity, a Kingdom, giving him the title of “King of Portugal, Brasil and the Algarves”. Brasil was now the de facto capital of the Portuguese Empire, perhaps more appropriately referred to as the Brasilian Empire.
Other than the internal political changes introduced by the Portuguese, Brasil began to develop economically and socially too. Brasil immediately engaged in trade with Britain, to whom it was so grateful for its invaluable aid in ensuring the continuation of the Braganças. At one point, Brasil was Britain’s largest trading partner. It was now also able to trade with the United States and other countries, something that had previously been impossible due to the Portuguese restriction that meant Brasil could only export to Portugal itself and other Portuguese territories. Brasil’s economy boomed with the Court’s encouragement of plantations and by the 1820s, Brasil was the world’s largest coffee exporter. Places such as Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais relied heavily on slave labour and throughout Dom João’s time in Brasil, millions of enslaved Africans were transported to fuel the agricultural industry.
The role of the elite in Brasil naturally followed the European societal model, and they gradually shifted from seeing themselves as Portuguese subjects in exile to Brasilians in their own right. This rise in Brasilian autonomy, coupled with the development of liberal constitutionalism in Portugal through a revolution in 1820, and pressure from Britain to have a stable ally in the Iberian Peninsula, meant that King João VI had to return to Lisbon in 1821. Dom João himself had fallen in love with his new kingdom and had very little interest in leaving, but he was advised that he had to return to ensure that Portugal did not fall out of his crown. Although Brasil was now much more politically independent, having been the seat of an empire for over a decade, Dom Pedro, son of João VI, was appointed regent for King João VI.
In January of 1822, the Court ordered Dom Pedro to return to Lisbon as well, but he refused and declared “Eu fico,” meaning “I am staying”. In defiance of the Portuguese government and with the support of the elites and military, Brasil was now breaking away from Portugal under Pedro I. Tensions rose further when the Portuguese Parliament declared the Brasilian Assembly illegitimate and attempted to dissolve it. Dom Pedro I had been swayed in favour of complete independence after demonstrations of support for the cause in places such as Minas Gerais became overwhelming. On the 7th of September 1822, Dom Pedro I raised his sword near the Ipiranga River and exclaimed “Independência ou Morte!” meaning “Independence or Death!”. Brasil was now a sovereign imperial state, under the rule of Emperor Pedro I, son of King João VI.
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Gomes, L., 2007. 1808: Como uma rainha louca, um príncipe medroso e uma corte corrupta enganaram Napoleão e mudaram a História de Portugal e do Brasil. Brazil: Planeta.