The 1762 Ultimatum – Spain and France…
April 1762 CE
The 1762 Ultimatum – Spain and France Demand Portugal’s Submission
By April 1, 1762, Portugal faced an existential crisis. The Bourbon powers, Spain and France, had issued a harsh ultimatum to King José I, demanding that Portugal abandon its alliance with Britain and submit to Bourbon control. The terms of the ultimatum were explicit:
- Terminate the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance and replace it with an alliance with France and Spain.
- Close Portuguese ports to British ships and cut off all trade with Britain, both in Europe and the Portuguese Empire.
- Declare war on Britain, severing centuries of diplomatic and economic ties.
- Accept the occupation of Portuguese ports (including Lisbon and Porto) by a Spanish army, which would supposedly "protect" Portugal from British oppression.
The Portuguese government was given just four days to comply—or face imminent invasion by Franco-Spanish forces.
The Bourbons' Motives
For Spain and France, the attack on Portugal was strategic:
- It would force Britain to divert resources from Germany, where the war in Europe was raging.
- Spain saw an opportunity to annex Portugal and take control of its vast empire.
- The Lagos Incident (1759) had given them a pretext to argue that Portugal was already aligned with Britain, despite its official neutrality.
- The 1755 Lisbon Earthquake had left Portugal economically and militarily weakened, making it appear vulnerable to invasion.
The Bourbon propaganda campaign intensified, with the publication of A Spanish Prophecy (1762) in Madrid, which argued that the earthquake, tsunami, and fire that devastated Portugal in 1755 were a divine punishment for its alliance with Britain—portrayed as a heretical, Protestant power.
Portugal’s Dire Situation
Portugal was in no condition to fight a major war. The Lisbon Earthquake had crippled the economy, forcing Prime Minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the Marquis of Pombal, to focus on rebuilding the capital rather than maintaining the military.
- Portugal’s navy, once the most powerful in the world during the 15th century, had been reduced to just three ships of the line and a handful of frigates.
- The Portuguese army was in a calamitous state:
- Regiments were incomplete.
- Military warehouses were empty.
- There were no functioning military hospitals.
- Soldiers had not been paid for over a year and a half.
- Many troops survived through robbery or even hired killings.
- Military recruitment involved rounding up vagrants and forcing them into service.
- By November 1761, the troops were in rags, lacking arms, and many sentinels at the royal palace were seen begging for alms.
Even on the day that the French ambassador, O’Dunne, delivered the ultimatum (April 1, 1762), a group of Portuguese sergeants and a captain knocked on his door begging for alms—a striking symbol of Portugal’s desperate military state.
French Observations on Portugal’s Military Collapse
The French ambassador, the Count of Saint-Priest, later wrote:
"It was impossible to find an army in greater disorder than in Portugal. When the Count of Lippe arrived, the army had as Field Marshal the Marquis de Alvito, who had never learned to shoot a rifle or command a regiment, even in peacetime. The colonels, mostly great Lords, placed as officers in their regiments their valets. It was very common to see soldiers, mostly ragged, begging for alms—even the sentinels of the royal palace."
The Count of Lippe, a German officer, was sent by Britain to reorganize Portuguese defenses, and his reforms were instrumental in restoring discipline. Saint-Priest noted:
"With the aid of some foreign officers, military bodies were disciplined, and when I arrived, they were already trained."
The Franco-Spanish ‘Preventive Army’ and Portuguese Resistance
Even before the ultimatum expired, Spanish and French troops had already begun mobilizing along the Portuguese northern border under the guise of a "preventive army".
Despite Portugal’s weakness, the government refused to submit, declaring that it would fight to the last man. With the deadline approaching, Portugal prepared for war, aware that its survival depended on British intervention.
Conclusion – The Invasion Begins
By mid-April 1762, the Bourbon powers prepared to invade Portugal, expecting a swift victory. However, the coming months would defy their expectations. Despite its weaknesses, Portugal—with British support—would resist and ultimately repel the invasion, marking one of the most unexpected military turnarounds of the Seven Years' War.
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