Events from the year 1808 in France .
22 January – The Bragança Portuguese Royal Family arrives in Brazil , having fled the French army.
2 February – French troops occupy Papal States (Vatican).
February – Under the pretext of reinforcing the Franco-Spanish army occupying Portugal , French troops begin filing into Spain .
29 February – A French column, disguised as a convoy of wounded, takes Barcelona by convincing the authorities to open the city's gates.
23 March – Madrid is occupied by French forces.
2 May – Dos de Mayo Uprising , the people of Madrid rebel against the occupation of the city by French troops, provoking a brutal repression by the French.
5 May – Napoleon forces the Spanish royal family to abdicate and hands the throne to his brother Joseph .
25 May – Asturias rises up in arms, casting out its French governor.
17 April – Bayonne decree , ordering the seizure of American vessels in France.
4 June – Peninsular War : Battle of El Bruc , Spanish victory over French forces.
12 June – Peninsular War : Battle of Cabezón , decisive French victory over Spanish forces.
15 June – Peninsular War : Siege of Saragossa begins, as French forces repeatedly attack the city.
14 July – Peninsular War : Battle of Medina del Rio Seco , crushing defeat of Spanish army by the French.
18–22 July – Peninsular War : Battle of Bailén , Spanish forces surround the French and compel the surrender of almost 18,000 men. It was the worst disaster suffered by the French during the Iberian campaign.
30 July – Peninsular War : French forces massacre the population of Évora .
13 August – Peninsular War : Siege of Saragossa ends in defeat for the French who were forced to lift the siege and retreat.
17 August – Peninsular War : Battle of Roliça , British victory over the French, first battle fought by the British army during the war.
20 August – Peninsular War : Battle of Vimeiro , Anglo-Portuguese victory over French forces.
30 August – Peninsular War : Convention of Sintra signed, by which the defeated French are allowed to evacuate their troops from Portugal without further conflict.
27 September – Congress of Erfurt , between Emperor Napoleon I and Tsar Alexander I begins.
14 October – Congress of Erfurt ends.
31 October – Peninsular War : Battle of Zornoza , indecisive battle between French and Spanish forces.
4 November – Napoleon creates the département of Tarn-et-Garonne .
5 November – Peninsular War : Battle of Valmaseda , Spanish victory over French forces.
7 November – Peninsular War : Battle of Burgos , French victory over Spanish forces.
10–11 November – Peninsular War : Battle of Espinosa , French victory over Spanish forces.
23 November – Peninsular War : Battle of Tudela , French victory over Spanish forces.
30 November – Peninsular War : Battle of Somosierra , outnumbered Spanish force fails to prevent Napoleon from moving on Madrid .
1 December – Peninsular War : French patrols reach the outskirts of Madrid.
4 December – Peninsular War : Madrid surrenders and French enter the city for the second time that year.
21 December – Peninsular War : Battle of Sahagún , British victory over French forces.
4 February – Charles-Pierre Denonvilliers , surgeon (died 1872 )
26 February – Honoré Daumier , printmaker, caricaturist, painter and sculptor (died 1879 )
20 March – Antoine Étex , sculptor , painter and architect (died 1888 )
20 April – Napoleon III of France , first President of the French Republic and the only emperor of the Second French Empire (died 1873 )
15 May – Marie Dominique Bouix , Jesuit canon lawyer (died 1870 )
22 May – Gérard de Nerval , poet, essayist and translator (died 1855 )
30 May – Felix-Joseph Barbelin , Jesuit influential in the development of the Catholic community in Philadelphia (died 1869 )
8 June – Etienne-Paulin Gagne , poet , essayist, lawyer, politician, inventor, and eccentric (died 1876 )
13 June – Patrice de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta , general and politician, first president of the Third Republic (died 1893 )[ 2]
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