What is Battle of Trafalgar?
[[File:Turner, The Battle of Trafalgar (1806).jpg|thumb|300px|The Battle of Trafalgar, painted by [[J.M.W. Turner]] in 1806-1808]] The '''Battle of Trafalgar''' was a sea battle fought on 21 October 1805 between the [[navy|navies]] of [[France]] and [[Spain]] on one side and [[United Kingdom]] on the other. The battle took place near '''Cape Trafalgar''', in southwestern Spain. The battle ended with a clear victory for the British forces and allowed Britain to become the world's largest sea power for 100 years. It was the most important sea battle of the [[19th century]]. == Background == The [[Napoleonic Wars]] had gone on for some time. France had built the strongest [[army]] in [[Europe]] and controlled much of its land. Because they lived on [[island|islands]], the British had built a strong [[Royal Navy]] and used it to [[blockade]] France to prevent its ships from leaving their [[Harbour|ports]]. The French leader, [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], wanted to [[Invasion|invade]] and to conquer Britain, which meant that he had to sink the Royal Navy before his army could land there. The British knew that France might try to attack them and so placed ships outside the important French ports like [[Toulon]]. The [[admiral]] in charge of the British [[Fleet (ships)|fleet]] was Lord [[Horatio Nelson]]. He had become famous in Britain for his victories over the French such as at the 1798 [[Battle of the Nile]]. However, the French Navy managed to avoid Nelson's fleet, left Toulon during a [[storm]] and met a group of Spanish ships. Spain then an ally of France. The small fleet first sailed to the [[West Indies]] and returned across the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to the Spanish port of [[Cadiz]]. The fleet wanted to join with more French ships to make a stronger fleet. The British had chased them both ways across the ocean. == Battle == The French learned that some British ships had been seen in [[Gibraltar]] and thought that meant that the British fleet was less strong than it had been. The French decided that it was the best