Oranssitoden

Oranssitoden is the Finnish term for the War of the Oranges (Guerra de las Naranjas), a brief conflict between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Portugal that occurred in 1801–1802 during the broader Napoleonic era. The war arose from Spanish pressures on Portugal’s foreign policy, which had aligned with Britain, and from dynastic and territorial tensions within the Iberian Peninsula after France’s early 19th-century campaigns.

The fighting began in spring 1801 when Spain, encouraged by its French ally, invaded Portugal’s eastern frontier. Spanish forces advanced into Portuguese territory and captured the town of Olivença (Olivenza). The hostilities ended with the Treaty of Badajoz in June 1801, which formalized a cessation of hostilities and, in practice, solidified the transfer of Olivença to Spain; Portugal withdrew its resistance, though Portugal did not fully accept the loss of Olivença.

The war is significant for illustrating the vulnerability of Portugal and the shifting balance of power in the Iberian Peninsula on the eve of the larger Peninsular War. It affected subsequent relations among Spain, Portugal, and Britain and left a lingering border dispute over Olivença that persists in modern times.

In Finnish scholarship, oranssitoden is primarily used to refer to this conflict; the term is sometimes encountered in general histories of the Napoleonic era in Iberia. Some sources may use alternative names in other languages.