[6] King Charles IV had been forced by the Spanish people during the Tumult of Aranjuez to abdicate in favor of his son Ferdinand VII, and at the time of the uprising both were in the French city of Bayonne at the insistence of Napoleon.

An attempt by the French general Joachim Murat to move Charles IV's daughter and her children along with his youngest son to Bayonne sparked a rebellion.

[7] The Dos de Mayo was among the few spontaneous popular uprisings of the war, launched without significant fore-planning, funding, or leadership by government elites.

The two most senior uniformed leaders involved in the Dos de Mayo, Daoíz and Velarde y Santillán, were caught unprepared by the actions of the laboring poor: Velarde, a 28-year-old artillery captain, was secretly plotting a campaign elsewhere in the country, but considered a direct attack on the Spanish capital impractical – drawn to the sound of gunfire, he joined the fighting contrary to his own military instinct, and would perish leading the defense of the Monteleón artillery barracks.

As the French had been attacked with a variety of improvised weapons, any craftsmen found with shearing scissors, kitchen knives, sewing needles, or other tools of their trade were summarily shot.

The Dos de Mayo Uprising, together with the subsequent proclamation of Napoleon's brother Joseph as king led to a rebellion against French rule.

While the French occupiers hoped that their rapid suppression of the uprising would demonstrate their control of Spain, the rebellion actually gave considerable impetus to the resistance.

However, the Spanish revolts originated amongst urban populations rather than the rural peasantry and were spread nationally instead of just being concentrated in one region, as well as being aimed to restore a popular king.

The revolt also depended upon cross-class appeal, with the labouring classes willing to fight on the insistence that the nobility and clergy likewise enlisted into military service.

[3] Several memorials to the heroes of 2 May are located around Madrid, including the Monumento a los Caídos por España (Monument to those who fell to their deaths for Spain).