Continental System

On Friday 21st November 1806 Napoleon Bonaparte issued the Berlin decrees which marked the start of what became to be known as the Continental System. With his European foes defeated Napoleon sought a way to silence his British enemy. A military solution was not viable so he decided to try and use trade. The Continental System was a blockade aimed at denying the British any trading access to ports in Europe, theoretically destroying British trade and denying them the money they needed to fund Napoleon's enemies on mainland Europe. Although in theory it seemed a good idea and if it had worked could have ended the Napoleonic Wars, in practice it proved unworkable and led Napoleon into the Peninsular War and most disastrously into the 1812 invasion of Russia which would eventually lead to his defeat

Napoleonic Home Page | Books on the Napoleonic Wars | Subject Index: Napoleonic Wars

How to cite this article: Dugdale-Pointon, T. (25 December 2000), Continental System, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/concepts_continentalsystem..html

Help - F.A.Q. - Contact Us - Search - Recent - About Us - Privacy