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The Continental System was the foreign policy
Foreign policy

A state's foreign policy, also called the international relations policy, is a set of goals outlining how the country will interact with other countries economically, politically, socially and militarily, and to a lesser extent, how the country will interact with non-state actors....
 of Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte later known as Emperor Napoleon I, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century....
 in his struggle against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927....
 during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts involving Napoleon I of France First French Empire and changing sets of European allies and opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815....
. It was inaugurated on November 21, 1806 and lasted until 1814.

The United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 was an important force in encouraging and financing resistance to Napoleonic France. Napoleon lacked the resources to attempt an invasion of the United Kingdom or to defeat the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 at the sea. His one attempt to do so ended with defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the United Kingdom Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy , during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
 in 1805.






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The Continental System was the foreign policy
Foreign policy

A state's foreign policy, also called the international relations policy, is a set of goals outlining how the country will interact with other countries economically, politically, socially and militarily, and to a lesser extent, how the country will interact with non-state actors....
 of Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte later known as Emperor Napoleon I, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century....
 in his struggle against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927....
 during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts involving Napoleon I of France First French Empire and changing sets of European allies and opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815....
. It was inaugurated on November 21, 1806 and lasted until 1814.

The United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 was an important force in encouraging and financing resistance to Napoleonic France. Napoleon lacked the resources to attempt an invasion of the United Kingdom or to defeat the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 at the sea. His one attempt to do so ended with defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the United Kingdom Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy , during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
 in 1805. Napoleon resorted instead to economic warfare. As a result of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, production, and transportation had a profound effect on the socioeconomics and cultural conditions in United Kingdom....
, Great Britain was emerging as Europe's manufacturing and industrial center, and Napoleon believed it would be vulnerable to an embargo on trade with the European nations under his control, causing inflation and great debt.

The Continental System was more or less a large embargo. In November 1806, having recently conquered or allied with every major power on the European continent
Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas....
, Napoleon issued the Berlin Decree
Berlin Decree

The Berlin Decree was issued by Napoleon on November 21, 1806, following the French success against Prussia at the battle of Jena. The decree forbade the import of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland goods into European countries allied with or dependent upon France, and installed the Continental System in Europe....
 forbidding his allies and conquests from trading with the British. In 1807 he tightened his grip and, in an effort to destroy the commerce of the United Kingdom, issued the Milan Decree
Milan Decree

The Milan Decree was issued on December 17 1807 by Napoleon I of France to enforce the Berlin Decree of 1806 which had initiated the Continental System....
.

Ultimately the embargo failed. Its effect on the United Kingdom and on British trade is uncertain, but thought to be much less harmful than on the continental European states—although food imports in Britain dropped, and the price of staple foods rose. The continental European states needed the British goods, and Napoleon had put in place internal tariffs, all favoring France and hurting the other nations. The embargo encouraged British merchants to aggressively seek out new markets and to engage in smuggling with continental Europe. Napoleon's exclusively land-based customs enforcers could not stop British smugglers, especially as these operated with the connivance of Napoleon's chosen rulers of Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, Westphalia
Westphalia

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Bielefeld, Bochum, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, M?nster, and Osnabr?ck and included in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony....
 and other German states, who faced severe shortages of goods from the French colonies. Britain, by Orders in Council (1807)
Orders in Council (1807)

The Orders in Council of 1806 were a specific use of an order in council of the British Privy Council, made under the Royal prerogative, during the Napoleonic Wars....
, prohibited its trade partners from trading with France. In response to this prohibition, compounded by the Chesapeake Incident, the United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 passed the Embargo Act of 1807
Embargo Act of 1807

BackgroundOn June 21, 1807, in an event known as the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, the American frigate USS Chesapeake was fired upon and was boarded near Norfolk by the British warship HMS Leopard ....
. This embargo contributed to the general ill will between the two countries (Britain and the USA) and, together with the issue of the impressment of foreign seamen, eventually led to armed conflict between the United States and the United Kingdom in the War of 1812
War of 1812

The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , was fought from 1812 to 1815.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S....
.

The embargo also had an effect on France itself. Shipbuilding, and its trades such as rope-making declined, as did many other industries that relied on overseas markets, e.g. the linen industries. With little exports and so a loss of profits, many industries were closed down.

Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 openly refused to join the Continental System. After the Treaty of Tilsit
Treaties of Tilsit

The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by Napoleon I of France in the town of Tilsit in July, 1807 in the aftermath of his Battle of Friedland....
 of July 1807, Napoleon attempted to capture the Portuguese Fleet and the House of Braganza
House of Braganza

The Most Serene House of Braganza was the dynasty which ruled Portugal from 1640 to 1853 and the Empire of Brazil from 1822 to 1889. It is a collateral line of the House of Aviz, which ruled Portugal from 1385 until 1580....
, to occupy the Portuguese ports and to expel the British from Portuguese soil, and failed. King John VI of Portugal
John VI of Portugal

Don John Mary Joseph Francis Javier of Paula Louis Anthony Dominic Raphael of Braganza , the Clement , Kings of Portugal of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was born in Lisbon in 1767....
 took his fleet and fled to Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
 with a Royal Navy escort. The Portuguese population rose in revolt against the French invaders, the British Army
British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
 under Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Order of the Garter, Order of St Patrick, Order of the Bath, Royal Guelphic Order, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Royal Society , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
 intervened and the Peninsular War
Peninsular War

The Peninsular War or Spanish War of Independence was a contest between First French Empire and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Kingdom of Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars....
 began in 1808. Napoleon also forced the Spanish royal family to resign their throne to Napoleon's brother, Joseph.

Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, Britain's ally in the Third Coalition
Third Coalition

The War of the Third Coalition in 1805 saw the defeat of an alliance of Austrian Empire, Portugal, Russian Empire, and others by First French Empire and French client republic under Napoleon I....
 refused to comply with French demands and was invaded by Russia
Finnish War

The Finnish War was fought between Kingdom of Sweden and Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire....
 in February 1808.

In fact, the Continental System caused more collateral damage to the nations of the "Grand Empire" than it did to the United Kingdom. Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 in particular chafed under the embargo and, in 1812, reopened trade with the United Kingdom.

See also

  • Anglo-Russian War (1807-1812)
    Anglo-Russian War (1807-1812)

    The Anglo-Russian War took place 1807-1812, during the Napoleonic Wars.As part of the terms of the Treaty of Tilsit, Russia was obliged to close off her maritime trade with Great Britain, as part of Napoleon's continuing efforts to establish the Continental System, strengthening economic ties between the different countries in Europe unde...


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