The Continental System

Unable to invade Britain, Napoleon tried to defeat it economically. The Berlin Decree of November 1806 banned trade between Britain and the territories controlled by or allied with France, and the Milan Decree of 1807 extended the blockade to neutral ships that complied with British rules. Britain replied with Orders in Council blocking neutral trade with France. The Continental System had serious effects: some continental industries benefited from reduced British competition, and France promoted sugar beet as a substitute for cane sugar.

But smuggling was widespread, port cities suffered, and Britain found other markets, including in Latin America. Enforcing the system drove Napoleon into new wars, notably against Portugal in 1807, which led into the Peninsular War, and Russia's withdrawal from the system in 1810 contributed to the invasion of 1812. Many historians see it as a strategic error.