It was a gigantic gamble, for
Napoleon must have perceived that the Continental peoples might
themselves oppose the closure of their ports to the cheaper and better
manufactured articles of Great Britain and might respond to a common
economic impulse and rise in force to compel him to make peace on
British terms, but the stakes were high and the emperor of the French
was a good gambler. From 1806 to 1812 the struggle between Napoleon and
Great Britain was an economic endurance-test. On the one hand, the
question was whether the British government could retain the support of
the British people. On the other hand, the question was whether
Napoleon could rely upon the cooperation of the whole Continent.
[Sidenote: The Berlin and Milan Decrees]
The Continental System had been foreshadowed under the Directory and in
the early years of the Consulate, but it was not until the Berlin
Decree (November, 1806) that the first great attempt was made to define
and enforce it. In this decree, Napoleon proclaimed a state of blockade
against the British Isles and closed French and allied ports to ships
coming from Great Britain or her colonies.
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