Continental System

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Continental System Trade blockade of Britain introduced (1806) by Napoleon I to cripple the British economy and force peace terms in the Napoleonic Wars. Extended to Russia by the Treaty of Tilsit (1807) and to Spain and Portugal (1808), the Continental System also included neutral countries and prompted a retaliatory British blockade against France and its allies. The system was unpopular, and the economic war probably caused more deprivation on continental mainland than in Britain. The restrictions contributed to the War of 1812.

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