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The Berlin Decree forbade the import of British goods into any European country allied with or dependent upon France, and it installed the Continental System in Europe. All connections with Britain were to be cut, even mail. However, there was extensive smuggling, which made the Continental System an ineffective weapon of economic war. [5]
[125] Schroeder says Poland was "the root cause" of Napoleon's war with Russia, but Russia's refusal to support the Continental System was also a factor. [126] In 1812, at the height of his power, Napoleon invaded Russia with a pan-European Grande Armée, consisting of 450,000 men (200,000 Frenchmen, and many soldiers of allies or subject areas).
The Milan Decree was issued on 17 December 1807 by Napoleon I of France to enforce the 1806 Berlin Decree, which had initiated the Continental System, the basis for his plan to defeat the British by waging economic warfare. The Milan Decree stated that no country in Europe was to trade with the United Kingdom. [1]
The Continental System eventually led to economic ruin for France and its allies. Less damage was done to the economy of Britain, which had control of the Atlantic Ocean trade. [ 6 ] Other European nations removed themselves from the Continental System, which led in part to the downfall of Napoleon.
War would return to Continental Europe later in 1807, when Napoleon decided to invade Portugal in order to compel Portugal to join the Continental System. A joint Franco-Spanish force invaded Britain's ally Portugal, beginning the Peninsular War where Napoleon would also invade Spain as well.
However, it was Napoleon's invasion of Russia in the same year, again in part to enforce his continental system, that proved to be the turning point of the war. He was never able to recover militarily from that defeat. The economic warfare ended with Napoleon's final defeat in 1815.
Berlin fell 15 days after the beginning of the war. The French Emperor Napoleon entered the city after three days, from which he issued his Berlin Decree implementing his Continental System. Large-scale plundering of Berlin took place. [2]
Napoleon Bonaparte [b] (born Napoleone Buonaparte; [1] [c] 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military officer and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of successful campaigns across Europe during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1796 to 1815.