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The Continental System and the Fall of Napoleon

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Starting with the Battle of Waterloo and ending with Franco-Prussian War during the long and eventful nineteenth century, this period also marked the fall of Napoleon’s French Empire. One of Napoleon’s attempts to isolate Great Britain was called Continental System, a foreign policy that placed a Europe embargo on a large scale. The document that officially implemented the policy was called the Berlin Decree, issued in 1806. Only Russia and England were independent from French Empire making them the only countries for Napoleon to defeat. The Continental System affected Napoleon’s fall greatly by the conflicts leading to the Moscow Campaign of 1812. Russian Czar Paul hated the French because of their Revolution, which caused anti-religious and republican views to become popular. He didn’t have a peaceful and diplomatic foreign policy as did his mother Catherine the Great, and this lead to conflicts within the country. Later Czar Paul was assassinated and replaced by Alexander I who changed Russia’s foreign policy from neutral, to anti-Napoleon and then to his ally. Russia refused to implement the Continental System making British goods accessible in Europe via the Adriatic Sea and the Baltic Sea. Czar Paul also refused to make peace after the Battle of Austerlitz where he was defeated by France. Alexander I started the War of the Fourth Coalition 1806–1807, against France, in coalition with Prussia and Sweden. The war led to the French victory in Friedland and Russian declaring a truce. As a result Napoleon and Czar Alexander I signed the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807. The document formalized Napoleon’s control over the following states: the Duchy of Warsaw, Kingdom of Westphalia and the Free City of Danzig. Napoleon did not only gain control over Central Europe, but also made Russia an ally triggering two wars: the Anglo-Russian and the Finnish War. Later in the Franco-Russian Treaty of 1807, France pledged to help Russia agai

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