Exterior politics of the Netherlands
In 1812 the Netherlands was conquered by the French, which were leaded by
Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon changed the Netherland a lot. But the French used
the Dutch too. But how did the Netherlands help the French, and what roles did it
play in the wars and the trades? There are 3 main things in which the Netherlands
helped Napoleon in exterior politics.
The Continental System
The Netherlands was part of a big system, called the continental
system. The continental system was created around the year 1806-
1807. Two decrees were signed. The decree of Berlin (1806) and the
decree of Milan (1807).
The decrees included the following rules: Every conquered country is
not allowed to have any trade with Great Britain.
Every country which has not been invaded because it considered is self being neutral, is not allowed
to have any trade with Great Britain. The name Continental came from Napoleon wanted to block the
whole continent from Great Britain. Napoleon wanted to cut off all trade with Great Britain because
he thought that it would affect the economy of Great Britain. He hoped that it would cause a collapse
or even a revolution, because there was not enough resources and food. However this didn’t work at
all. This was because Spain, Portugal and South America supported Great Britain and they did still
trade with them. Napoleon wanted another thing to happen too. He wanted that by cutting of the
trade with Great Britain the economy of France would improve, so that France would become the
richest and it could control the other European Countries their trade.
It all ended up being a big failure. This was because Napoleon damaged the areas which relied on the
trade with Great Britain.
And when Napoleon tried to make the System stronger it only led to new wars.
In the end, it damaged France more than Great Britain.