Description
Studies to geoeconomics have focused on the contemporary period and, albeit to a lesser extent, on the late 19th century. This exclusive focus on industrial and post-industrial times led pre-industrial forms of geoeconomic competition to be lost from view. Particularly significant is the Continental System established between 1806 to 1814 by French Emperor Napoleon against the British Empire. In addition to decisively shaping one of the most important system-changing wars in the history of international relations, the Continental System is ideationally significant. Mercantilism, the idea that global wealth is finite and that states need to ensure a steady inflow of precious metals, reached its paroxysm with the Continental System. The resurgence of free trade in the 19th century is indissociable from the historical experience of economic warfare in the Napoleonic era. Through a detailed overview of the strategic ideas and logics implemented during this time, this paper sheds new light on contemporary debates about geoeconomics, neo-mercantilism, and economic statecraft.
