What was the name of Napoleon's blockade against British trade, established in 1806?

Napoleon’s blockade against British trade, established in 1806, was called the Continental System.

Napoleon introduced it through the Berlin Decree of 21 November 1806, after French victories over Prussia. The policy attempted to close European ports to British goods and cut Britain off from the continental markets that supported its economy. It was an economic war intended to succeed where invasion had failed.

Britain responded with its Orders in Council, which restricted neutral trade with France and its allies. Napoleon then expanded the system through measures such as the Milan Decree of 1807, declaring some neutral ships subject to seizure if they traded with Britain or paid British duties.

The Continental System was difficult to enforce. Smuggling was widespread, and states such as Portugal and Russia resisted or later weakened their compliance. Napoleon’s efforts to impose the blockade helped draw France into the Peninsular War and contributed to tensions with Russia before the disastrous invasion of 1812. It was not the Treaty of Amiens, the Congress of Vienna, or the Napoleonic Code.