What was the name of the economic blockade against Britain imposed by Napoleon?

The economic blockade Napoleon imposed against Britain was called the Continental System. It aimed to shut British goods out of European markets and weaken Britain through economic warfare after France could not defeat the Royal Navy or invade Britain directly.

Napoleon launched the system with the Berlin Decree of 21 November 1806. It prohibited countries under French influence from trading with Britain and declared the British Isles under blockade. The Milan Decree of 1807 tightened the policy by authorizing the seizure of neutral ships that complied with British trade rules.

The Continental System was difficult to enforce. Smuggling flourished, and countries such as Portugal and Russia resisted or relaxed the restrictions. Napoleon’s efforts to impose the blockade helped provoke the Peninsular War and contributed to his disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812.

A common mix-up is treating the Berlin Decree or Milan Decree as the name of the entire blockade. They were specific orders used to establish and enforce the broader Continental System, also known as the Continental Blockade.