how did great Britain combat napoleon's naval blockade?

Answer 1

Napoleon never had any kind of blockade on Great Britain. It was the other way around. His navy was never that powerful, and after a few major engagements, notably the battle of Trafalgar, it was pretty much impotent. The British almost always had control of the seas. Even during the lulls between wars, the British hated the French Republic so much that all sea traffic in or out of French ports was seized and sailors and passengers imprisoned, the majority never returning home.

Napoleon countered by ordering that no European nation should trade with the British and he enforced this on the continent. He took British travelers in Europe prisoner, the same way the British did on the sea. The British cried "foul".

Sounds kinda like international politics today, doesn't it.

Answer 2

The Royal Navy destroyed the combined French and Spanish defeats at the Battle of Trafalgar so Napoleon never had a naval blockade of Great Britain. Instead he tried to prevent trade between continental Europe and the British - a land blockade. Known as the Continental System.

Answer 3

Napoleon s blockade wasn t tight enough. which meant that British smugglers managed to bring food and supplies into Europe. Napoleon s allies disregarded the blockade.British also had a very strong navy so they created their own blockade and were able to drive out Napoleon s army back to France

Answer 4

are you refereing to the continental system, in which napoleon attempted to block all european ports to British trade. that is the only kind of blockade napleon could ever impliment against Britain. Through out napoleons reign Britain had naval superiority.

the continental system was a double edged sword which meant that eventually europe traded with Britain out of economic need in the form of smuggling.

Answer 5

After 1810, Spain was 'allied' with France against Great Britain. Actually, the British army defeated not only the French navy but also the Spanish navy at Trafalgar, not far away form Cadiz, Spain.

Answer 6

I think you mean the Spanish Armada, they did try to block the English from helping others against the Spaniards. Read more here:

http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/span-armada.htm
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/tudor/armada.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada
http://www.historybuff.com/library/refspain.html