Berlin Decree

The decree was issued in response to the British Order-in-Council of 16 May 1806 by which the Royal Navy instituted a blockade of all ports from Brest to the Elbe.

[2] The decree proclaimed that "the British Isles are declared to be in a state of blockade" and forbade all correspondence or commerce with Great Britain.

[4] The goal of the so-called Continental System was to force Britain's government to the peace table by starving its people of trade with Europe and thereby wrecking her economy.

However, the blockade's effectiveness was difficult to enforce over so vast an area and was generally unpopular among French subjects and allies.

Historian Paul Schroeder considers it to have proved an ineffective method of economic warfare.