It was a revival of the First League of Armed Neutrality (1780), which had been quite successful during the American War of Independence in isolating Britain and resisting attempts to interfere with their shipping.

The British government, not yet anxious to preserve Russian goodwill, openly considered it a form of alliance with France and attacked Denmark, destroying parts of its fleet in the First Battle of Copenhagen and forcing it to withdraw from the League.

[citation needed] After the attack on Denmark, Prussia invaded Hanover in April 1801 as a way to retaliate against the British.

[citation needed] The prospect of a third league of armed neutrality potentially including Britain and France was briefly proposed in the 1860s, during the American Civil War, following the Trent Incident in which the US Navy stopped a British vessel and removed two Confederate diplomats.

Ultimately, the two countries did not form a league but maintained the principle of the freedom of the seas, and both remained neutral.