英国和法国之间的战争(The war between Britain and France)

inthelateeighteenthcentury,battlesragedinalmosteverycornerofeurope,aswellasinthemiddleeast,southafrica,thewestindies,andlatinamerica.inreality,however,therewasonlyonemajorwarduringthistime,thewarbetweenbritainandfrance.allotherbattleswereancillarytothislargerconflict,andwereoftenatleastpartiallyrelatedtoitsantagonistgoalsandstrategies.

francesoughttotaldominationofeurope.thisgoalwasobstructedbybritishindependenceandbritainseffortsthroughoutthecontinenttothwartnapoleon;throughtreaties.britainbuiltcoalitions(notdissimilarinconcepttotodaysnato)guaranteeingbritishparticipationinallmajoreuropeanconflicts.thesetwoantagonistswerepoorlymatched,insofarastheyhadveryunequalstrengths;francewaspredominantonland,britainatsea.

thefrenchknewthat,shortofdefeatingthebritishnavy,theironlyhopeofvictorywastoclosealltheportsofeuropetobritishships.accordingly,francesetouttoovercomebritainbyextendingitsmilitarydominationfrommoscowtlisbon,fromjutlandtocalabria.allofthisentailedtremendousrisk,becausefrancedidnothavethemilitaryresourcestocontrolthismuchterritoryandstillprotectitselfandmaintainorderathome.

frenchstrategistscalculatedthatanavyof150shipswouldprovidetheforcenecessarytodefeatthebritishnavy.suchaforcewouldgivefranceathree-to-twoadvantageoverbritain.thisadvantagewasdeemednecessarybecauseofbritainssuperiorseaskillsandtechnologybecauseofbritainssuperiorseaskillsandtechnology,andalsobecausebritainwouldbefightingadefensivewar,allowingittowinwithfewerforces.

napoleonneverlostsubstantialimpedimenttohiscontrolofeurope.ashisforcenearedthatgoal,napoleongrewincreasinglyimpatientandbeganplanninganimmediateattack.