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.