![]() ![]() ![]() This administration can be characterised by its departure from the traditional action promoted by previous governments, namely that of acting in concert with other European states. Hence, traditional British continental strategy was the search for alliances and the support of other continental nations. As a result, the cabinet could never field more than 40,000 men at any one time (the only exceptions being Walcheren and later operations in Spain). ![]() At any one time, one quarter of the British army was tied up in colonial administration. The second problem was related to Britain's imperial obligations, in other words, the maintenance of garrisons in all the colonies. Any military operation began with a embarkation and landing, as Napoleon was well aware. Firstly, the island state rendered international communications with other governments but also notably the armed forces difficult – although this isolation could occasionally be useful for political reasons. In their various strategies with respect to France and Napoleon, British administrations were however faced with specific geographically related problems. In this talk, I shall briefly consider the positive but also negative effects of what one might describe as a ‘foreign policy, which John Holland Rose in 1902 described as ‘feeble and vacillating' in which “the flaccid eccentricities made British Statesmanship the laughing stock of Europe in 1806-”. As we shall see, from 1807 on, after the collapse peace talks, successive British governments took up the gauntlet and faced up to Napoleon, deciding to fight to the death. But ten years was in the end too ‘pessimistic' a forecast. On receiving the news of the crushing French victory at Austerlitz, 1) Indeed, during the two years following the death of that Prime Minister, real efforts were made (and not only on the part of the Whigs) to make peace and to try to live with an imperial, Napoleonic France. ![]()
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