Napoleon's invasion plans of the British Isles, 1806-12

Although long contested by several historians, the opinion that the Franco-Spanish naval defeat off Cape Trafalgar forced Napoleon to give up definitively any idea of invading the British Isles is still widespread. Without being able to invade the British Isles, he would have tried to defeat Great Britain through an economic war, commonly known as the continental blockade.

The supposed objective of applying the embargo on British goods in all European countries was used to explain both the invasions of the Iberian Peninsula and of Russia as the annexation of long stretches of European coast from Rome to Hamburg.

However, Napoleon's post-Trafalgar shipbuilding effort has long been recognized. What was the real goal of French efforts to rebuild a navy? Support economic warfare by forcing Britain to maintain its high and costly military effort or by genuinely challenging the Royal Navy on the oceans?

This conference will analyse Napoleon's maritime strategy against Great Britain after Trafalgar and how it was implemented. It will be said that the idea of a renewed naval war against Britain was a key to understanding many aspects of Napoleon's policy after 1805.