The Extent to Which Britain's Navy was Responsible for the Changing Fortunes of Foreign and Imperial Policy from 1776-1815
In the 1776 – 1815 period, Britain’s foreign and imperial policies
were most marked by the French Wars. The early defeats and overall
victory of these wars depended not only on the navy but also on other
factors such as the army and the nature of Britain’s relations with
the other European nations at the time. One should also not forget
Napoleon and France who were responsible in a great way for the
changing fortunes of Britain’s foreign and imperial policy. However,
the navy was probably the single most important factor which brought
Napoleon to his knees as he saw his fleets continuously defeated by
one other very important man: Nelson.
The importance of the Navy cannot be undermined in it’s role in
securing British and Allied victory and more importantly preventing
Napoleon from controlling the seas which combined with his outstanding
army would have assured him victory over all. During the first phases
of the wars which were fought against revolutionary France and not
Napoleon the navy was not prepared for war and consequently failed to
offer support to the armies present in Europe so that when York
besieged Dunkirk, his efforts were fruitless because the navy failed
to give gunnery support. When the navy started winning then Britain’s
chances were that much higher and at least they could trade with their
empire upkept by their navy if all else failed. Their first victory
came at StVincent where John Jervis with his 15 ships beat 27 Spanish
ships. They also prevented in the early stage of the war the Dutch
fleet, controlled by Napoleon to take control of the Channel which
would have made an invasion of Britain possible and likely. At Aboukir
Bay in 1789, Nelson annihilated the French fleet. The consequences of
this victory were both political and military. French control in the
Mediterranean was destroyed, the major French army was cut off from
its supplies and France’s hopes of conquest in Egypt and India were