The British export economy was to receive its severest test
Citations (1)
- The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers whole source · open book
The British export economy was to receive its severest test only in 1812; and until the battle of Leipzig (October 1813) there appeared good prospects that Napoleon could smash one of his eastern enemies and thus dissolve the coalition against him. Nonetheless, the French “overstretch,” reflecting Napoleon’s own hubris, was by this time extreme, and any major setback was bound to affect other parts of the system—simply because these parts had to be drained of troops in order to repair the broken front.
chapter: The Winning of Wars, 1763–1815