ABSTRACT
In the history of economics the eighteenth century is the period of mercantilism. One of the features of mercantilism is an endless series of economic hindrances, boycotts and blocades. Thus the so-called continental blocade by Napoleonic France was not an auxiliary measure in the war between France and Great Britain, as many think, but dates back to 1747 when France tried to induce other countries to join an embargo against Great Britain. These attempts by France to reduce Great Britain's economic power led to a series of wars of which the Napoleonic wars are only the most well-known ones. For France they ended in disaster. The blocade never really worked. The British Empire grew strong as a result of the challenge and ended the economic and military battle more or less unharmed. Since this time, the history of boycotts and blocades has been a history of failures, sometimes exposing the initiator to ridicule, sometimes combining with enormous damage to world economy. Sometimes they even pass more or less unnoticed. When Switzerland, for instance, in 1970 demanded obligatory visas from nationals of Arab States, Syria decided to boycott Swiss products. Probably the ordinary Swiss citizen never became aware of that embargo
