Meanwhile, back in Europe, Britains crisis over naval supplies was reaching its climax. In 1803 war with France was resumed, and the British navy blockaded Napoleons France and his allies on the continent, closing down France's English Channel and Atlantic ports and controlling access to the mediteranean from the British base in Gibraltar. Napoleon responded with a rival blockade, trying to shut British ships out of European ports. The defeat of the armies of Russia, Austria and Russia left Napoleon in charge of Europe.
In 1807, Czar Alexander of Russia was forced to sign the treaty of Tilser, which cut off all legal Russian trade with Great Britain, its allies, or any other nuetral nation ship acting as agents for Great Britain. Napoleon hoped to stop Russian hemp from reaching England, thereby destroying Britains navy by forcing it to cannibalise sails, ropes and rigging from other ships; Napoleon belived that Britain, straved of hemp, would be forced to end its blockade of France and the continent.
Simeon Lord: One of Australia's first hemp dealers.
As a result of Napoleons actions, hemp, which normally sold at twenty five pounds per tonne, reached a price of one hundred and eighteen pounds per tonne in 1808. In 1810, furthering Napoleons continental blockade, the Russian government impounded all British ships and cargoes, causing enormous losses amongst the hemp merchants.
The story of how Britain dealt with this crisis by impressing American traders is told in part in the emporer wears no clothes. In New South Wales, the crisis in hemp supply spawned a variety of schemes to develop Australia as a hemp colony.
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