How are the war in the early 19th century the largest countries in Europe with hemp ?

Dissatisfaction with cannabis hemp exports to England was one of the formal reasons for the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte in Russia and the beginning of the War of 1812.

Prehistory

June 12, 1807 the French army led by Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the Russian army at Friedland Bennigsen. All-Russian Emperor Alexander I was the clear inability of Russia to wage a successful war with both France and Turkey, so the emperor chose to make peace with Napoleon (Treaty of Tilsit) and continue the war with the Ottoman Empire.

Peace of Tilsit

The peace treaty between Russia and France was signed June 25, 1807 in the town of Tilsit, as a result of private conversations, Alexander I and Napoleon I. French and Russian Emperors agreed, in which:
- Russia recognized all the gains of Napoleon;
- Russia has joined the continental blockade of England (secret agreement). The Russian Empire was to completely abandon trade with its main trading partner;
- The territory of the Polish possessions of Prussia formed the Duchy of Warsaw, dependent on France.
- Considerably reduced the territory of Prussia and the kingdom turned into a self-dependent state of France;
- Russia withdraw its troops from Moldova and Wallachia, won by Turkey;
- Russia secretly pledged not to interfere with Napoleon in establishing control over the Ionian Islands, which became part of the Illyrian provinces of France;
- Russia recognized Joseph Bonaparte King of Naples, Louis Bonaparte - King of Holland, Jerome Bonaparte - King of Westphalia;
- Russia recognized the existence of the Confederation of the Rhine.

Export ban hemp hemp

The second important condition for a peace treaty of Tilsit, Russia ordered to completely eliminate export cannabis hemp in the United Kingdom and substantially limit its exports to European countries.
The meaning of this condition is to create difficulties in the British shipbuilding. The British fleet at the time was a major threat to Napoleonic France, and served as a hemp material for rigging and sails, and the annual demand for it was estimated at several tens of tons per warship. In the XVIII century. UK completely reoriented on the import of Russian hemp and hemp crops cut in the British Isles. Thus, the Treaty of Tilsit had significantly undermine its power and promote the dominance of France at sea.

Result

However, the peace terms were extremely disadvantageous for Russia, as the export of hemp was one of the main revenue items of its national budget. To avoid losses, Russia began selling hemp American merchants, who then resold it to England. Dissatisfaction with this maneuver was one of the formal reasons for Napoleon's invasion of Russia and the beginning of the War of 1812.