Milan decree

The Milan Decree was issued on December 17, 1807 by Napoleon I of France to enforce the Berlin Decree of 1806 which had initiated the Continental System. This system was the basis for his plan to defeat the British by waging economic warfare. The Milan Decree stated that no European country was to trade with the United Kingdom.

The decree authorized French warships and privateers to capture neutral ships sailing from any British port or from any country that was occupied by British forces. It also declared that any ships that submitted to search by the Royal Navy on the high seas were to be considered lawful prizes if captured by the French.

(Translation)

At Our Royal Palace at Milan, December 17, 1807.

Napoleon, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine;

In view of the measures adopted by the British government on the 11th of November last by which vessels belonging to powers which are neutral or are friendly and even allied with England are rendered liable to be searched by British cruisers, detained at certain stations in England, and subject to an arbitrary tax of a certain per cent upon their cargo to be regulated by English legislation;

Considering that by these acts the English government has denationalized the vessels of all the nations of Europe and that no government may compromise in any degree its independence or its rights—-all the rulers of Europe being jointly responsible for the sovereignty and independence of their flags-—and that, if through unpardonable weakness which would be regarded by posterity as an indelible stain, such tyranny should be admitted and become consecrated by custom, the English would take steps to give it the force of law, as they have already taken advantage of the toleration of the governments to establish the infamous principle that the flag does not cover the goods and to give the right of blockade an arbitrary extension which threatens the sovereignty of every state;

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