The Treaty of Copenhagen, also known as the Peace of Copenhagen was a treaty signed by the French Empire and the United Kingdom, ending the state of conflict that had gripped the two nations almost since the beginning of the French Revolution, and allowing Great Britain to withdraw from the First Great European War.
Lead Up to the Treaty[]
Since the resumption of war in 1803, Napoleon I of France had been seeking to try to threaten Britain into submission, and the threat of invasion, which his Grande Army would have the run of the day, was the only option that was achievable. In order to be able to even begin the preparations for the "invasion," the Royal Navy would have to weakened. This would eventually lead to the decisive Battle of Trafalgar, where the numerically superior French-Spanish fleet was able to defeat Lord Nelson's Royal Navy Fleet. Soon after, Napoleon extended his olive branch, which Great Britain gladly accepted.
Terms of the Treaty[]
Over all, the treaty was almost a literal return to the "status-quo", except that Great Britain would no longer be allowed to provide loans or subsidies to the other nation fighting Napoleon in Europe, and France would allow exclusive trading privileges to Great Britain in return after the war. Britain was glad for this, because, even though they were the predominant industrial, financial and trading power in the world, the Treasury was running dangerously low, and the nation was growing very war weary. France celebrated it as a great victory, for now Napoleon and his armies could focus on Austria and Russia, and defeated them at the Battle of Austerlitz, and later Prussia in the Rhineland Conflict.