The Ottoman Empire was one of Britain's traditional trading partners, while the countries along the Mediterranean coast offered a vast market Britain could not afford to give up.
After its defeat in the Mediterranean naval war, Britain's outposts there fell one after another. The London government was left in the dark, blind and deaf to what was happening.
Britain's overseas intelligence network had always relied on merchants and diplomatic staff to pass along information. Other European countries operated in much the same way.
That was why Britain's naval blockades could turn its enemies blind and deaf every time. But by acting like pirates without discrimination, Britain had unwittingly dug its own grave.
After their victory in the Mediterranean naval war, the Austrian Navy and armed merchants launched a furious reprisal. News of countless British merchant ships coming under attack poured into London.
I've discussed armed merchants many times before. Merchant ships in this era were fitted with gun ports and cannons; with a few simple modifications, they could be turned into warships.
Now, let's talk about what the British called a naval blockade. Since there was no international law yet, the British version of a blockade amounted to issuing privateering licenses to the military and merchant ships.
That's right! The very same thing they'd once used to make life miserable for the Spanish. So those British merchant ships weren't exactly innocent either. After all, many of them had helped Britain carry out its blockade plans.
Back in the Age of Exploration, if those ships had been captured in a war zone, their investors and owners would simply have had to accept their bad luck.
But the British Empire had won victory after victory at sea, and financial innovations in the City of London meant that nearly all ocean-going ships were