Editing French Directory (section)

=== Transportation and commerce ===
The transportation system within France was another handicap to the economy. The roads and canals had not been improved or maintained since the overthrow of the monarchy. Major canals that had been started in Burgundy and in the north were unfinished. Maritime commerce was in an even worse situation as a result of the war and blockade of French ports by Britain. During the Directory, the number of French ships of more than two hundred tons was one tenth of what it had been in 1789. The conquest of Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy improved the situation somewhat: French goods could be transported on the neutral ships of these countries, and maritime traffic on the [[Baltic Sea]] to Germany became an important trade route for France. However, the British navy largely cut off the trade with the French colonies in the Caribbean, which earlier had provided sugar, cotton, indigo and coffee to France; and the entry of the fleet of [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Admiral Nelson]] into the [[Mediterranean Sea]] cut off the trade routes there. The major ports of [[Nantes]] and [[Marseille]] saw their commerce and trade routes disappear.{{sfn|Lefebvre|1977|pp=523–525}}