Editing Napoleonic Wars (section)

===Financing the war===
A key element in British success was its ability to mobilise the nation's industrial and financial resources, and apply them to defeating France. Though the UK had a population of approximately 16&nbsp;million against France's 30&nbsp;million, the French numerical advantage was offset by British subsidies that paid for many of the Austrian and Russian soldiers, peaking at about 450,000 men in 1813.{{sfn|Kennedy|1989|pp=128–129}}{{sfn|Sherwig|1969}}{{page needed|date=May 2021}} Under the Anglo–Russian agreement of 1803, Britain paid a subsidy of £1.5&nbsp;million for every 100,000 Russian soldiers in the field.{{sfn|Palmer|1974|p=86}}

British national output continued to be strong, and the well-organised business sector channeled products into what the military needed. Britain used its economic power to expand the Royal Navy, doubling the number of [[frigate]]s, adding 50 per cent more large [[ship of the line|ships of the line]], and increasing the number of sailors from 15,000 to 133,000 in eight years after the war began in 1793. France saw its navy shrink by more than half.{{sfn|Briggs|1959|p=143}} The smuggling of finished products into the continent undermined French efforts to weaken the British economy by cutting off markets. Subsidies to Russia and Austria kept them in the war. The British budget in 1814 reached £98&nbsp;million, including £10&nbsp;million for the Royal Navy, £40&nbsp;million for the army, £10&nbsp;million for the allies, and £38&nbsp;million as interest on the national debt, which had soared to £679&nbsp;million, more than double the GDP. This debt was supported by hundreds of thousands of investors and taxpayers, despite the higher taxes on land and a new income tax. The cost of the war amounted to £831&nbsp;million.{{refn|£3 trillion in modern economic cost terms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Measuring Worth – Purchase Power of the Pound |url=https://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/relativevalue.php?use2=a%3A5%3A{i%3A0%3Bs%3A3%3A%22CPI%22%3Bi%3A1%3Bs%3A6%3A%22DEFIND%22%3Bi%3A2%3Bs%3A4%3A%22WAGE%22%3Bi%3A3%3Bs%3A5%3A%22GDPCP%22%3Bi%3A4%3Bs%3A4%3A%22GDPC%22%3B}&amount=0.831&year_source=1815&year_result=2016&button=Submit |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601215026/https://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/relativevalue.php?use2=a%3A5%3A%7Bi%3A0%3Bs%3A3%3A%22CPI%22%3Bi%3A1%3Bs%3A6%3A%22DEFIND%22%3Bi%3A2%3Bs%3A4%3A%22WAGE%22%3Bi%3A3%3Bs%3A5%3A%22GDPCP%22%3Bi%3A4%3Bs%3A4%3A%22GDPC%22%3B%7D&amount=0.831&year_source=1815&year_result=2016&button=Submit |archive-date=1 June 2016 |access-date=15 February 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}} In contrast, the French financial system was inadequate and Napoleon's forces had to rely in part on requisitions from conquered lands.{{sfn|Halévy|1924|pp=205–228}}{{page range too broad|date=May 2021}}{{sfn|Knight|2013}}{{page needed|date=May 2021}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Watson |first=J. Steven |title=The Reign of George III 1760–1815 |year=1960 |pages=374–377, 406–407, 463–471}}</ref>

From London in 1813 to 1815, [[Nathan Mayer Rothschild]] was crucial in almost single-handedly financing the British war effort, organising the shipment of bullion to the Duke of Wellington's armies across Europe, as well as arranging the payment of British financial subsidies to their continental allies.{{sfn|Ferguson|2008|p=78}}