The commercial relations between Great Britain and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in the XIX Century

The end of the Napoleonic wars and the return to the peace in Europe opened a new phase of relations between the Powers of the old Continent. With the end of the Continental System and the consequent reopening of the international trade, Great Britain showed to the world the clearly superiority of its productive apparatus which, together to the maritime dominions, projected it into a position of absolute advantage over the rest of European countries. Within this international scenery, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, a country still predominantly agricultural and with a very breakable production structure, had to confront itself in terms of commercial relations with the dominating power. To the model of British multilateral trade, the Neapolitan Kingdom responded, in a diplomatic framework of a country with a “limited sovereignty”, with a highly protectionist model, aimed at finding a commercial space within the new European market that was simultaneously structuring. The commercial conflict that ensued, continued with ups and downs until the definitive collapse of the Neapolitan Kingdom, highlighted the inability of the Bourbon Government to carry out a radical transformation of the socio – economic structures of Southern Italy.