THE ANGLO-NEAPOLITAN TRADE TREATY OF 1845|IL TRATTATO DI COMMERCIO ANGLO-NAPOLETANO DEL 1845*

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 reopening of the international trade, Great Britain showed to the world the clear superiority of its productive apparatus which, together with its maritime dominions, projected it into a position of absolute advantage over other European countries. Within this international scenary, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, a country still predominantly agricultural and with a very fragile productive structure, had to confront itself in terms of commercial relations with the dominating powers. To the British multilateral trade, the Neapolitan Kingdom responded, with a highly protectionist model, aimed at finding a commercial space within the new European market that was simultaneously structuring. The trade conflict between Britain and the Two Sicilies would end only with the rise to power of Peel, champion of free trade, and the resulting new trade treaty of 1845.