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In the late eighteenth century, battles raged in almost every corner ofEurope, as well as in the Middle East, South Africa, the West Indies, andLatin America. In reality, however, there was only one major war duringthis time, the war between Britain and France. All other battles were ancillaryto this larger conflict, and were often at least partially related to itsantagonists goals and strategies. France sought total domination of Europe.This goal was obstructed by British independence and Britains effortsthroughout the continent to thwart Napoleon; through treaties, Britainbuilt coalitions guaranteeingBritish participation in all major European conflicts. These two antagonistswere poorly matched, insofar as they had very unequal strengths: France waspredominant on land, Britain at sea. The French knew that, short of defeatingthe British navy, their only hope of victory was to close all the ports ofEurope to British ships. Accordingly,France set out to overcome Britain by extending its military domination fromMoscow to Lisbon, from Jutland to Calabria. All of this entailedtremendous risk, because France did not have the military resources to controlthis much territory and still protect itself and maintain order at home. Frenchstrategists calculated that a navy of 150 ships would provide the forcenecessary to defeat the British navy. Such a force would give France athree-to-two advantage over Britain. This advantage was deemednecessary because of Britains superior sea skills and technology, andalso because Britain would be fighting a defensive war, allowing it to winwith fewer | 
