"By 1807 the French emperor had trampled all over Europe. His military genius had brought about the victories at Austerlitz, Jena-Auerstädt and Friedland. His eagles had flown over Berlin and Vienna, the capitals of two of Europe's most powerful nations, Prussia and Austria. But while emperor Napoleon's armies were winning victories on land, the Royal British Navy was holding up resistance against the French at sea. The legendary battle of Trafalgar in 1805 ended in a splendid victory for the, likewise, legendary British admiral Nelson, who secured British superiority at sea. The Franco-Spanish fleet was soundly beaten, and with that, all French plans for invasion in Britain were postponed. This was where Napoleon's continental blockade came into the picture. After having beaten Prussia in 1806 and secured his hold on Germany, Napoleon proclaimed the blockade in Berlin on November 21, 1806. Napoleon planned to beat the British through economic warfare by closing all European ports to British trade. Maintaining the blockade became his main political goal. After the decisive battle of Friedland on June 14, 1807, where Napoleon rolled up the Russian lines and threw them back into the river Alle, the turn came for Russia to join the blockade.
The Emperor of the West, Napoleon I of France, and the Emperor of the East, Czar Alexander I of Russia, met for peace negotiations on a raft on the river Niemen on July 7, 1807. The two emperors were very much fascinated by each other. They inspected major military reviews together, they dined together and were involved in hour-long conversations. Soon enormous plans for the future of the entire world started to take form. Europe was divided between Russia and France. In a secret agreement between the two emperors it was decided that Russia should take upon itself the task of forcing Sweden into the continental system. As a prize for his efforts, the Czar would receive Finland, which was at the time, the eastern half of the Swedish empire.
Gustav IV Adolf became the king of Sweden in 1796 (he ruled until 1809) as his eccentric father, "the king of theatre", Gustav III had been murdered in 1792. Gustav IV Adolf was a fierce hater of the French revolution. Furthermore, he had read the book of "Revelations" and saw Napoleon as the beast in that book. Kent Zetterberg writes in his essay in Krig kring Kvarken
"Gustav IV Adolfs hate against Napoleon was deep, true, almost monumental. The king saw Napoleon as the antichrist wandering on the face of the Earth and he was therefore not prepared to make any compromises in his war against the "French hydra". He meant to put the weak resources of the Swedish kingdom into the gigantic power struggle that was occurring in Europe as a whole. The king had been reading the book of Revelations in the Bible and saw Napoleon as the incarnation of evil, all according to the prophecy of the Apocalypse. Rather than to surrender for Napoleon, the king was prepared to leave the country and continue the struggle from England."…"
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Armand
paints brigs for the British fleet.