When was the last time a nation could invade Britain before 1900.

No by France.

http://dossiersmarine.free.fr/index.html

1871 was when France stopped trying to have a meaningful navy and concentrated wholly on the army. Until then, the French Navy was often within shouting distance of the RN and it was possible (even if not likely most of the time) that the French Navy, with luck, could dominate the RN enough to allow an invasion of England. In particular, the 2nd Empire was one of the few times in history when the French Navy was arguably, for some little time windows (e.g. 1863), superior to the RN. After that, the MN was not even in the same league as the RN (discouting late 20th, early 21st century, of course).

While the French navy at the time may have been able to compete with the Brits, didn't Nappy 3 see them as an ally more than an enemy unlike the Germans decades later.
 

Saphroneth

Banned
While the French navy at the time may have been able to compete with the Brits, didn't Nappy 3 see them as an ally more than an enemy unlike the Germans decades later.

And, I'd guess, vice versa - hence why the RN wasn't building massively. (The RN cranked out several ships in a year due to a war scare with IIRC Germany a year or two later.)

That does also of course bring up the indefinables. How good was the MN compared to the RN, and who had what ships operational etc...
 
Definitely varies depending on how you define Britain.

A successful invasion of Ireland was probably possible until the early 19th century, though difficult to pull off and very much depending on local support. The Expédition d'Irlande was a very close run thing in OTL.

Invading England on the other hand would be far more difficult unless as in 1688 the invader had popular support. I think a successful invasion is probably impossible after 1700.
 
Definitely varies depending on how you define Britain.

A successful invasion of Ireland was probably possible until the early 19th century, though difficult to pull off and very much depending on local support. The Expédition d'Irlande was a very close run thing in OTL.

Invading England on the other hand would be far more difficult unless as in 1688 the invader had popular support. I think a successful invasion is probably impossible after 1700.

Britain as the nations that where united when James of Scotland inherited England when Elizabeth dies.
 
1781? IIRC, the French and Spanish were seriously considering the idea and could have at least landed troops (although the odds of the invasion being successful were very, very low).

Up to the mess of the french revolution, it was possible for France. So I would say up to 1786. From 1787 on, France began falling in anarchy, unability to govern. And then it ruined the long-run investment it had made in its navy. All the more than Britain reached its peak in quality as well as in number of ships during the revolutionary and napoleonic wars.
 
Up to the mess of the french revolution, it was possible for France. So I would say up to 1786. From 1787 on, France began falling in anarchy, unability to govern. And then it ruined the long-run investment it had made in its navy. All the more than Britain reached its peak in quality as well as in number of ships during the revolutionary and napoleonic wars.

The French and Spanish attempted an invasion in 1779 during the American War of Independence, which failed mainly due to bad luck, sickness and last minute changes of orders. Interestingly, their main aim was to capture and keep the Isle of Wight.


Cheers,
Nigel.
 
How much wiggle room do we have? I think the French and Germans were planning to partition Belgium at one point (the plan fell apart pretty quickly). If they'd tried that and ticked off Britain, resulting in Britain blockading colonies in protest or something, you might see them team up. Maybe.
 
How much wiggle room do we have? I think the French and Germans were planning to partition Belgium at one point (the plan fell apart pretty quickly). If they'd tried that and ticked off Britain, resulting in Britain blockading colonies in protest or something, you might see them team up. Maybe.

Te Belgian revolution was in the early 1830s at that time didn't britain have the naval superiority from the Napoleonic wars.
 
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