Following the rise of first Revolutionary France and later Napoleonic France, the Genoese Republic's political situation became increasingly untenable. While officially neutral during the French Revolutionary Wars, Genoa's close proximity to France allowed the larger country to continuously pressure the republic. During the 1795 Battle of Genoa, a French fleet with Genoese support was defeated by the British Royal Navy off the coast of the city. This resulted in the Royal Navy establishing a years-long blockade of Genoa that significantly affected the republic's economy.