Short answers, pulled from the story.
Emperor Napoleon I of France issued the decree known as the Continental System in 1806. This order forbade all European nations under French control from trading with the United Kingdom to cripple its economy.
Economic sanctions against Italy failed because oil supplies were never cut off and the Suez Canal remained open to Italian ships. The League imposed an embargo on arms sales and financial transactions, but without critical resources like oil, Mussolini's conquest continued until Italy left the League in 1937.
According to the Global Sanctions Data Base, there have been 1,325 sanctions recorded between 1950 and 2022. These numbers reflect a growing reliance on economic coercion as an alternative to military intervention following the end of the Cold War in 1991.
As of 2016, the Targeted Sanctions Consortium found that policy goals were met only 22 percent of the time for targeted sanctions. Despite enthusiasm for this approach, data suggests limited success rates compared to broad embargoes.
Sanctioned nations including Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea use shadow fleets to bypass maritime trade restrictions effectively. Since 2025, Venezuelan shadow vessels have drawn increased attention following efforts by the Trump administration to enforce economic sanctions.