The British led a pan-European coalition which opposed the French in the wars of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth coalitions. Despite Britain's allies in the Coalition suffering repeated defeats at French hands, British naval successes against the French, which deprived France of large parts of the French colonial empire, helped ensure the continued existence of further coalitions during the Napoleonic Wars.
A coalition led by the British countered the French in a series of conflicts from the first through the sixth. Despite their allies suffering repeated defeats at the hands of the French, British naval victories against the French limited France's colonial gains, allowing future coalitions to endure during the Napoleonic Wars.