Between 1809 and 1811, Napoleon's empire stood at its greatest extent.

In 1809, Napoleon
turned 40, and became concerned at his lack of an heir. Hoping that a younger woman would
conceive more readily, he had his marriage to Josephine annulled and started looking for a
suitably aristocratic second wife. Alexander I turned Napoleon's inquiries about his sister
down, and Metternich stepped into the breach, offering Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria
as a wife. In 1811, the new empress gave birth to a son, Napoleon II, known as the "King of
Rome".

By 1810 to 1811, Napoleon's empire included nearly all of Europe except for the Balkans. It
was comprised of an enlarged France (which had swallowed Belgium and Holland, parts of
Germany, and the Italian coast all the way to Rome) and various puppet nations actually ruled
by Napoleon or by a Bonaparte subservient to Napoleon. In addition to those lands he ruled
over directly, Napoleon held alliances with Austria, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, and a greatly
reduced Prussia. Essentially all of Europe was now "at war" with Britain, their resources and
industry and populations being used to serve the French Empire. All of these states, from the
Empire to the Napoleonic allies, participated in the Continental System.