As already mentioned, a major exception in the nineteenth century was Great Britain. It repealed its so-called Corn Laws in 1846 (which restricted imports of wheat and other grains and had been imposed in 1815 at the end of the Napoleonic wars) and moved to essentially a unilateral free trade stance at home
and in the overseas territories it controlled. This free trade policy applied to all sources of supply, not just British goods.6
