[p. 268] British predominance in the eastern Mediterranean dates from the French Revolution. During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, British commercial might was backed by strong naval action. The ony exception were the years 1801-1803, during which the Italian ports of Genoa, Leghorn, Trieste, and Ancona benefited from the general peace to take a large part of the Smyrna trade with Western Europe away from France and Britain. After 1814, British commercial predominance was based on its increasing industrial strength and growing economy. After the Napoleonic Wars, France regained a part of its former economic strength. In the 18th century, it had been the first commercial power in the area, but, by the second half of the 19th century, Austria surpassed it as a commercial power in Smyrna. Together with Germany, Austria proved formidable rival to British trade activities in the Anatolian port in the closing decades of the 19th century. Britain, by then, looked to Suez and India for its economic and strategic interests. The USA was particularly active in the Smyrna trade at the beginning of the century. In 1832, they accounted for 49.1 % of its imports.