THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC WARS saw long years of bitter contest between the two major powers of Europe, Britain and France. Both were forced to throw off ingrained traditions in a quest for greater military effectiveness and governmental efficiency. The British state was reshaped by the needs of war. The collection of customs and excise duties and taxes grew in scale and efficiency, while the first income tax was introduced. Government sought to gain an effective control over its workings and outputs, in the process undermining traditional hierarchical arrangements. There was an enormous expansion of taxes, public debt and central-government agencies. This was characteristic of the whole of the Napoleonic War, though it was under the government of Spencer Perceval, 1809–12, that the country's capacity to raise and spend revenue grew extensively. As revenue rose, the state's central offices grew in size. Whereas at the beginning of the eighteenth century these stood at 12,000 employees, by 1797 this had risen to 16,267. By the end of the Napoleonic War in 1815 the figure was 24,598. The growth of the central infrastructure was particularly evident in the naval offices. In 1793, the Treasury, Home Office and Foreign Office contained seventeen, nineteen and nineteen personnel respectively. By comparison, the year before, the Navy Office had 98 permanent staff and 10 extra clerks, which by 1813 had grown to 151 with 80 extra clerks, a total of 231.