Western History 143: What happened during Napoleon's Egyptian and Syrian Campaign and how did Napoleon move forward to become Emperor of France?

Napoleon embarked on an Egyptian campaign in 1798 to increase France's trade profile and check British interests in India. However it was a campaign with a difference as he  brought to the Middle East both soldiers and scholars. The scholars would serve a role in a scientific capacity.

On the 19^th of May 1798  Bonaparte’s fleet left the port of Toulon and headed toward the island of Malta that was soon captured in the face of tough local resistance (the French would only be able to hold the island until 1800).

On July 1^st the fleet arrived at Alexandria with Bonaparte’s troops smashing  Mamluk forces at the Battle of the Pyramids  on the 21^st of July . However the British had taken notice of French ambitions and dispatched a fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson that inflicted a severe blow on the. French Naval fleet at the Battle of the Nile (aka Battle of Aboukir Bay) between August 1-3^rd leaving the French army landlocked.

                                            Battle of the Pyramids source: britannica.com

Despite this setback the French pushed onward setting up an administration in Egypt to advance the necessary scientific and cultural exchange that the mission afforded.Such endeavours paid off with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in July 1799 (a tool that would allow Western archaeologists, to finally decipher the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. At the same time the French introduced a printing press in Egypt. But Egyptians did not take well to French over lordship. A revolt against Napoleonic rule broke out in Cairo forcing  the French to retake the city.

                     The Rosetta Stone with its French translator Jean-François-Champollion

                                                                        source: ancient-origins.net

By 1799 the French forces had expanded into Palestine securing victories at Jaffa, Nazareth, Cana, and Mount Tabor. At the Siege of Acre a British-Ottoman Alliance pushing the French into retreat. 

Napoleon may have retaliated but he had more pressing issues on the continent to deal with. He took advantage of the temporary leave of the British fleet from Egypt and returned home to France. The French campaign in Italy has been faltering and he was urgently needed back on the continent. Jean-Baptiste Kléber was placed in command of the French forces in Middle East and enjoyed some military success before his  assassination in 1800.

                                                               Jean-Baptiste Kléber 

                                                                               source: gettyimages.com

By 1801 the British and Ottoman forces had recaptured territory that had been originally won by the French and secured a victory over the French at the Battle of Alexandria. A year later on the 22^nd  of June 1801 the French general Augustin Daniel Belliard surrendered to the British at Cairo ending the French Egyptian/Syrian effort on an inglorious note.

As for Napoleon he had found, upon his return to France in 1799, that the Republic’s treasury was bankrupt. To top it off the ruling Directory was losing popularity with the people. Skillful as ever Napoleon formed an alliance with Joseph Sieyès, Roger Ducos (Speaker of the Lower House - Council of Five Hundred), Lucien (his brother), Joseph Fouché (a director) and the Diplomat,/Political Chameleon Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord and seized power in what would become known as the 18th Brumaire coup d’etat.

A New constitution was confirmed  that became known as the Constitution of Year VIII and Napoleon was made First Consul for ten years . Although there were two lesser consuls that partnered him the Republic had effectively transitioned into a dictatorship with Bonaparte’s strength being buoyed by the military. An era of plebiscites had begun and the new Consulate (of three ) would only last for five more years.

                                             First Consulate with Bonaparte in the centre.

                                                                           source: sussexk12.de.us

In 1802 Napoleon used the plebiscite system to become First Consul for Life and took the initiative offered to  reform the French education system. Soon afterwards he advanced a rewriting of the law with the Civil Napoleonic Code becoming the legal system of the the land. Nothing could stop him now. In fact in 1804 Napoleon’s star had risen to such a level that he crowned himself in the presence of the Pope - Emperor of France. He had the full backing of the senate.

    

                                    Jacques-Louis David's famous Coronation of Napoleon

                                                                 source: editions.covercollective.org

Western History 142: Who was Napoleon Bonaparte and what were the main events in his early life?

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) aka The Corsican or The Little Corporal  was a pivotal figure in the history of Modern Europe. He extended the gains of the French Revolution highlighting the primacy of the Nation State. While some have dubbed him a megalomaniac others see his impact across the continent as the biggest driver in the expansion of both Liberalism and Nationalism. Regardless of one's stance on the issue it is clear that he defined the era from 1799 to 1815 setting in motion the Europe of the 19th century and enshrining a vibrancy to a history that characterized a global European ascendancy.

                                              Napoleon Bonaparte source: britannica.com

The future French Emperor was born to a petit aristocrat family on the Island of Corsica in 1769. He was one of eight children in a family of five boys and three girls. The Bonaparte family had an Italian origin. Many of his siblings would play a role themselves in the future history of Europe and are worth mentioning. They were Joseph (elder brother), Lucien, Elise, Louis, Pauline, Caroline and Jerome. Napoleon was the second oldest boy.

                                            Bonaparte Family Tree source: shutterstock.com

In 1779 Napoleon entered the military school at Brienne-le-Château. This was not a happy time for him as he was routinely mocked for his Corsican accent, however he did distinguish himself in Mathematics and sailing. Five years late Napoleon moved on to the elite École Militaire in Paris. He would become the first Corsican to graduate from the school. A year on he would gain his first commission as Second Lieutenant in an Artillery Regiment.

During the French Revolution Napoleon positioned himself as a strong supporter of the Jacobin movement often clashing with Corsican separatist leader Pasquale Paoli. In 1793 he lead Republican forces to victory during the Siege of Toulon. His troops would capture the city. Further success at the Battle of Saorgio was achieved in the  following year.

However by 1794 Bonaparte’s political fortunes suffered a blow when he was placed under house arrest  for possible association with the recently fallen Robespierre. Fortunately he was soon released and in 1795 helped put down a Royalist rebellion with 'a whiff of grapeshot' on the 13^th of Vendémiaire (as designated in the Revolutionary calendar). A marriage to the well-connected Joséphine de Beauharnais in 1796  strengthened the Bonaparte pedigree.

                                    Young Napoleon c. 1795 source: the greatcoursesdaily.com

It was in 1797 though that Napoleon’s military genius was truly allowed to shine. He had risen rapidly through the military ranks  as a consequence of the Reign of Terror's rough march through the top brass of the armed forces, and was now in command of French troops involved in the the Italian Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. His forces recorded victories at Montenotte, Castiglione, Bassano, Arcole and Rivoli.  These losses forced the coalition powers to sue for peace and on October 17^th 1797 Napoleon signed the Treaty of Campio Formio with Austria.  

                                            Napoleon crossing the Alps source: history.com

This ended  the War of First Coalition (1792-1797) and placed France in a very strong position on the continent.  Napoleon returned to Paris on the 5th of December and hailed as a hero. France now had control of most of Northern Italy and the Low Countries. Austria would take charge of Venice ending the 1,100 year old independence of the Venetian Republic, although in agreeing to this transfer of power the  French would still loot the city beforehand.

                   Joséphine Bonaparte - Future Empress of France source: palaces-of-europe.com                                                        

Daily thought

I have had enough with this deification of RBG. She served her role with honour and my best wishes go to her family but in the legal frame she is not anymore deserving of greater admiration than most of her SCOTUS colleagues. In terms of legal judgement the late Antonin Scalia's decisions have greater long term ramification...see DC v Heller, Printz v United States, Employment v Smith etc.

She was also not the trailblazer that people make her out to be. Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to sit on Scotus. RBG is also not the first nor is she the last of the Judicial activists who have unfortunately politicized the office.

The role of SCOTUS is to interpret the law not make it. Judges can hold the seat for the duration of their life but it is not theirs to will away. Remember all authority comes from one source - the People. So lets put to rest this nonsense of death bed wishes.

Western History 141: Who was Catherine the Great and what were the key events of her reign?

Catherine the Great was a German-born Empress who ruled over Russia between 1762 and 1796. Her reign is associated with the further modernization of Russia on both a political and cultural level. At age 14 Catherine married the grand duke Peter (later Peter III), the grandson of Peter the Great. However her husband’s difficult nature, eccentric personality and infatuation with Frederick II of Prussia made him an unpopular figure in the court.

                                              Catherine the Great source: historyextra.com

With the backing of a lover Grigory Orlov (she would have several of these) and other nobles she was involved in a palace coup that forced the abdication of Peter and his later assassination. Catherine  would then ascend to the throne in September 1762 almost twenty years after her ill-fated marriage to Peter.

Catherine II (or Ekaterina II) was somewhat of an idealist as a rule who longed to create a fairer justice system in Russia and a court that would rival that of the French Versailles. She was extremely motivated in her ambition but had to be careful of her position in the country in light of the fact that she had taken the throne in so dubious a manner.

Property was seized from the clergy to replenish the state coffers (that were weakened as a result of the Seven Years War).  She improved relations with Prussia and solidified her alliance with France and Austria. A puppet government loyal to Russia was installed in Poland. However she struggled to reform the constitution and was met by a resilient push back from the old orders.

In 1768 Russia went to war against Turkey and two years later secured a victory at the battle of  Çeşme, which they unfortunately failed to transform into immediate political gains. However the situation would be rectified when the conflict ended in 1774, with Russia  gaining a stronger foothold in the  Black sea as a result of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca.

In 1773 a plague broke out in Russia and events were further complicated by a rebellion led by the Don Cossack, Yemeylan Pugachev. The rebels marched on Moscow before their aspirations were put down by elite troops loyal to Catherine. Pugachev was beheaded but he left behind him regions that had been reduced to turmoil by the chaos.

                                                   Yemelyan Pugachev source: agefotostock.com

Catherine tried to emancipate the Russian serfs bur resistance from the aristocrats forced her to make an about face. She then strengthened the idea of serfdom further extending it into the Ukraine. This policy was the antithesis of the enlightened monarch ideal that she served to cultivate at her royal court (where she seemed sympathetic to the ideals of Montesquieu and Rousseau)

From 1774 onward Grigory Potemkin played an important role in her court, He was an accomplished military figure, minor noble and above all else her lover. Potemkin would serve politically as a chief minister to her where he advocated for territorial expansion  and helped further the splendour associated with Catherine's  reign. In 1783 Russia annexed the Crimea, a move that would threaten the Ottoman Empire and strain relations with both Prussia and England.

                                            Grigory Potemkin source: smarthistories.com

At home Catherine encouraged a certain degree of free thought but paradoxically clamped down on dissent or criticism of her rule. Poland, which had been dominated by Russia agitated for a Liberal constitution and were led in this regard by Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Polish nationalist who had fought in the American Revolution. His 1794 revolution was thwarted by Catherine who used a partition plan in 1795 to divide Poland between Russia, Prussia and Austria thus effectively removing the country from the map.

                    1795 Marked the Third Time that Poland was partitioned in the 18th century.

                          Source: europecentenary.eu  (Other partitions were in 1772 and 1793)

                         

In 1796 Catherine passed away. She was succeeded by her son Paul I who early life had been very much overshadowed by his mother.

                                            Paul I (1796-1801) source: unofficialroyalty.com

So how was Catherine as a monarch? 

Well she certainly strengthened Russia’s hand at the expense of Poland, Turkey and the Ukraine. Her court demonstrated a facade that appeared to be forward thinking but in many respects she was just more of an enlightened despot than a true reformer.  When she had leverage she would appear to take on the nobility but all too often defaulted and extended the regressive framework of serfdom.  Her personal life was straddled with ex-lovers and although she had an incredible intelligence and curiosity she at times demonstrated a poor judge of character. Nevertheless she left Russia in a stronger position than that which she inherited so that the nation had the foundation to play a vital role in the forthcoming Napoleonic wars.

Top Thirty Heavyweight Boxers since 1910

 The order may surprise a few but based on my reading of the sport this is my list.

1. Muhammad Ali

2. Joe Louis

3. Rocky Marciano

4. Jack Dempsey

5. Sonny Liston

6. Jack Johnson

7. Lennox Lewis

8. Mike Tyson

9. Joe Frazier

10. Larry Holmes

11. George Foreman

12. Evander Holyfield

13. Vitali Klitschko

14.  Gene Tunney

15. Jess Willard

16. Ken Norton

17. Riddick Bowe

18. Wladimir Klitschko

19. Archie Moore

20. Jersey Joe Walcott

21.  Max Baer

22. Ernie Shavers

23. Floyd Patterson

24. Max Schmelling

25.  Ezzard Charles

26. Jimmy Ellis

27. Ron Lyle

28. Tyson Fury

29. Michael Moorer

30. Oliver McCall

Top 50 Greatest Male Tennis since World War II

I have modified this over the years but in my opinion this is my ranking of the Top 50 Male Tennis players post WWII. I realize that there are some great pre-WWII players - Tilden, Vines, Budge, Perry, Borotra, Cochet and Lacoste but I don't know enough personally to rank them.

My prediction for the future is that Djokovic will eventually surpass both Federer and Nadal to become the GOAT.

1. Roger Federer (Switzeland)

2. Rafael Nadal (Spain)

3. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

4. Rod Laver (Australia)

5. Pete Sampras (United States)

6. Bjorn Borg (Sweden)

7. Pancho Gonzalez (United States)

8. John McEnroe (United States)

9. Jimmy Connors (United States)

10. Ivan Lendl (Czech/United States)

11. Ken Rosewall (Australia)

12. Andre Agassi (United States)

13. Roy Emerson (Australia)

14. Boris Becker (Germany)

15. Stefan Edberg (Sweden)

16. John Newcombe (Australia)

17. Mats Wilander (Sweden)

18. Andy Murray (UK)

19. Guillermo Vilas (Argentina)

20. Arthur Ashe (United States)

21. Lew Hoad (Australia)

22. Ilie Nastase (Romania)

23. Jim Courier (United States)

24. Andy Roddick (United States)

25. Manuel Santana (Spain)

26. Tony Trabert (United States)

27. Ashley Cooper (Australia)

28. Jack Kramer (United States)

29. Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)

30. Frank Sedgman (United States)

31. Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland)

32. Stan Smith (United States)

33. Guestavo Kuertin (Brazil)

34. Neale Fraser (Australia)

35. Marat Safin (Russia)

36. Vitas Gerulatis (United States)

37. Michael Chang (United States)

38. Jarolslav Drobny (Czech/Egypt)

39. Pat Rafter (Australia) 

40. Sergi Bruguera (Spain)

41. Vic Seixas (United States)

42. Pancho Segura (Ecuador/United States)

43. Michael Stich (Germany)

44. Goran Ivansevic (Croatia)

45. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia)

46. Nicola Pietrangeli (Italy) 

47. Thomas Muster (Austria)

48. Carlos Moya (Spain)

49. Alex Olmedo (Peru/United States)

50. Miloslav Mecir (Slovakia)

Western History Entries 129-140...French Revolution....Go Back to June.

You can find these entries in the blog archive from June 21st-June 28th 2020. I went into considerable depth in discussing the French Revolution - its origins, phases and its repercussions.

Western History 128: What were some of the major inventions of the 17th and 18th centuries?

Inventions took place in a variety of fields. The following table outlines some of the more notable inventions. Many of those of the 18th century are associated with the earlier stages of the Industrial Revolution.

Invention	Principle Inventor involved
Agriculture ·         Threshing device ·         Cotton Gin	·         Andrew Meikle (1786) ·         Eli Whitney (1793)
Communication ·         Modern Semaphore telegraph ·         Lithography Printing	·         Claude Chappe (1792) ·         Alois Senefelder (1796)
Industry (Heavy) ·         Vacuum Pump ·         Piston Engine ·         Steam Engine pump ·         Textile - Loom Flying Shuttle ·         Lead Chamber Process ·         Early Refrigerator ·         Textile - Spinning Jenny ·         Improved Steam Engine with Condenser ·         Air Compressor ·         Textile - Power Loom ·         Hydraulic Press ·         First Paper Machine	·         Otto von Guericke (1650) ·         Christiaan Huygens (1680) ·         John Newcomen (1712) ·         John Kay (1733) ·         John Roebuck (1746) ·         William Cullen (1755) ·         James Hargreaves (1764) ·         James Watt (1765) ·         John Wilkinson (1774) ·         Edmund Cartwright (1789) ·          Joseph Bramah (1795) ·         Louis-Nicolas Robert (1799)
Mathematics ·         Slide Rule ·         Mathematical calculator	·         William Oughtred (1630) ·         Blaise Pascal (1642)
Scientific ·         Telescope - Refraction ·         Barometer ·         Telescope - Reflection ·         Weighing Scale ·         Electrolysis Device	·         Hans Lippershay (1608) ·         Evangelista Torricelli (1643) ·         Isaac Newton (1668) ·         Richard Salter (1770) ·         Matinus van Marum (1785)
Transportation ·         Chronometer (measuring longitude) ·         Hot Air Balloon   ·         Claude de Joffroy	·         John Harrison (1736) ·         Joseph-Raif and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (1783) ·         Steam Boat (1783)
Others ·         Piano ·         Carbonated Water	·         Bartolomeo Cristofori (1709) ·         Joseph Priestly (1767)

Western History 127: Who were some of the key Philosophers of the 17th century?

The 17^th century continued the trend in natural philosophy that has been set by experimental science. In this it owes a debt of gratitude to Galileo Galilei and his work on the fundamentals of motion. William Gilbert (Magnetism), Johannes Kepler (Planetary Motion) and William Harvey (Blood circulation) continued in this spirit as the older classical view of Aristotle began to crumble in the face of empiricism.

In his book the Advancement of Learning (1605) Francis Bacon emphasized the relevance of the Scientific Method, materialism as a philosophy and practical science. Experimentation and observation were key to Bacon and he stressed the notion of a solid first Hypothesis. The phrase “Knowledge is Power” is often credited to him.

                                               Francis Bacon source: biography.com

Isaac Newton used such methodology in formulating his Three Laws of motion, the Law of Universal Gravitation and his understanding of the Dispersion of light. Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek continued in this tradition.

At the same time the notion of Scientific Determinism became more prevalent. The world appeared to be a mechanical universe driven by innate laws and functioning as a system in motion. Thomas Hobbes saw this interlock and extended the concept to the relationship between politics and the citizen. Civil society necessitated order and mechanistic functioning as outlined in his work Leviathan. 

                                                  Thomas Hobbes source: linkedin.com

Rene Descartes was arguably the most important 17^th century philosopher and is often viewed as the father of Modern Philosophy. In mathematics Descartes is associated with the establishment of co-ordinate geometry however his contribution to philosophy is immense. Descartes believed that True Knowledge must come from Human Reason alone. He outlined four rules that emerge from the concept of Cartesian doubt. These are:

·         Never accept anything except clear and distinct ideas

·         Divide each problem into as many parts as are needed to solve it (Cartesian reductionism)

·         Order your thoughts from the simple to the complex

·         Always check thoroughly for oversights

                                       Rene Descartes - Father of Cartestian Reductionism

source: britannica.com

Using an extreme form of skeptics he doubted all certainty of knowledge other than the working of his own mind and then concluded that Cogito Ergo Sum – I think, therefore I am is the First Principle of Philosophy. From this base he constructed a framework for knowledge.

Descartes’ ideas are outlined in his two great works – Discourse on Method (1637) and Meditations (1642). He believed that the essence of being was thinking and argued that all knowledge of external things is in the mind.  In his worldview the mind and body/matter  were separate – a philosophy known as Dualism. He believed that thought had its own motion and was distinct from the ‘thing’. Like other philosophers of this era he saw the human body as a mechanical device.

Baruch Spinoza was a leading rationalist figure of the 17^th century who worked to construct a geometry of philosophy. He saw all of the world as interconnected and aimed to show how one could use mathematics to live a good and moral life. However he was not dualistic and saw God and the cosmos as one. For him mind and matter were one in the same. Although he is seen as a leading pantheist thinker he rejected the mysticism of such belief in favour of a unifying principle operating along scientific constraints.

                                                  Baruch Spinoza source: the culturetrip.com

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who co-founded the calculus with Isaac Newton argued for a different model. He believed that there was not one substance to all that there is (Spinoza’s principle) but an infinity of very small substances called Monads. The monads he argued acted as one as a result of a pre-established divine harmony. Leibniz was a prolific writer whose thinking took him into symbolic language, logic, history and jurisprudence. He advanced the “principle of the best” arguing that the world we live in is the best possible world. Later on this idea was ridiculed by Voltaire in his work Candide. 

                                              Gottfried Leibniz source: spectrum.ieee.org

We Have already discussed John Locke with respect to his writings on Liberal democracy however the Englishman also introduced the notion of the Blank Slate in philosophy (Tabula Rasa). Locke argued for the centrality of experience and was a leading thinking in the Empiricist movement. In Locke’s view children are born with a clean slate or mind – acquire knowledge through sensation to form simple ideas that are then built up to form more complex ideas. He also distinguished between primary and secondary. Primary qualities are innate to an object (eg. Texture, size). Secondary qualities produce ideas in the mind regarding the object that extend beyond the object.

source: tes.com

Critical Thinking Maxims.

 I wrote a list of critical thinking maxims that certainly help when one is philosophizing. Here they are:

1. Be skeptical of everything you read. Always ask yourself the question – Why do I believe this to be true?
2. Consider the source for any data that you use. What assumptions underpin the data collection models? What are the motivations of the group gathering the data in the first place?
3. Correlation does not necessarily imply causation
4. An expert in one field does not make said person an expert in another.
5. Make a concerted effort to distinguish between fact and opinion.
6. Truth is not decided via a popularity vote.
7. An appeal to authority is all too often used as a smokescreen to hide individual shortfalls in understanding.
8. Science is unfortunately not independent of the politics that drives it.
9. Be wary of the Strawman Argument and the use of the Ad Hominem attack.
10. Define your terms before engaging in a debate with another.
11. Most trend relationships in the social sciences are best analyzed using a multi-variable approach
12. Use caution when inferring from the special to the general.
13. Any scientific model is only as good as the validity of the assumptions upon which it is based.
14. Science operates under the drivers of rationalism and empiricism. Problems occur when one of these attributes are missing.
15. Dosage is the key to understanding whether a substance is a toxic. Without dosage information toxicity statements are misleading.
16. There is no such thing as Free Energy.
17. Fact checking organizations should not be taken as gospel.
18. The vast majority of conspiracy related tropes are pure nonsense. Most can be taken apart by a simple application of Ockham’s Razor.
19. Policy that makes one feel good may not be the best plan of action for a specific situation.
20. When analyzing a graph to predict a future trend the errors associated with extrapolation can be extremely large especially if the relationship is non-linear.
21. People are more likely to believe what fits into their established worldview (Confirmation Bias).
22. Read material that forces you to be uncomfortable with your established position.
23. Science is ultimately about the evidence. Any accepted notion is only one fully verified experiment away from being toppled.
24. A gap in knowledge does not imply the presence of a deity in action.
25. Defining a construct and gaining popular support for such a construct does not make a construct valid in and of itself.
26. Not all ideas are equally worthy. Some are a lot better than others.
27. Repeating something over and over again does not make it true.
28. Good people can advocate bad ideas.
29. Science works as in the long run it tends to self-correct. Poor ideas however can persist in the short run based on an appeal to authority.
30. History can repeat itself but it need not.
31. There is no innate direction for both evolution and history.
32. Do not ignore the great thinkers of the past. They may be deceased but their ideas transcend their living essence.
33. Data can always be manicured to make it say what you want it to say.
34. Complexities arising at various levels can hide the factors that exist when analyzing the reduced system.
35. Left and Right political positions are only meaningful if we know and can define the center.