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 19th 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 1st the fleet arrived at Alexandria with Bonaparte’s troops smashing Mamluk forces at the Battle of the Pyramids on the 21st 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 1-3rd 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 22nd 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
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