Paul Strathern, an award-winning novelist and acclaimed writer in philosophy and popular science, offers a detailed history of Napoleon Bonaparte’s ambitious yet ultimately futile attempt to conquer Egypt in 1798. Strathern's book, "Napoleon in Egypt," reconstructs a mission of conquest inspired by glory, executed in haste, and bound for disaster. This historical account delves into the complexities of Napoleon's campaign, highlighting both its grand ambitions and its tragic consequences.
Napoleon at the Sphinx. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
The Audacious Campaign
In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte, at the young age of twenty-eight, launched what may have been the biggest seaborne invasion since Xerxes’ Persian fleet. With 335 ships, 40,000 soldiers, and a collection of scholars, artists, scientists, and inventors, he set sail for Egypt to establish an Eastern empire in emulation of Alexander the Great. This adventure remains the least studied of all Napoleon’s military and political efforts, and analysis of this topic has been long overdue.
Napoleon saw himself as a liberator, freeing the Egyptians from the oppression of their Mameluke overlords. He arrived off the coast of Egypt as deluded in his diplomacy as he was in his expectations, insisting that he was still a friend of the Sultan in Istanbul, the nominal chief, and had come to rid Egypt of its corrupt Mameluke rulers.
The Harsh Realities
While Napoleon thought his army would be welcomed as heroes, he tragically misunderstood Muslim culture and grossly overestimated the “gratitude” he could expect from those he’d come to save. Instead Napoleon and his men would face a grim war of attrition against an ad hoc army of Muslims led by the feared Murad Bey. Marching across seemingly endless deserts in the shadow of the pyramids, suffering extremes of heat and thirst, and pushed to the limits of human endurance, they would be plagued by mirages, suicides, and the constant threat of ambush. A crusade begun in honor and intended for glory would degenerate toward chaos and atrocity.
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The landing proved chaotic and the strategy confused. The French reverted to old-fashioned warfare. The Mameluke rulers, Murad and Ibrahim Bey, fled and Alexandria was quickly taken. But the march to Cairo was sheer hell: terrible heat, mosquitoes, no water, little food or fodder, harassment by Bedouin and widespread dysentery. Finally, his Army of the Orient reached the outskirts of Cairo, where at last the Mamelukes rallied and fought. The Battle of the Pyramids, as Napoleon insisted it be called, was a French triumph: the Egyptians, utterly unused to modern warfare, were cut down and fled. Readers will find the accounts of the Battle of the Pyramids, Lord Nelson’s brilliant victory on the Nile, and the larger-than-life Sir Sidney Smith to be as exciting as any fictional accounts of Hornblower and Sharpe.
Islam was utterly unaccommodating to the invaders. Napoleon insisted on taking part in Muslim celebrations of the birth of the Prophet, and declared his army was ready to convert wholesale to Islam; but when he found that the muftis would agree only if all the soldiers were circumcised and swore to abstain from alcohol, he saw this was somewhat impractical. Equally misguided was the ludicrous proposal to throw a grand ball to bring together French and Egyptian high society, to which not a single Egyptian woman turned up.
But tragedy was fast approaching. Nelson finally found the French fleet at Aboukir Bay and, in a brilliant tactical battle, destroyed it, cutting Napoleon off from news, supplies and reinforcements.
The Battle of the Nile. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
The Institute of Egypt
Strathern gives a full account of the so-called “Institute of Egypt,” a collection of mathematicians, physical scientists, and artists that Napoleon brought along with him. Warfare and politics are accompanied by descriptions of the discoveries of the long-buried riches from the Egyptian past. Napoleon’s grand failure in Egypt also yielded vast treasures of knowledge about a culture largely lost to the West, and through the recovery of artifacts like the Rosetta Stone, it prepared the way for the translation of hieroglyphics and modern Egyptology.
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Key Discoveries and Contributions:
- Discovery of the Rosetta Stone
- Advancements in evolutionary theory
- Innovations in food canning
- Conceptualization of the Suez Canal
The French savants made determined attempts to document the unknown are probably the most enduring legacy of the entire expedition. The Institute gets its very own chapter that delves into topics such as the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, French graffiti on the pyramids, and the missing nose of the Sphinx.
The Story Of Young Napoleon's Campaign For Egypt | Napoleon: Egyptian Campaign | Timeline
Napoleon's Departure and the Aftermath
Even as his scholars were still documenting, sketching and collecting, Napoleon realised the game was up. Belated news from France warned him that he should hurry home. Appointing his second-in-command, the grizzled old General Klebér, in his place, he abandoned his army, evaded the blockade and fled.
Militarily, the expedition was a colossal and expensive blunder. Politically, it was a watershed - for Europe and for a shaken Muslim world. It began a long history of European involvement and rule which did not really end in Egypt until Suez in 1956. It opened the eyes of Europe to an ancient civilisation and exposed Egypt and the Muslim world to the challenge of new ideas, new technology and new colonial powers. For political Islam, 1798 was as shattering as the First Crusade. The repercussions are still being felt.
The campaign had so many similar moments to his 1812 invasion of Russia. The scale, the loss, the constant problems and his eventual abandonment of his loyal troops. However, instead of heat, plague and death, there they found cold typhoid and death.
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Initial Forces | 335 ships, 40,000 soldiers, scholars, artists, and scientists |
| Key Battles | Battle of the Pyramids, Battle of the Nile |
| Discoveries | Rosetta Stone, advancements in Egyptology |
| Political Impact | Increased European involvement in the Middle East, exposure of Egypt to Western ideas |
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