French invasion of Egypt and Syria
Bonaparte’s expedition was meant to establish France in Egypt and threaten Britain’s routes to India. The French took Malta, Alexandria and Cairo, but after the destruction of their fleet at Aboukir and the failure before Acre the army was cut off from France, and in 1801 it capitulated.
- Date
- 19 May 1798 – 2 September 1801exact date · duration: ≈ 3 years
- Place
- Cairotoday: Cairo, Egypt · Middle East and Egypt
- Route
- Toulon → Valletta (Malta) → Alexandria → Cairo → El Arish → Jaffa → Acre → Cairo → Alexandria
- Participants
- French First Republic, Ottoman Empire, Kingdom of Great Britain, Napoleon I, David Baird
- Threads
- French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars
The fleet carrying the army sailed from Toulon on 19 May 1798, seized Malta on the way and on 1 July landed the troops near Alexandria (many reference works date the start of the campaign from the landing); Nelson’s destruction of the French squadron on 1–3 August cut the army off from France. In the spring of 1799 Bonaparte invaded Syria and took Jaffa but failed to capture Acre, and in August he sailed for France, leaving Kléber in command.
In 1801 the remnants of the army capitulated to British and Ottoman forces (Alexandria surrendered on 2 September); a corps from India under David Baird also marched across the desert from the Red Sea to reinforce them. The scholars who accompanied the army laid the foundations of modern Egyptology, and it was during the campaign that the Rosetta Stone was found.
Connections
Consequences
- Siege and capture of Corfu24 October (4 November) 1798 – 20 February (3 March) 1799 · Balkans and Anatoliathe French invasion of Egypt pushed the Ottoman Empire into an alliance with Russia
- Muhammad Ali becomes ruler of EgyptMay 1805 · Middle East and EgyptThe campaign and its aftermath helped Muhammad Ali rise to power
Includes
- Battle of the Pyramids21 July 1798 · Middle East and Egypt
- Battle of the Nile1–3 August 1798 · Middle East and Egypt
Related events
- Seventh Crusade1248–1254 · Middle East and EgyptFrench armies in Egypt — Louis IX in 1249–1250 and Bonaparte in 1798–1801
- Italian campaign of 1796–179710 April 1796 – 17 October 1797 · Western and Central EuropeThe Directory sent the general who had made his name in Italy on an expedition overseas
- Fall of Seringapatam and death of Tipu Sultan5 April – 4 May 1799 · South AsiaBonaparte hoped to link up with Tipu Sultan from Egypt; the threat of a Franco-Mysorean alliance hastened the British strike against Mysore
- Coup of 18 Brumaire9–10 November 1799 · Western and Central EuropeBonaparte’s return to France in 1799
Same participants
- Battle of Marengo14 June 1800 · Western and Central Europevia French First Republic
- Battle of Blaauwberg and the capture of the Cape Colony8–18 January 1806 · Africavia David Baird
Same place
- Battle of Ridaniya22 January 1517 · Middle East and Egypt
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Coup of 18 Brumaire9–10 November 1799
- Voltaic pile20 March 1800
- Suvorov’s Swiss campaign10 (21) September 1799 – 27 September (8 October) 1799
- Battle of Marengo14 June 1800
- Suvorov’s Italian campaign3 (14) April 1799 – 31 August (11 September) 1799
+ 1 event
Eastern Europe
- Assassination of Paul I12 (24) March 1801
Balkans and Anatolia
- Siege and capture of Corfu24 October (4 November) 1798 – 20 February (3 March) 1799
Africa
- Mungo Park’s first expedition to the Niger2 December 1795 – 10 June 1797
Central and Northern Asia
- Syrym Datuly’s uprising1783–1797
South Asia
- Fall of Seringapatam and death of Tipu Sultan5 April – 4 May 1799
- Ranjit Singh proclaimed Maharaja of the Punjab12 April 1801
East Asia
- White Lotus Rebellionbetween 1794 and 1796 – 1804
- Catholic persecution of 1801 in Korea22 February – 10 December 1801
Southeast Asia and Oceania
Latin America
- Haitian Revolutionbetween 21 August and 22 August 1791 – 1 January 1804
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): French invasion of Egypt and Syria
- Wikipedia (Russian): Египетский поход
- Cole J. Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East. — New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
- Wikidata: Q253684