Napoleon and Egypt
peaceful withdrawal from Egypt with an Ottoman ambassador – a deal later rejected by Britain and the Porte. After Kléber’s assassination, Menou’s incompetent command of the Army of the Orient in the face of an Ottoman invasion, combined with a low morale and a strong desire to return to France led to the total withdrawal of the French in October 1801. Without Napoleon’s overwhelming charisma to follow, the result was eventual surrender and departure. While many argue that Napoleon’s departure was central to the failure of French governance, the reality was that with lack of funds as well as the Ottoman invasion, coupled with low French morale, Napoleon would likely have been forced to withdraw himself. In conclusion, the Egyptian Islamic majority was the decisive factor in the failure of Napoleon’s expedition. The French Army of the Orient arrived in a country hostile to Western values, a sort of ‘Occidentalism’ to match Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism . 17 Before his invasion, Napoleon had a textually re-invented, imagined Orientalist version of Egypt laid out before him, and therefore he was unprepared for the reality which confronted himwhen he arrived in the country itself. Egyptian Islamic values (namely the importance of religious scholars) meant the population would always be hostile to the culture of post-revolution, secular France. However, other key factors contributed to the failure. Ineffective communication isolated Napoleon in Cairo and meant he was not aware he was at war with the Ottoman Empire; therefore, the army had not been prepared for the subsequent invasion. Yet the most immediate reason for Napoleon’s withdrawal from Egypt was the dire situation of French affairs in Europe, leading to his depart ure and the subsequent collapse. Despite Napoleon’s departure, if he had left a country with a population supportive of the French, this decision may not have proved decisive. However, his failure to secure cooperation from the local population made the country extremely difficult to rule and put an end to the hope of continued governance. This opposition from the Egyptians, created and sustained in them by Islam and its scholars in Egypt, ultimately put an end to Napoleon’s hopes.
Bibliography
El Feki, S. (2008) ‘ Napoleon in Egypt: The Greatest Glory by Paul Strathern; Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East by Juan Cole ’. The Royal Institute of International Affairs 84.2: 387-389 Kennedy. H (2007) The Great Arab Conquests. London Robinson, F. et al (1996) Islamic World . Cambridge Rousseau, M. (1900) Kléber et Menou en Egypte depuis le départ de Bonaparte . Paris Said, E. (1978) Orientalism . London Strathern, P. (2007) Napoleon in Egypt: ‘The Greatest Glory’ . London Thompson, J. (1995) ‘ Napoleon in Egypt: Al- Jabarti’s Chronicle of the French Occupation, 1798 by Abd al- Rahman al- Jabarti and Shmuel Moreh’. Journal of World History 6.1: 144-147
17 Robinson 1996: xvi.
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