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Why did the French government send Napoleon Bonaparte on an expedition to Egypt?
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Napoleon I
The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, oil on canvas by Jacques-Louis David, 1812; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The French government, known as the Directory, sent Napoleon Bonaparte on an expedition to Egypt in 1798 primarily as a strategic move against Great Britain, France's main opponent at the time.123
After abandoning plans for a direct invasion of England, the French leadership sought to undermine British power through the following objectives:
- Disrupting Trade: By occupying Egypt, France aimed to dislocate British trade routes in the Levant.1
- Threatening India: The expedition was intended to block the Red Sea, a vital route for British access to India, thereby damaging a significant source of British revenue.23
- Economic Gain: The French government anticipated that control of Egypt would provide a new source of income for France.2
The plan was proposed by Bonaparte himself and quickly approved by the Directory. While the expedition successfully captured Cairo following the Battle of the Pyramids, the subsequent destruction of the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile significantly hampered the campaign's long-term strategic goals.213