Egyptian expedition of Napoleon. What was Napoleon looking for in Egypt? Landing at Aboukir

Egyptian expedition of Napoleon

THE STRUGGLE OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE FOR DOMINATION

IN WESTERN EUROPE AND IN THE COLONYS

July 27, 1794 (9 Thermidor, II year of the Republic) in France there was a counter-revolutionary coup. The counter-revolutionary big bourgeoisie came to power and launched a brutal terror against the masses of the people. In August 1796 convention adopted a new constitution , which fixed dictatorship of the big bourgeoisie , which formed its own government - Directory.

In foreign policy Directory began to pursue the goal of seizing foreign territories and enslaving peoples. The just wars waged at the beginning by revolutionary France for its freedom and independence, with the coming to power of the big counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie, began to turn into unjust wars of conquest.

V. I. Lenin wrote: “A national war can turn into an imperialist one and vice versa. Example: the wars of the great French revolution began as national and were such. These wars were revolutionary: defense great revolution against a coalition of counter-revolutionary monarchies. And when Napoleon created the French empire with the enslavement of a number of long-established, large, viable, national states of Europe, then the French national wars turned into imperialist ones, which in turn gave rise to national liberation wars against Napoleon's imperialism.

In 1796, after making peace with Prussia, Spain and Holland, France continued to wage war against Austria and England. In early April 1796, the French army under the command General Bonaparte invaded Italy, much of which belonged to Austria. Bonaparte won a series of victories over the Austrians and actually captured all of Italy. Huge contributions . The national liberation movement that broke out in the country was brutally suppressed.

After the takeover of Italy Bonaparte crossed the border of Austria and moved to Vienna. In October 1797, England's last ally, Austria, was forced to make peace with France at Campo Formio, according to which she recognized the French conquests of 1795-1797. and abandoned the left bank of the Rhine and the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium), which belonged to her. Republic of Venice ceased to exist independently. Part of it (Venice, Istria and Dalmatia) passed to Austria, and the Ionian Islands were annexed to France.

The first coalition of states organized by England against France fell apart. England alone remained at war with her, against whom all the forces of France now turned.

Egyptian expedition of Napoleon

The French decided to first strike at the colonies of England. In order to crush the colonial power of England General Bonaparte at the beginning of 1798 proposed Directories expedition plan to egypt followed by the conquest of India. In the spring of 1798 expedition plan was accepted. This expedition was adventurous in nature, for Bonaparte overestimated his strength and underestimated the strength of possible opponents. He did not understand that the aggressive policy of France in the Mediterranean Sea would provoke opposition not only from England, but also from Russia. The capture by the French of the Ionian Islands and Egypt was fraught with a threat to the Black Sea straits, and, consequently, to Russian Black Sea possessions and trade.

After the adoption of the plan Bonaparte The French began to intensively prepare for the expedition. In order to mislead the British, military preparations were made both in the English Channel and in Toulon. In addition, false rumors spread about the upcoming breakthrough of the French squadron from the Mediterranean to Brest to participate in the landing on the battlefield.lesserEngland. The actual goals of the expedition carefullyhidden fall.

The English Admiralty, misled, failed to correctly assess the strategic situation and continued to keep the main forces of the fleet in the English Channel. A detachment was sent to blockade Toulon under the command of Rear Admiral Nelson consisting of three battleships, two frigates and a corvette. May 17, 1798 detachment Nelson approached Toulon.

On May 19, 1798, the main parts of the French forces left Toulon and Marseilles. Nelson although he received information from the crew of the captured merchant ship about the impending exit of the French, not only did he not delay the enemy ships, but he could not even detect their exit, which indicates the low effectiveness of the blockade organized by Nelson. Moreover, during the storm on May 20 Nelson could not keep the ships of his detachment united and lost control of them: after the storm, his frigates went to Gibraltar, and he Nelson with battleships headed for the southwestern coast of Sardinia. This circumstance made it difficult Nelson organization of reconnaissance and search for the enemy.

Forces Bonaparte consisted of 13 battleships, six frigates and 36 small warships. There were 32,000 paratroopers on board 309 transports. French ships took refuge from the storm in the Gulf of Genoa. Passing the east coast of Sardinia, Bonaparte headed for the island of Malta and captured it on June 12. Leaving a small garrison in Malta, Bonaparte moved to Egypt. To make it difficult for the enemy to search, he ordered to go north of the shortest routes to Egypt and then go not directly to Alexandria, but 70 miles to the west of it. The transition was made without hindrance.

Nelson, having corrected the damage to his ships, on May 31 he approached Toulon, but the French ships were no longer there. Here he stood waiting for reinforcements until 5 June. June 4 to the detachment Nelson 11 battleships joined. Now he had 14 battleships at his disposal. Where the enemy went, he did not know.

Only 17 days after the departure of the French fleet from Toulon Nelson began searching for the enemy, and before that he had not even organized reconnaissance.

On June 6, the English squadron headed for the island of Corsica, from there to Naples, where on June 17 Nelson learned that the French fleet was at Malta. On the way to Malta, in the region of Messina, on June 22, he received information that Bonaparte went east. Forcing sails, Nelson the shortest way went to Egypt. On June 28, a day earlier than the French, he came to Alexandria, where he also did not find the enemy fleet. And this time without organizing reconnaissance, Nelson remained unaware of where he had gone Bonaparte. Deciding without anything to that grounds that the goal of the French expedition is Sicily, he went to her by the same shortest route. At that time Bonaparte came to Alexandria and landed without hindrance.

July 19 Nelson, having approached Sicily, he was convinced of his next mistake and on July 22 again headed for Alexandria.

chain of errors Nelson indicates that he was unable to correctly assess the situation and unravel the enemy's plan. Having released the French fleet from Toulon without hindrance, he failed to properly organize its search and, without reconnaissance, blindly chased the French across the Mediterranean for two months. In this way, Nelson could not resist the French fleet either when it left Toulon, or at the sea crossing, or during the landing.

Meanwhile Bonaparte began fighting in Egypt , and the squadron moved to the Abukir Bay, the unprotected raid of which did not at all provide cover for ships from an enemy attack from the sea. Commander of the French squadron Admiral Brewes made this mistake, because he believed that, since the British were in Alexandria, they would not be able to approach the Aboukir Bay soon. battleships Brewes placed in one line four miles from the coast, almost parallel to it. The line was one and a half miles long. Between the ships and the coastal shallows there was a strip of sea with a depth of ten meters, on which the frigates were located. Brewes was so careless that, despite the presence of frigates in the squadron, he did not organize any sentinel service, reconnaissance, or surveillance of the sea. Moreover, about 3,000 sailors were sent from ships to shore to collect food and fresh water, and the rest of the personnel were busy with repairs. Enemy attack repulsion plan and battle plan has not been developed. The batteries of the left side (facing the coast, from which no attack was expected) were littered with all kinds of materials.

Assessing the location of the French squadron, the following should be noted:

1. The batteries on the island of Aboukir could not delay the passage of the enemy past this island when attacking the French vanguard.

2. Leaving a passage between the ships and the shallows allowed the British to take the vanguard of the French in two fires.

3. The stretching of the line of ships with the north winds prevailing here made it difficult for the rearguard to come to the aid of the vanguard.

In this way, Admiral Brewes , having made the indicated mistakes, actually made the squadron incompetent and created all the conditions for its defeat.

On August 1, 1798, the English squadron (14 battleships, 8 thousand people, 1012 guns) approached the coast of Egypt. Two ships were sent for reconnaissance to Alexandria, and soon a French squadron (13 battleships, 4 frigates, 10 thousand people, 1183 guns) was discovered in the Aboukir Bay. With a fresh north-east wind, the British approached the French. The English ships, rounding the shallows of the island of Aboukir, at 18 o'clock approached the vanguard of the French squadron, while one English ship ran aground. The battle began at 6 pm. 30 minutes. Marching in formation, the English squadron suddenly attacked the anchored French ships.

English battleship "Goliath" , passing between the shallows and the enemy, took up a position west of the French squadron, followed by four more ships. Nelson, who was on the sixth in the ranks battleship "Vanguard" , led the rest of the ships seaward of the enemy squadron. The avant-garde and center of the French (seven ships) were cut off from the coast and the ships of the British and taken in two fires.

By 20 o'clock French flagship "L" Orien flew into the air; myself Brewes died before the explosion.

By 21 o'clock, two English ships sent to Alexandria approached the battlefield. At the same time, the French rearguard, commanded by Rear Admiral Villeneuve , instead of going to the aid of his center, remained an indifferent observer of the battle.

ToAt 3 o'clock on August 2, the main French forces were defeated; the French lost 11 ships of the line and two frigates. Only Villeneuve with two battleships and two frigates managed to go to sea.

conclusions

1. The success of the British is due to the fact that their squadron was better prepared for battle. Nelson had a pre-designed battle plan, which was familiarized with the commanders of the ships. The English gunners fired faster than the French.

2. The French squadron was not ready for battle, stood on an unprotected roadstead, had no battle plan, patrol and reconnaissance were not organized. During the battle, the French did not organize interaction: the rearguard under the command of Villeneuve passively contemplated the destruction of the vanguard and center and did not take part in the battle.

3. The methods of surprise attack used by the British in this battle without rebuilding from marching formation to combat, cutting off the French ships anchored from the coast and taking them in two fires, concentrating superior forces against the vanguard and center, attacking enemy flagships were not new. For the first time, most of these techniques were developed and applied by the Russian admiral F.F. Ushakov in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791.

The campaign of the French in Egypt and Syria, despite some successes at the beginning of the campaign, ended unsuccessfully. The French army weakened in continuous battles and from the fact that communication with France was interrupted by blockade operations off the coast of Egypt by the English and Russian (Sorokin's detachment from Ushakov's squadron) fleets.

At the end of 1798, England managed to organize a new coalition against France, which included Russia, Austria, Spain, Naples and Turkey. This was the so-called second coalition.

To fight against the French in April 1799, they arrived in Italy Russian troops under the command of the great commander A. V. Suvorov. A Russian squadron led by Admiral F. F. Ushakov was sent to the Mediterranean Sea to liberate the Ionian Islands from the French and help Suvorov's army. Russian troops, showing miracles of courage, within a month almost completely cleared upper Italy of French troops and in August 1799 were already approaching the borders of France.

At the end of 1798 and at the beginning of 1799 Ushakov liberated the Ionian Islands captured by the French, including the island of Corfu, taking by blow from the sea the strongest fortress of Corfu at that time. At the same time, the English fleet under the command of Nelson acted against the island of Malta. Adhering to the formulaic method of the theorists of Western European naval art, who believed that the fleet from the sea could only block coastal fortresses, Nelson did not dare to attack the fortress of La Valletta from the sea, although it was weaker thanCorfu, andonly blockaded the island of Malta.And if Ushakov onIt took three months to take Corfu, then it took the British almost two years to capture La Valletta: La Valetta capitulated only on September 5, 1800.

The big French bourgeoisie, dissatisfied with the policy of the Directory, sought to create a strong government capable of strengthening the rule of the bourgeoisie and pursuing a policy of external conquest. Bonaparte learning about victories Suvorov and Ushakov and about the situation that had arisen in France, he handed over the command of the troops in Egypt to General Kleber, and he himself, taking advantage of the departure of the English detachment blockading Alexandria to Cyprus for fresh water, went to sea with two frigates. In October 1799, he landed in France and on November 9 (18 Brumaire), with the support of the big bourgeoisie, made coup d'état , who appeared further development bourgeois counter-revolution that unfolded after 9 Thermidor. Having established a military-bourgeois dictatorship, Napoleon proclaimed himself first consul , in 1802 - consul for life , and in 1804 - Emperor of France . bourgeois government Napoleon strangled the French revolution, retaining only those gains that were beneficial to the big bourgeoisie.

The French troops in Egypt fought unsuccessfully until 1802, when their remnants were taken to France. Thus, the Napoleonic plan to conquer Egypt, Syria and the campaign in India suffered a complete collapse.

This crash was due to:

- Russia's entry into the war against France, the victories of Suvorov in Italy and Ushakov in the Mediterranean;

- the stubborn resistance of the peoples of Egypt and Syria;

- the defeat of the French squadron at Abukir and the termination of communication with France due to the blockade of the coast of Egypt by the Russian and English fleets.

Military operations of Napoleon in Western Europe were more successful. On June 14, 1800, in the battle of Marengo, the French defeated the Austrians, and on December 2-3, 1800, they defeated the Austrian army at Hohenlinden, after which Austria requested peace, which was signed in Luneville in February 1801.

By this time, Russia had withdrawn from the anti-French coalition. The dissatisfaction of the Russian nobility and merchants with the continental blockade, which infringed on their interests, forced Paul 1 take advantage of the British capture of the island of Malta to break with them. He recalled his troops operating in Holland and Switzerland to Russia and began negotiations with Napoleon to form an anti-British coalition. He agreed with Napoleon about joint actions against India - the richest colony of England. In order to protect the freedom of maritime trade, which was constantly threatened by England, Russia, Sweden and Denmark concluded in December 1800. agreement on "second armed neutrality" .

England, pursuing aggressive goals, sent her fleet into the Baltic Sea. The British intended to defeat the Danish fleet, then go to Revel and attack the Russian squadron there, before it joined the squadron stationed in Kronstadt. The British government considered Russia its main adversary, so the fleet sent to the Baltic Sea was ordered to quickly break the resistance of Denmark and direct the main efforts against the Russian fleet.

In 1798-1801, on the initiative and under the direct leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, the French army tried to gain a foothold in the Middle East, capturing Egypt. In the historical career of Napoleon, the Egyptian campaign became the second big war, after the Italian campaign.

Egypt, as a territory, had and still has great strategic importance. In the era of colonial expansion, it was very attractive for both Paris and London. The bourgeoisie of southern France, especially Marseilles, had long had extensive connections and trade with the countries of the Mediterranean. The French bourgeoisie was not averse to gaining a foothold in a number of profitable places, such as the coast of the Balkan Peninsula, the islands of the eastern Mediterranean, the Greek archipelago, Syria and Egypt.

By the end of the 18th century, the desire to establish colonies in Syria and Egypt had grown significantly. The British seized a number of French colonies (Martinique, Tobago, etc.), as well as some Dutch and Spanish colonial possessions, which led to an almost complete cessation of France's colonial trade. This hurt the French economy. Talleyrand, in a report to the Institute dated July 3, 1797, “A Memoir on the Advantages of the New Colonies in Modern Conditions,” directly pointed to Egypt as a possible compensation for the losses suffered by the French. This was facilitated by the gradual weakening of the Ottoman Empire, which was losing its position in North Africa. The decline of Turkey in the 18th century led to the question of the "Turkish heritage". Egypt in this inheritance was a particularly tasty morsel.

The French also looked at the very tempting Levant, the territory of the eastern Mediterranean Sea (modern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Palestine), which was the possession of the Ottoman sultans. From a long time ago, from the time crusades, Europeans were also interested in Egypt, which during the French Revolution was legally part of the Ottoman Empire, but in fact it was an independent state entity. Egypt, washed by both the Mediterranean and Red Seas, could become a springboard from which France could have a more serious impact on competitors in the struggle for India and other Asian countries and lands. The famous philosopher Leibniz once submitted a report to King Louis XIV in which he advised the French monarch to seize Egypt in order to undermine the positions of the Dutch in the entire East. Now England was France's main competitor in South and Southeast Asia.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Napoleon's proposal to capture Egypt did not outrage the French government. Even before the campaign in Egypt, Napoleon ordered the capture of the Ionian Islands. At the same time, he finally formed the idea of ​​\u200b\u200ba campaign to the East. In August 1797, Napoleon wrote to Paris: "The time is not far off when we will feel that in order to really defeat England, we need to take possession of Egypt." Having captured the Ionian Islands, he persistently advised the government to capture Malta, it was needed as a base for throwing into Egypt.

Political situation

After the victory in Italy, on December 10, 1797, Napoleon was solemnly welcomed in Paris. Crowds of people greeted the hero, whose name has been on the lips of late. In the Luxembourg Palace, the general was greeted by all official France: members of the Directory, ministers, dignitaries, members of the Council of Elders and the Council of Five Hundred, generals, senior officers. Barras gave a flowery speech in which he hailed Bonaparte as a hero who had avenged France, enslaved and destroyed in the past by Caesar. The French commander brought to Italy, in his words, "freedom and life."

However, behind the smiles and friendly speeches of politicians, as usual, lie, irritation and fear were hidden. Napoleon's victories in Italy, his negotiations with the Italian governments and the Austrians, made him a political figure, he was no longer just one of many generals. For almost two years, Napoleon acted both in the military and political-diplomatic spheres, disregarding the interests of the ruling group, often in direct conflict with them. In particular, the Directory gave Napoleon a direct order not to make peace with Austria, to start a campaign against Vienna. But the general, contrary to the clear instructions of the government, made peace, and the Directory was forced to accept it, because the legislative councils and the whole country, exhausted by the war, longed for peace. The hidden opposition was constantly intensifying. And what frightened the members of the Directory, Napoleon's position was constantly strengthening. His policy was widely supported.

Bonaparte faced a choice: what to do next? The situation in the Republic was difficult - finances were in disorder, the treasury was empty, corruption and theft were in full bloom. A bunch of speculators, suppliers to the army, embezzlers of public funds made huge fortunes, and the common people, especially the poor, suffered from a lack of food, high, speculative food prices. The Directory was not able to create a stable regime, restore order in the country, on the contrary, its members themselves were participants in theft and speculation. However, Napoleon did not yet know what exactly to strive for. He was ambitious enough and claimed a place in the Directory. Attempts in this direction have been made. But the members of the Directory, and above all Barras, were against the inclusion of the general in the government. The direct, legal path to the pinnacle of power turned out to be closed to Napoleon. Other ways were still impossible. The majority of the population still supported the Republic, an illegal seizure of power could cause serious resistance in society. The campaign in Egypt postponed the final decision, gave Napoleon time to think, strengthen the camp of his supporters. Success in this campaign could strengthen his authority in society. Yes, and his opponents were happy - the Directory, not without pleasure, sent the ambitious general to the Egyptian expedition. If he succeeds - good, if he perishes - also good. This decision satisfied both parties.

I must say that at this time Napoleon became close friends with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Talleyrand. He somehow guessed the rising star in the young Corsican general and began to support his undertakings.

A month and a half before returning to Paris, Bonaparte was appointed commander of the "English army". This army was intended to invade the British Isles. After the signing of peace with Austria and the Russian Empire, only England was at war with France. The weakness of the French fleet, relative to the British fleet, did not allow the safe transport of a large army to America or India. Therefore, two options were proposed: 1) to land troops in Ireland, where the local population hated the British (they actually carried out the genocide of the Irish); 2) to land an army in the possessions of the Ottoman Empire, where, with luck, it was possible to move it to India. In India, the French counted on the support of local rulers. The second option was preferable. It was believed that the Turks can get along. France has traditionally had a strong position in Istanbul. In addition, after the capture of the Ionian Islands by the French and the signing of favorable agreements by France with the Kingdom of Naples, Britain lost all its permanent naval bases in the Mediterranean.

In addition, Napoleon was always attracted by the East. His favorite hero was more Alexander the Great than Caesar or any other historical hero. Already traveling through the Egyptian deserts, he half-jokingly, half-seriously told his companions that he was born too late and could no longer, like Alexander the Great, who also conquered Egypt, proclaim himself immediately a god or god's son. And quite seriously, he said that Europe is small and that truly great things can be done in the East. He told Bourrienne: “Europe is a wormhole! There have never been such great possessions and great revolutions as in the East, where 600 million people live. Large-scale plans were born in his head: to reach the Indus, to raise the local population against the British; then turn around, take Constantinople, raise the Greeks for the liberation struggle against Turkey, etc.

Napoleon possessed strategic thinking and understood that England was the main enemy of France in Europe and the world. The idea of ​​invading the British Isles was very tempting to Napoleon. Hoist the French banner in London, which could have been more captivating for the ambitious Napoleon. England did not have powerful ground forces and could not resist the French army. In 1796, the French managed to establish contacts with the Irish national revolutionary circles. But the operation was very risky due to the weakness of the French fleet. In February 1798, Napoleon left for the western and northern coasts of France. He visited Boulogne, Calais, Dunkirk, Newport, Ostend, Antwerp and other places. He talked with sailors, fishermen, smugglers, delved into all the details, analyzing the situation. The conclusions reached by Napoleon were disappointing. The success of the landing on the British Isles, neither in naval nor financial terms, was ensured. According to Napoleon himself, the success of the operation depended on luck, on chance.

The beginning of the expedition and the capture of Malta

March 5, 1798 Napoleon was appointed commander of the "Egyptian army." 38 thousand the expeditionary army was concentrated in Toulon, Genoa, Ajaccio and Civitavecchia. Napoleon in a short time did a great job of preparing the expedition, inspecting the ships, and selecting people for the campaign. Inspecting the coast and the fleet, forming parts, the commander continued to closely monitor the British fleet under the command of Nelson, which could destroy all his plans. Bonaparte, almost one by one, selected soldiers and officers for the campaign in Egypt, preferring trusted people, those with whom he fought in Italy. Due to his exceptional memory, he knew a huge number of people individually. He checked everything personally - artillery, ammunition, horses, provisions, equipment, books. He took on a campaign the color of the generals of the Republic - Kleber, Desaix, Berthier, Murat, Lannes, Bessieres, Junot, Marmont, Duroc, Sulkovsky. Lavalette, Bourrienne. Scientists also went on a campaign - the future "Institute of Egypt", the famous Monge, Berthollet, Saint-Iller, Conte, Dolomier, etc.

On May 19, 1798, an armada of four hundred transports and warships left the ports and, united, moved south. Her flagship was the battleship Orion. All of Europe knew that an expeditionary corps was being prepared in France, that its commander was the illustrious Bonaparte. The question was - where will it be sent? To capture Malta, Sicily, Egypt? To Ireland? No one, except for the narrowest circle of military leaders, knew where the fleet was heading. Even Minister of War Scherer, and he to the very last days was not in the know. Newspapers spread all sorts of rumors. In early May, a rumor was popular that the fleet would pass the Strait of Gibraltar, circle the Iberian Peninsula and land troops on the Green Island. The British also believed this rumor, Nelson, at the time when the French fleet left the harbor and to Malta, guarded at Gibraltar.

On June 9-10, advanced French ships reached Malta. The island has belonged to the Order of the Knights of Malta since the 16th century. The Knights of Malta (also known as the Hospitallers or Johnites) at one time played a big role in the fight against the North African pirates and the Ottoman Empire, but at the end of the 18th century. experienced a decline. The order maintained friendly relations with England and Russia, the enemies of France. The island was used as a temporary base for the British fleet.

The French made a recruitment request drinking water. The Maltese gave permission for only one ship to draw water at a time. Given the size of the French fleet, this was audacity (the delay could have resulted in a British fleet). General Bonaparte demanded the surrender of the island. The Maltese began to prepare for defense. However, the knights had long lost their morale and turned out to be incapable of combat, the mercenaries did not show a desire to die the death of the brave and capitulated or went over to the side of the French, the local population also did not express a desire to fight. The Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Ferdinand von Gompesch zu Bolheim, failed to organize a defense; on the contrary, he readily surrendered to the French, explaining his actions by the fact that the charter of the order forbids the hospitalists from fighting Christians. As a result, the French fleet easily landed several landings, which quickly occupied the entire island. The French banner was raised over the fortress of La Valette.

Napoleon won the first victory. On June 19, the French fleet moved on, favorable winds blew, and the British were not visible. A small garrison was left on the island.

Misses of the British fleet

On June 18-19, the French fleet left Malta and moved to the shores of North Africa. Life was in full swing on board the flagship: the expedition commander, as usual, worked from early morning. At dinner, scientists, researchers, and officers gathered in his cabin. After dinner, lively debates and discussions took place. Topics were almost always proposed by Napoleon: these were questions of religion, political structure, the structure of the planet, etc. On June 30, the shores of Africa appeared. On July 2, at Marabou, near Alexandria, the army was hastily, but in perfect order, landed. Immediately the troops set out and a few hours later were at Alexandria. The French entered the city. The French fleet under the command of Admiral Brueys d'Egalier remained near Alexandria, having received the order of the commander-in-chief to find a passage deep enough for the ships of the line to the harbor of the city, where they would be safe from a possible attack by the British fleet.

The most dangerous thing in the campaign - a long journey by sea, is left behind. For more than forty days the French armada was at sea, she passed it from west to east and from north to south, but did not meet the British. On land, Napoleon and his soldiers were not afraid of anything, they felt like an army of victors. Where were the English? Was the "treacherous Albin" deceived by the rather simple misinformation used by the French government and its agents?

In fact, the French fleet was saved by a chain of accidents. Napoleon was indeed born under a lucky star. Nelson was sent a strong reinforcement of 11 battleships (under his command was a detachment of 3 battleships, 2 frigates and 1 corvette) and the order of Admiral Jervis to follow the French everywhere in the Mediterranean and even in the Black Sea.

On May 17, Nelson was already near Toulon and learned about the composition of the French fleet. However, on the day the French fleet left, a strong storm broke out, Nelson's ships, including the flagship, were badly battered, which forced the admiral to retreat to Sardinia. The English frigates, having lost sight of the flagship, deciding that heavy damage had forced her to seek refuge in some English port, stopped reconnaissance and went in search of her. The French flotilla left on May 19 and, with a fair wind, approached Corsica, where 2 semi-brigades of General Vaubois were put on the ships.

Nelson repaired the damage for several days and on May 31 approached Toulon, where he learned about the departure of the French expedition. But having lost frigates, the British command could not collect any information even about the direction where the enemy had gone. In addition, there was a calm, Nelson lost a few more days. On June 5, Nelson's detachment found a reconnaissance brig sent forward by Captain Trowbridge, who led a squadron of battleships, and on June 11, the admiral was already at the head of a strong fleet of 14 battleships. Hoping to find the enemy fleet, Nelson drew up a plan of attack: two 2 divisions of 5 ships of the line were to attack the forces of the French Admiral Bruys (13 ships of the line, 6 frigates), and the 3rd division of 4 ships, under the command of Trowbridge, was to destroy transports.

Nelson, unaware of the direction of the French fleet, searched the Italian coast. He visited the island of Elba, on June 17 he approached Naples, where the English envoy Hamilton suggested that Napoleon could go to Malta. On June 20, the British fleet passed the Strait of Messina, where Nelson learned of Napoleon's capture of Malta. On June 21, Nelson was only 22 miles from the French fleet, but did not know about it and went southwest. Napoleon continued to be lucky. On June 22, from a passing commercial ship, Nelson learned that the enemy had already left Malta and was heading east. This confirmed the admiral in the idea that the enemy was moving towards Egypt. Nelson gave chase, wanting to overtake and destroy the hated enemy.

The fate of the campaign against Egypt hung in the balance, but happiness again came to the aid of the French commander. Nelson had only warships, and he swept across the sea at such a speed that he overtook the much slower French armada, north of Crete. In addition, Nelson did not have frigates, and he could not conduct full-fledged reconnaissance. On June 24, Nelson overtook the French fleet and approached Alexandria on June 28, but the raid was empty, no one here knew about the French and did not expect their appearance. Nelson considered that the French, while he was off the coast of Africa, stormed Sicily, entrusted to his protection, or headed for Constantinople. The British squadron again rushed to the road, and on July 2 the French landed troops near Alexandria. The French did not manage to avoid the battle at sea, but only to delay its beginning. It was clear that the British would soon return.

Napoleon in Egypt

Egypt at that time was de jure the possession of the Ottoman sultans, but in fact they were melted down by the military caste-class of the Mamluks, Mamluks (Arabic - "white slaves, slaves"). They were Turkic and Caucasian warriors by origin, who formed the guard of the last Egyptian rulers from the Ayyubid dynasty (1171-1250). The number of this horse guard at different times ranged from 9 to 24 thousand horsemen. In 1250, the Mamluks overthrew the last Ayyubid sultan, Turan Shah, and seized power in the country. Mamluks controlled the best lands, major government positions, and all profitable businesses. Mamluk beys paid some tribute Ottoman sultan, recognized his supremacy, but practically did not depend on Constantinople. The Arabs, the main population of Egypt, were engaged in trade (among them were large merchants associated with international trade), crafts, agriculture, fishing, servicing caravans, etc. The most oppressed and lowest social group were the Coptic Christians, the remnants of the pre-Arab population of the region.

Bonaparte, after a minor skirmish, occupied Alexandria, that vast and then quite rich city. Here he pretended that he was not at war with the Ottomans, on the contrary, he had deep peace and friendship with Turkey, and the French came to liberate the local population from oppression by the Mamluks. Bonaparte already on July 2 turned to the Egyptian people with an appeal. In it, he said that the beys ruling over Egypt were insulting the French nation and exposing it to negocians (merchants) and the hour of revenge had come. He promised to punish "usurpers" and said that he respects God, his prophets and the Koran. The French commander urged the Egyptians to trust the French, to unite with them in order to throw off the yoke of the Mamluks and create a new, more just order.

Napoleon's first actions showed how carefully he had thought through the military and political details of the Egyptian operation. That rationality and efficiency marked many future activities of Napoleon and his associates in Egypt. But Napoleon, preparing for a campaign in Egypt, seriously miscalculated in the field of psychology of the local population. In Egypt, as in Italy, he hoped to find masses of dispossessed, oppressed and discontented populations that would become his social base for conquering and holding the region. However, Napoleon miscalculated. The downtrodden and impoverished population was present, but it was at such a low stage of development that it did not matter to him who dominated the country - Mamluks, Ottomans or Europeans. The question was in the military power of the new conquerors and the ability to retain the occupied territory. All calls for a fight against the feudal lords-beys simply did not reach the consciousness of the population, the fellahs were not yet able to perceive them.

As a result, Napoleon ended up in Egypt without social support, in the end, this destroyed all the plans of the French commander. In his strategic plans 35 thousand the French army was to become the core, the vanguard of the great army of liberation, into which the inhabitants of Egypt, Syria, Persia, India, and the Balkans would join. The Great March to the East was supposed to lead to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the influence of the British in the region. In Egypt, the population was indifferent to his appeals. The reforms of the anti-feudal order did not give him the support of the local population. The narrow military nature of the operation could not lead to the implementation of the grandiose plans conceived by Napoleon to transform the East. Napoleon's army could defeat the enemy and capture significant territories, but the problem was to keep the conquered. The French were removed from their bases and, with the dominance of the British fleet at sea, sooner or later were doomed to defeat.

To Cairo

Bonaparte did not linger in Alexandria, a strong 10,000 was left in the city. garrison under Kléber. On the night of July 4, the French avant-garde (4.6 thousand Desaix division) set out in the direction of Cairo. Of the two roads: through Rosetta and further up the Nile River and through the Damangur (Damakur) desert, connecting at Romagna, the French commander-in-chief chose the last, shorter route. Behind the vanguard moved the divisions of Beaune, Renier and Menou. The latter took command of the district of Rosetta, in Rosetta itself was left 1-thousand. garrison. At the same time, the division of General Dugas (formerly Kleber) went through Aboukir to Rosetta, so that they should have followed from there to Romagna, accompanied by a flotilla of light ships that carried ammunition and provisions along the Nile. On July 9, Bonaparte himself left Alexandria with headquarters. Before that, he ordered Admiral Breues, who was heading towards Aboukir, not to linger there, and move towards Corfu or enter the port of Alexandria.

The passage through the desert was very difficult. The soldiers suffered from the scorching rays of the African sun, the difficulties of crossing the hot sands of the desert, and the lack of water. Local residents, who were informed that they want to turn the infidels into slaves, left their miserable villages. Often the wells were damaged. The bane of the army was dysentery. The Mamelukes occasionally disturbed the French army with their raids. Napoleon was in a hurry, he knew that the enemy had to be defeated before the Nile flooded, since during the flood the entire area in the Cairo region would be a swamp, which would greatly complicate the task of destroying the main enemy forces. The commander wanted to break the resistance of the enemy in one pitched battle.

On July 9, the French reached Damakura and the next day marched towards Romagna. On July 13, the French defeated the Mamluks near the village of Shebreisa. Here, the French commanders used formations in a square against the brave enemy cavalry - each division lined up in a square, on the flanks of which there was artillery, and horsemen and carts inside. The Mamluks retreated to Cairo.

Battle of the Pyramids

When the minarets of Cairo were already visible in the distance, in front of the French 20 thousand. the Mameluke cavalry appeared as an army. On July 20, 1798, the French army reached the village of Vardan, where the commander gave the troops a two-day rest. The soldiers needed at least a little refreshment and put themselves in order. At the end of the second day, intelligence reported that the Mamluk army under the command of Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey was preparing for battle near the camp near the village of Imbaba. Napoleon began to prepare the army for a general battle. French troops, having made a 12-hour march, saw the pyramids.

The Turkish-Egyptian army of Murad and Ibrahim occupied a position that adjoined the Nile with its right wing, and the pyramids with its left. On the right flank, a fortified position was occupied by Janissaries and foot militias with 40 guns; in the center stood the best forces of Egypt - the cavalry corps of the Mamelukes, noble Arabs, on the left flank - the Arab Bedouins. Part of the Turkish-Egyptian army under the command of Ibrahim was on the east bank of the Nile. The river itself was closed by about 300 ships. The inhabitants of Cairo also gathered to watch the battle. The exact size of the Turkish-Egyptian army is unknown. Kirhuizen reports 6,000 Mamluks and 15,000 Egyptian infantry. Napoleon in his memoirs speaks of 50 thousand hordes of Turks, Arabs, Mamelukes. A figure of 60 thousand people is also reported, including 10 thousand Mameluke horsemen and 20-24 thousand Janissaries. In addition, it is obvious that only part of the Turkish-Egyptian army participated in the battle. Apparently, the size of Murad's army was approximately equal to the French, or slightly superior to it. A significant part of the Egyptian army did not participate in the battle at all.

Before the battle, Napoleon addressed the soldiers with a speech in which he uttered his famous phrase: “Soldiers, forty centuries of history are looking at you!” Apparently, the hope for a speedy rest in Cairo played no small role in the high morale of the soldiers. The army was divided into 5 squares. Napoleon's headquarters conducted reconnaissance and quickly found out the enemy's weaknesses: the main Mameluke camp at Imbaba (Embaheh) was poorly fortified, the artillery was motionless, the enemy infantry could not support the cavalry, so Napoleon did not attach much importance to the enemy infantry. It was necessary first of all to defeat the Mamluk cavalry in the center.

At about 15:30 Murad Bey launched a massive cavalry charge. The forward divisions of Rainier and Desaix were surrounded by masses of enemy cavalry, led by Murad Bey himself. Mamelyukov began to mow down the rifle and artillery fire. The staunch French infantry did not panic and did not flinch in the face of the ferocious enemy cavalry. Those individual riders who were able to break through to the square itself died under the blows of bayonets. One detachment of Mamelukes, having suffered huge losses, was able to break through the defenses of Desaix and break into the square, but he was quickly surrounded and killed. For some time the Mamelukes circled around impregnable squares, but then, unable to withstand the destructive fire, they retreated. Murad with part of the detachment retreated to the pyramids of Giza, the other Mamluks headed for the fortified camp.

At the same time, the divisions of Beaune, Dugua and Rampon repelled an attack by enemy cavalry from the camp from Imbaba. The cavalry retreated to the Nile, in the waters of which many found their death. Then the enemy camp was also captured. The Egyptian infantry from the camp at Imbaba, realizing that the battle was lost, abandoned the camp and began using improvised means and swimming to the other side of the Nile. Murad's attempts to break through to the camp were repelled. The Bedouins, who stood on the left flank and practically did not participate in the battle, hid in the desert. Closer to the night, Murad also retreated, ordering the ships on the Nile to be burned.

It was a complete victory. The Turkish-Egyptian army, according to Napoleon, lost up to 10 thousand people (many of them drowned trying to escape). The losses of the French army were insignificant - 29 soldiers were killed, 260 were wounded. The Muslim clergy, after the victory of Napoleon, surrendered Cairo without a fight. On July 24, 1798, Napoleon entered the Egyptian capital. Murad Bey with 3,000 detachment retreated to Upper Egypt, where he continued to fight the French. Ibrahim retreated to Syria with a thousand horsemen.

Conquerors in Egypt

The operation to capture Egypt proceeded successfully for Napoleon. Cairo, the second of the two great Egyptian cities, was occupied. The frightened population did not even think of resisting. Bonaparte even issued a special appeal, which was translated into the local language, where he urged people to calm down. However, he simultaneously ordered the punishment of the village of Alkam, near Cairo, its inhabitants were suspected of killing several soldiers, so the concern of the Arabs did not decrease. Napoleon issued such orders without hesitation and hesitation wherever he fought - in Italy, Egypt, in future campaigns. It was a very definite measure, which was supposed to show people how those who dared to raise a hand against a French soldier would be punished.

A significant amount of food was found in the city. The soldiers were pleased with the booty they captured in the battle of the pyramids (the Mamelukes had a custom to carry their gold with them, and their weapons were decorated with precious stones, gold and silver) and the opportunity to rest.

Kleber successfully subjugated the Nile Delta. Desaix was sent to monitor Murad Bey. Dese, pursuing the Mamelukes, defeated them on October 7 at Sediman and established himself in Upper Egypt. Ibrahim Bey, after several unsuccessful skirmishes with the French, withdrew to Syria.

Bonaparte, having captured Cairo, was able to begin the reorganization of the Egyptian system of government. All the main power was concentrated in the French military commandants of cities and villages. Under them, an advisory body (“sofa”) was established from the most eminent and wealthy local residents. The commandants, with the support of the "sofas", were supposed to keep order, perform police functions, control trade and protect private property. The same advisory body was to appear in Cairo under the commander-in-chief, it included not only representatives of the capital, but also the provinces. Mosques and Muslim clergy were not harassed, respected and were inviolable. In the future, the Muslim clergy even declared Napoleon "the favorite of the great prophet." It was planned to streamline the collection of taxes and taxes, as well as organize delivery in kind for the maintenance of the French army. All land taxes levied by the Beys-Mamluks were abolished. The land holdings of the recalcitrant feudal lords, who fled with Murad and Ibrahim to the south and east, were confiscated.

Napoleon tried to end feudal relations and find support among Arab merchants and landowners. His activities were aimed at creating a military dictatorship (all supreme power was in the hands of the commander in chief) and a bourgeois (capitalist) order. The religious tolerance of the French occupiers was supposed to calm the local population. I must say that in France itself, the attitude towards the Catholic Church during the revolution was very cruel.

It should be noted that it was not in vain that Napoleon took with him the flower of French science. Scientists during the battles were protected: "Donkeys and scientists in the middle!" The commander was well aware of the great benefit that scientists can bring if their activities are directed to solving military, economic and cultural problems. Bonaparte's expedition played a huge role in the history of Egyptology. In fact, it was then that the ancient Egyptian civilization was open to world science. True, one cannot fail to note the fact that the French, as well as the British, very thoroughly plundered the heritage of Egyptian civilization. it distinguishing feature Western conquerors, both in the past and in the present, direct hostilities are always accompanied by robbery. Scientists, on the other hand, play the role of "guides", "appraisers" of the looted goods. In 1798, the Institute of Egypt (French L "Institut d" Égypte) was established, which marked the beginning of a large-scale plunder of the heritage of the ancient Egyptian civilization and the "adjustment" of facts to the interests of the builders of the "new world order".

The French army was able to establish a requisition mechanism, solving the supply problem. But they collected less money than expected. Then the French found another way to get a voiced coin. The governor-general of Alexandria, Kleber, arrested the former sheikh of this city and the rich man Sidi Mohammed El Koraim, he was accused of treason, although there was no evidence. The sheikh was sent to Cairo, where he was offered a ransom of 300,000 francs in gold. However, El-Koraim turned out to be a greedy person or really was a fatalist, he said: “If I am destined to die now, then nothing will save me, and I will give, therefore, my money without use; if I am not destined to die, then why should I give them away? Bonaparte ordered that his head be cut off and taken through all the streets of Cairo with the inscription: "This is how all traitors and perjurers will be punished." The Sheikh's money was never found. But for other rich people, this case was a very revealing event. The new authorities in the matter of money were very serious. A few rich people turned out to be much more accommodating and gave everything that was demanded of them. In the nearest time after the execution of El Koraim, about 4 million francs were collected. Simpler people were "dispossessed" without special ceremonies and "hints".

Napoleon crushed all attempts at resistance ruthlessly. At the end of October 1798, an uprising began in Cairo itself. Several French soldiers were taken by surprise and killed. The rebels defended themselves for three days in several quarters. The uprising was crushed, then mass demonstration executions took place for several days. The uprising in Cairo found a response in some villages. The commander-in-chief, having learned about the first such rebellion, ordered his adjutant Croisier to lead a punitive expedition. The village was surrounded, all the men were killed, women and children were brought to Cairo, and the houses were burned. Many women and children who were driven on foot died on the way. When the expedition appeared on the main square of Cairo, the heads of the murdered men poured out of the bags carried by the donkeys. In total, several thousand people were killed during the suppression of the October uprising. Terror was one of the methods of keeping people in submission.

Aboukir disaster

As noted above, Bonaparte was forced to reckon with a very dangerous circumstance for him - the possibility of an attack by the British fleet and the loss of communication with France. The French sailors were let down by carelessness. The command, despite the threat of the appearance of the enemy fleet, did not organize reconnaissance and sentinel service; only starboard guns facing the sea were made for battle. A third of the crews were on the shore, others were busy with repairs. Therefore, despite almost equal forces, the French even had a slight advantage in the number of guns, the battle ended in a decisive victory for the British fleet.

At 6 pm on August 1, 1798, the long-expected, but not at that moment, British squadron under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson suddenly appeared in front of the French ships stationed in the Gulf of Aboukir in the Nile Delta. The British admiral seized the opportunity and seized the initiative. He attacked the French from two directions - from the sea and the coast. The British were able to surround a significant part of the French fleet and subjected them to fire from two sides. By 11 am on August 2, the French fleet was completely defeated: 11 ships of the line were destroyed or captured. The French flagship "Orient" exploded and went to the bottom along with the treasury - 600 thousand pounds sterling in gold bars and precious stones, which were seized from Rome and Venice to finance the Egyptian expedition. The French lost 5.3 thousand people, killed, wounded and captured. Along with his fleet, Admiral Francois-Paul Bruyes also perished. Only the commander of the French rearguard, Admiral P. Villeneuve, with two battleships and two frigates, was able to go to sea. The British lost 218 killed and 677 wounded.

This defeat had very serious consequences for the Egyptian expedition. Napoleon's troops were cut off from France, the supply was disrupted. The British fleet completely dominated the Mediterranean. This defeat had negative political, military and strategic consequences for France. Istanbul, which until that time had hesitated, ceased to support the fiction spread by Bonaparte that it did not fight the Ottoman Empire at all, but only punished the Mamluks for the insults inflicted on French merchants and for the oppression of the Arab population of Egypt. On September 1, the Ottoman Empire declared war on France and the concentration of the Turkish army began in Syria. A second anti-French coalition is formed, it includes England, Russia, Turkey, Austria, the Kingdom of Naples. The situation in Europe begins to take shape not in favor of France. The Black Sea squadron under the command of F. F. Ushakov will join the Turkish fleet, and liberate the Ionian Islands from the French. Suvorov, together with the Austrians, will soon begin to liberate Italy. The Turkish army will threaten Napoleon from Syria.

The defeat at Abukir, according to contemporaries, caused despondency in the army. Actually, a certain discontent was observed earlier, when the lack of water, the "joys" of the desert and dysentery led to a decline in morale. Egypt was not a land of fairy tales, full of riches and wonders. A particularly strong contrast was compared with blooming Italy. Barren, sun-scorched lands, sand, poverty and wretchedness of the local population, who hate the infidels, lack of visible wealth, constant heat and thirst. The Aboukir disaster only increased the irritation of the army. Why the hell did they go to Egypt? Such sentiments prevailed not only among the soldiers, but also among the commanders.

Hike to Syria

The Ottomans, having made an alliance with England, were preparing an army for an attack on Egypt through the Isthmus of Suez. At the beginning of 1799, the Pasha of Acre, Jesar, occupied Taza and Jaffa and advanced the vanguard to the fort of El Arish, the key to Egypt from Syria. Simultaneously with the army's attack from Syria, Murad Bey was supposed to attack the French in Upper Egypt, and they planned to land an amphibious corps at the mouth of the Nile.

Napoleon learns about the death of the French fleet only on August 13. Human strong character, Napoleon, having received this terrible message, did not become discouraged. He experienced, as happened to him during a critical situation, a great burst of energy. He writes to Admiral Gantom, Kleber and the Directory. He outlines urgent measures to recreate the fleet. He does not give up on his grandiose plans. He also dreams of going to India. The campaign in Syria was supposed, with luck, to become only the first stage of a grandiose operation. In the spring of 1800, Napoleon wanted to be in India already. However, the forces of the French army were dwindling - at the end of 1798, 29.7 thousand people remained in Egypt, of which 1.5 thousand were unfit for combat. For a campaign in Syria, Napoleon was able to allocate a total of 13 thousand corps: 4 infantry divisions (Kleber, Renier, Bona, Lanna) and 1 cavalry division (Murata). The rest of the troops remained in Egypt. Desaix was left in Upper Egypt, in Cairo - Duga, in Rosette - Menou, in Alexandria - Marmon. A detachment of three frigates under the command of Perret was supposed to deliver a siege park (16 guns and 8 mortars) to Jaffa from Alexandria and Damietta. The corps was accompanied by a pack convoy of 3,000 camels with a 15th supply of food and a 3rd supply of water.

The Syrian campaign was terribly difficult, especially due to the lack of water. On February 9, units of Kléber and Renier arrived at El Arish and laid siege to it. On February 19, when the rest of the troops approached, the fort, after a small skirmish, capitulated. On February 26, after a difficult passage through the desert, the French reached Gaza. The operation was initially successful. On March 3, French troops reached Jaffa. On March 7, having made a breach in the wall, the divisions of Lannes and Bona took the city. Several dozen guns were captured in the fortress. Palestine was conquered. However, the further the French went east, the more difficult it became. The resistance of the Turkish troops intensified, the British loomed behind them. The population of Syria, on whose support Napoleon hoped, was as hostile to the infidels as in Egypt.

During the storming of Jaffa, the city was severely defeated, the French soldiers were extremely cruel to the vanquished, exterminated everyone. Napoleon, before the assault, informed the townspeople that if it came to an attack, there would be no mercy. The promise was kept. In Jaffa, a crime was committed against prisoners of war. About 4 thousand Turkish soldiers surrendered on the condition that they save their lives. The French officers promised them captivity, and the Turks left the fortification they had occupied and laid down their arms. Bonaparte was very annoyed by the whole affair. “What should I do with them now? shouted the general. He had no supplies to feed the captives, no men to guard them, no ships to transport to Egypt. On the fourth day after the capture of the city, he ordered everyone to be shot. All 4,000 captives were taken to the seashore and here they killed every one. “I don’t wish anyone to experience what we experienced, who saw this execution,” said one of the eyewitnesses of this event.

In Jaffa, the plague appeared in the army. The dead population of the city "revenge" the French - unburied corpses lay all over Jaffa. This disease undermined the morale of the soldiers. Napoleon was gloomy, walked ahead of the troops gloomy and silent. The war did not develop as he dreamed, besides, he learned about the infidelity of his beloved Josephine. This news caused him great shock. Napoleon was furious and showered curses until recently on the dearest name.

But Napoleon still hoped to turn the tide. On March 14, the army moved on and on the 18th approached the walls of the old fortress of Saint-Jean d "Acre (Acre). The fortress was defended by a 5 thousand garrison (initially, then increased) under the command of Ahmed Al-Jazzar. Napoleon believed that the capture this fortress will open him a direct route to Damascus and Aleppo, to the Euphrates. He saw himself following the path of the great Alexander the Great. Behind Damascus, Baghdad and a direct route to India were waiting for him. But the old fortress, which once belonged to the crusaders, did not succumb to the troops of Napoleon. Neither the siege nor the assaults produced the expected results.

The Turkish command sent an army of 25 thousand under the command of the Damascus Pasha Abdullah to rescue the fortress. Initially, Napoleon sent Kléber's division against her. But having learned about the significant superiority of the enemy forces, Bonaparte personally led the troops, leaving part of the corps to besiege Acre. On April 16, near Mount Tabor (Tavor), Napoleon defeated the Turkish troops, the Turks lost 5 thousand people, all supplies and fled to Damascus.

The siege of Acre lasted two months and ended unsuccessfully. Napoleon did not have enough siege artillery, and there were few people for a massive assault. There were not enough shells, ammunition, and their transportation by sea and land was impossible. The Turkish garrison was strong. The British helped the Ottomans: Sidney Smith organized the defense, the British brought reinforcements, ammunition, weapons, provisions from the sea. The French army lost 500 (2.3 thousand) killed and 2.5 thousand wounded and sick near the walls of Acre. The generals Cafarelli (conducted siege work), Bon, Rambo died, Sulkovsky died even earlier, Lannes and Duroc were wounded. Acre was grinding the small French army. Napoleon could not replenish the ranks of his army, and the Turks were constantly receiving reinforcements. The commander became more and more convinced that his fading strength would not be enough to capture this fortress, which, like an insurmountable stronghold, stood in the way of the realization of his dream.

In the early morning of May 21, the French troops withdrew from their positions. The soldiers marched quickly, shortening their rest time so that they would not overtake the enemy, on the same road they came from, after three months of suffering and sacrifices that turned out to be in vain. The withdrawal was accompanied by the ruin of the region, in order to complicate the Ottomans in carrying out an offensive operation. The retreat was even harder than the advance. It was already the end of May, and summer was approaching, when the temperature in these parts reaches its maximum level. In addition, the plague still pursued the French army. The plague had to be left behind, but the wounded and the sick were not taken with the plague. Napoleon ordered everyone to dismount, and leave the horses, all wagons and carriages to the incapacitated. I walked like everyone else. It was a terrible transition, the army was melting before our eyes. Plague, overwork, heat and lack of water killed people. Up to a third of its composition did not return. On June 14, the remnants of the corps reached Cairo.

Departure of Napoleon

Before Bonaparte had time to rest in Cairo, the news came that a Turkish army had landed near Abukir. On July 11, the Anglo-Turkish fleet arrived at the Aboukir raid; on the 14th, 18,000 men were landed. landing. Mustafa Pasha had to gather the Mamluks and all those dissatisfied with French rule in Egypt. The French commander immediately set out on a campaign and headed north to the Nile Delta.

By July 25, Napoleon gathered about 8 thousand soldiers and attacked the Turkish positions. In this battle, the French washed away the shame of the French fleet for a recent defeat. The Turkish landing army simply ceased to exist: 13 thousand dead (most drowned trying to escape), about 5 thousand prisoners. “This battle is one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen: not a single person escaped from the entire landed enemy army,” the French commander joyfully wrote. French losses were 200 killed and 550 wounded.

After that, Napoleon decided to return to Europe. France at that time was defeated in Italy, where all the fruits of Napoleon's victories were destroyed by the Russian-Austrian troops under the command of Suvorov. France itself and Paris were threatened by an enemy invasion. The Republic was in turmoil and complete disorder in business. Napoleon got a historic chance to "save" France. And he took advantage of it. In addition, his dream of conquering the East failed. On August 22, taking advantage of the absence of the British fleet, accompanied by his fellow generals Berthier, Lannes, Andreosi, Murat, Marmont, Duroc and Bessieres, the commander sailed from Alexandria. On 9 October they landed safely at Fréjus.

The command of the French troops in Egypt was entrusted to Kléber. Napoleon gave him instructions in which he allowed to capitulate if "due to incalculable unforeseen circumstances, all efforts will be fruitless ...". The French Egyptian army could not stand against the combined Anglo-Turkish forces. The troops cut off from France resisted for some time, but by the end of the summer of 1801 they were forced to clear Egypt, on the condition of their return to France. The main reason for the defeat of the Egyptian expedition was the lack of constant communication with France and the dominance of the British at sea.

Bonaparte plans. In the mid 90s. 18th century the newly emerged French Republic defended its independence and went on the offensive. It was obvious that the main enemy of France was Great Britain, sheltered from the attacks of French divisions by its island position. The planned invasion of England through Ireland was never carried out. It was possible to harm England by disrupting her trade, endangering the security of her colonial possessions. By the way, it was worth thinking about the expansion of French colonial possessions, most of which was lost in the last decades of the "old order", i.e. under Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI.

With this in mind, General Bonaparte, who gained immense popularity after the Italian campaign, proposed organizing an expedition to Egypt. If this enterprise was successful, a French colony could be established in Egypt, and then move towards India. By proposing this plan, Bonaparte hoped to strengthen his influence, and the government of the Directory hoped to send the restless and already dangerously popular general "longer and further away" from Paris. So, for various reasons, different forces were interested in carrying out a campaign in North Africa.

Organization of the trip. They tried to keep the organization and preparation of the event in strict confidence. The enemy should not have known why such a large fleet was gathering in Toulon, Genoa, Civitta Vecchia and Ajaccio, where this fleet intended to go. To transport a huge army (in total, the forces assembled under the command of General Bonaparte amounted to about 50 thousand people), about 500 sailboats were assembled in Mediterranean ports belonging to France. The flagship battleship "Orient" carried 120 guns, it was supposed to be commander N. Bonaparte and Admiral Bruy. The army consisted of 30 thousand infantry, 2700 cavalry, 1600 artillerymen, about 500 guides. The command staff was headed by the best generals of the republic, such as Berthier, Desaix, Kleben, Lannes, Murat, Sulkovsky, Lavalette. Only 1200 horses were taken, hoping to compensate for their lack on the spot. In addition, a “detachment” of scientists was seconded to the army, consisting of specialists of various profiles, from mathematicians and geographers to historians and writers. Among them were the illustrious Berthollet, the chemist Conte, the writer Arno, the mineralogist Dolomier, and the physician Degenet.

Bonaparte sailed from Toulon on May 19, 1798. This fact, quite naturally, became known to the British, but they did not know where the French fleet was heading. Two months after the entry of a large squadron into the Mediterranean, a diverting landing was made in Ireland. Rumors spread that Bonaparte's expedition was also to turn west through Gibraltar.

Pursuit of Bonaparte. The English admiral Nelson entered the Mediterranean through Gibraltar in early May to control the movements of the French. It so happened that a strong storm badly battered the British ships, and when they completed the repairs, the French had already departed in an unknown direction. Nelson had to go in pursuit of the disappeared enemy. On May 22, he learned that a week earlier, the French had captured the island of Malta and left in an easterly direction.

Nelson's squadron headed for Egypt. Since the British ships were faster than the French, she arrived there on June 28, ahead of the enemy. The English admiral decided that he had chosen the wrong direction and sailed from Alexandria towards Turkey, missing Bonaparte for one day.

Landing at Aboukir. At noon on July 1, at Abukir, located a few miles east of Alexandria, the landing of the French army began. The next night, the commander reviewed the landed part of the troops. After that, the soldiers, hungry and not rested, marched towards Alexandria. The dilapidated defensive structures of the city could not withstand the assault, and by the night of July 2, the city was taken. Meanwhile, the landing of the French army near Abukir was fully completed only on July 5th. After that, Bonaparte moved along the Nile to the south, towards Cairo.

The population of the country was fellahs ( dependent peasants), Bedouin nomads and Mameluke warriors, who represented the ruling stratum of Egyptian society. Politically, Egypt was in vassal dependence on Turkey, but the Sultan did not interfere in the internal affairs of this territory. However, the shameless invasion of the French, who did not even bother to officially announce the start of the war, pushed the Sultan to the anti-French coalition.

Fellahi and the Declaration of Rights. The French hoped that by entering Egyptian soil, they would secure the support of the fellahs if they promised them freedom and equality. An appeal was drawn up and read out by General Bonaparte, who promised the fellahs "to punish the usurpers and restore their rights." The fellahs sullenly listened to the educational slogans addressed to them and remained completely indifferent. Flowery phrases about equality and human rights did not find any response in the souls of these illiterate and half-starved people, preoccupied with such prosaic problems as the need to feed their families, no response. The words of the appeal, so pleasing to the Europeans of the Enlightenment, in Egypt hit above and beyond the target. This situation, in fact, determined the entire course and outcome of the campaign: Bonaparte had to act, in the words of the historian Manfred, “in a social vacuum”, without a response and support among the masses of the local population. Thinking about this campaign, Napoleon, who was still thinking in terms of revolutionary times, hoped that the French would act according to the scenario worked out in Europe: the peoples of the East would rise to meet the army, carrying liberation from the oppression of the British. Meanwhile, he and his soldiers found themselves in the sphere of a different civilization, living with different values, according to different rules.

Mamluks. As for the brave Mamelukes, they bravely set out to meet the uninvited guests. These dashing riders and skillful slayers boasted how they would chop foreigners into pieces, "like pumpkins." On July 21, two armies met in the Valley of the Pyramids near Cairo. Murad Bey's army consisted of thousands of well-armed (a carbine, two pairs of pistols, a saber, a stiletto, an ax attached to the pommel of the saddle) riders, desperately brave, excellently wielding a horse and weapons and accustomed to acting on own fear and risk, as in a single duel. In the rear they had hastily erected earthen fortifications, behind which the infantry, consisting of hastily armed fellahs, took refuge.

Battle in the Valley of the Pyramids. They were opposed by a well-coordinated military machine, where each soldier was part of a single whole. The attacking Mamelukes did not expect that the enemy would withstand their swift and unstoppable onslaught. Tradition ascribes to General Bonaparte words that seem to have been said by him when addressing his soldiers before the start of the battle. Let us leave their reliability on the conscience of Napoleonic historiographers, but it sounds expressive: “Soldiers, know that forty centuries have been looking at you from the tops of these pyramids!” When the French moved on the Mamelukes, they attacked their close formation of bayonets in separate detachments. Moving forward, the French squares outflanked the Mamelukes, defeated them, and partially pushed them back to the Nile, where many of the Mamelukes drowned. The losses of the parties looked as follows: about fifty Frenchmen and about two thousand Mamelukes. Bonaparte's victory was complete. The Battle of the Valley of the Pyramids is a prime example of an armed clash between medieval warriors and the regular army of the late 18th century.

A day later, the French entered Cairo and settled there, marveling at the abundance of dirt and jewels. Bonaparte undertook to organize the management of the country "in the European manner", still hoping to organize support and support for himself in the local environment.

Defeat at Aboukir. And then an event occurred that dramatically changed the whole situation. By the evening of August 1, 1798, Nelson's squadron, wandering in vain in search of an opponent along the coast of Turkey, returned to the mouth of the Nile and found the desired French fleet in the Gulf of Aboukir. There were more French ships, so the English naval commander, famous for his bold and unexpected decisions, did this: part of the English ships wedged between the coast and the line of French ships. Thus, the French were literally "between two fires." True, the British were fired upon not only from the sea, but also from the shore, but the fire of the British artillery turned out to be stronger. The core was killed by Admiral Bruy, and after that the flagship "Orient", on which he was, took off into the air. By noon on August 2, the French fleet ceased to exist. Most of it was destroyed or captured. The crews of the two ships, seeing the hopelessness of their situation, preferred to sink their ships themselves. Vice Admiral Villeneuve managed to withdraw four ships from enemy fire. The naval battle of Abukir (another name is the Battle of the Nile) brought to naught all the successes achieved by Bonaparte in military operations on land.

The conqueror of the Mamelukes did not learn of the catastrophe that befell him until two weeks after the Battle of the Nile: even his organizational genius was unable to establish communication in this country, where time and speed did not matter. Bonaparte realized that he was cut off from communication with France, and this meant a delayed but inevitable death.

"Donkeys and scientists in the middle!" Nelson, having repaired his ships, left Egypt and went to Naples, leaving the rival deprived of maritime means of transportation. Part of the French army, led by Desaix, headed for the upper reaches of the Nile, pursuing the remnants of Murad Bey's detachments. Scientists who decided to take the opportunity to study the secrets of the East were also part of the Desaix units. When detachments of Mamluks flew into the French troops, the command was distributed: “Donkeys and scientists in the middle!” The soldiers placed in the center of the square these two expeditionary valuables - inquisitive bipedal intellectuals and trouble-free long-eared porters - and entered into battle. In clashes with the Mamelukes, the French emerged victorious, but this did not change their hopeless situation.

Desperate decision. In order to break out of the mousetrap, in February 1799 Bonaparte made a desperate decision to move to Syria "on dry land", that is, through the desert. The French advanced inland, capturing fortresses and engaging in skirmishes with an elusive enemy. At the beginning of March, the stubbornly resisting fortress of Jaffa was taken, half of its garrison was killed during the assault, the other half was taken prisoner and also killed. The reason for such cruelty was that among those captured were people whom the French released after capturing another fortress. A two-month siege of the coastal fortress of Acre (Saint-Jean d'Acre), the defense of which was led by European officers from the British and French royalists, ended in vain. Losses grew among the rank and file and command personnel. A terrible misfortune for the French army was the plague epidemic.

Exhausted by battles, plague, lack of water and heat, the French army was forced to return to Egypt again, where the Turks, who had landed near Abukir, were waiting for them. On July 25, 1799, another land battle took place near the same Abukir, during which Bonaparte managed to restore his military reputation. But even this victory did not give anything to the winner - another Turkish army was approaching from Syria.

Bonaparte abandoned his plans to create a state in Egypt, organized in a European way. The Egyptian campaign interested him largely in how he would be able to increase his popularity in France. It was the situation in France, where at the time of his departure to the East, the position of the government of the Directory was unsteady and uncertain, which occupied him in the first place. Echoes of the events taking place in Europe reached Bonaparte. Now, a year and a half after he left Paris, it was obvious that the Directory was finally "ripe" to fall.

It is difficult to guess the logic of Bonaparte's thoughts, but his actions were as follows: discarding the sense of duty and responsibility for the troops entrusted to him, on August 22, 1799, Bonaparte fled Egypt on one of the surviving ships, leaving his army to the mercy of fate. He left a written order to his deputy, General Kléber, transferring command to him. Moreover, the order was received by the deputy when Bonaparte was already at sea. For several more months, the brave Kleber continued his hopeless cause until he was killed, and in the autumn of 1801 the French army in Egypt was forced to surrender to the Anglo-Turkish troops.

Coup d'état of Bonaparte. Common sense suggests that the general who committed such an act should say goodbye to his career. The government was obliged to punish him severely, and the public - to subject him to no less severe censure. Everything happened, however, exactly the opposite: the French greeted the conqueror of the mysterious East with hope and jubilation, and the thieving Directory did not dare to reproach the hero for anything. A month after Bonaparte landed on the French coast, he staged a coup d'état and became a sovereign dictator, "citizen first consul."

The Egyptian campaign, which showed how great the distance between a military victory and the consolidation of its results in society, left a glorious mark on the development of European science and culture. The work of the scientists who accompanied Bonaparte's army was the only achievement of this grandiose adventure. The Egyptian campaign contributed to the change of the world in the sense that it was on his return from there that Napoleon Bonaparte turned the French Republic into Napoleonic France.

As we already know, even during the time of the Crusades, Egypt was a priority target for French kings, feudal lords and merchants. As Albert Manfred noted: “From the time that Leibniz gave advice to Louis XIV to take possession of Egypt, this idea did not cease to occupy throughout the eighteenth century statesmen and some French thinkers" (9) .

In the XVI - XVIII centuries merchants and shipowners of Marseille, Toulon and other Mediterranean ports of France had extensive connections with Egypt and other countries of the Levant. Charles Roux believed that, on average, in the 18th century, the volume of annual trade between France and Egypt approached 5.5 million piastres (10).

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, Talleyrand, in a report to the Institute on July 3, 1797, "Memoirs on the advantages of new colonies in modern conditions," directly pointed to Egypt as a possible compensation for the losses suffered by France.

Formally, Egypt was part of the Ottoman Empire. However, in the middle of the 17th century, the Mamluk beys achieved a significant degree of autonomy from Constantinople. The Sultan had no choice but to automatically approve the appointment of the next bey.

Needless to say, "enlightened navigators" also had their own views on Egypt. Napoleon wrote in his memoirs: “In 1775, the Mamluks entered into an agreement with the English Indian (East India. - A.Sh.) Company. From that moment on, French trading houses were subjected to insults and all kinds of humiliations. On the complaint of the Court of Versailles, in 1786 the Porte sent Kapudan Pasha Hasan against the beys; but since the revolution, French trade has again been subjected to persecution. Porta said that she could not do anything about it, and the Mamelukes were "greedy, godless and rebellious people," and made it clear that she would treat the expedition against Egypt tolerantly - just as she reacted to the expedition against Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli " (eleven) .

Marmont wrote that from the time of the Italian campaign, the campaign in Egypt was the favorite brainchild of Bonaparte. “Europe is a wormhole! There have never been such great possessions and great revolutions as in the East, where six hundred million people live ”(12).

So, the interests of the commercial bourgeoisie and the grandiose plans of General Bonaparte coincided. Well, the Directory was pleased with any outcome of the campaign: the occupation of Egypt is good, and the death or capture of an ambitious general is just great. In the ports of Toulon, Marseille, Corsica, Genoa and Civata Vecchia, 13 ships (of the line), 9 frigates, 11 corvettes and advice notes, as well as 232 transport ships were assembled. They housed the landing force - 32,300 people and 680 horses. But the transports carried a harness for 6 thousand horses, counting on future trophies.

Bonaparte planned to settle in Egypt seriously and for a long time. Therefore, he did not even forget ... a large commission of scientists and engineers. The commission consisted of Academicians Monge and Berthollet, Dolomier, Denon; chief engineers of communications Lehner, Girard; the mathematicians Fourier, Costas, Coransez; the astronomers Nue, Beauchamp and Mashen; naturalists Geoffroy, Savigny; the chemists Decostilles, Chalpy and Delisle; draftsmen Duguertre, Redoute; musician Viyoto; poet Parseval; architects Leper, Proten. It also included Conte, the head of the group of aeronauts. About twenty students of the Polytechnic and Mining Schools (13) were attached to this commission.

Between May 15 and 20, 1798, the French Armada sailed from five ports. The purpose of the expedition was kept in the strictest confidence. All of Europe held its breath. Newspapers disseminated the most controversial information about Bonaparte's plans - from the landing in England to the capture of Constantinople. On the banks of the Neva, they got frightened and decided that the villain "Bonaparty" had planned to take the Crimea. On April 23, 1798, Paul I urgently sends an order to Ushakov to go to sea with a squadron and take a position between Akhtiar and Odessa, "observing all movements from the Porte and the French."

To begin with, Bonaparte decided to capture the island of Malta, which controlled the passage from the west to eastern part Mediterranean Sea. Since 1525, the island belonged to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (colloquially, the Order of Malta). The order, formally maintaining neutrality, did not recognize the French Republic. The reason is very serious - the Jacobins nationalized the numerous land holdings of the order in France.

I note that the revolutionaries not only did not send the knights of the order to the guillotine, but also assigned them large pensions. Nevertheless, the master of the order, Ferdinand von Gampesh, refused to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic. French merchant ships could enter Malta only by lowering the tricolor. But Malta has always served as the base of the British fleet. From the warehouses of the Grand Master, 20 thousand pounds of gunpowder were sent to the Corsican separatists. Finally, the order surrendered itself under the patronage of Paul I. The Orthodox tsar became the head of the Catholic-Masonic order... There were so many anecdotes in our long-suffering Russia!

In principle, any of the listed factors from the point of view of the then law was enough to declare war on Malta.

The island was an impregnable fortress, but the chivalry had long since decayed. The order lived off the rent collected from its possessions in Western and Central Europe. So, in 1789, he received in the form of rent from 18 to 20 million francs. In addition, the knights dabbled in piracy - income from the loot plus a ransom for captives.

It took Bonaparte 48 hours to capture Malta. The loss of the French amounted to 3 people. On June 12, at 2 o'clock in the morning, the capitulation of the order was signed on board the flagship Orion. Malta became part of the French Republic. The knights received a guarantee of the inviolability of their property on the island.

The French General Caffarelli, the next day, inspecting the fortifications of Malta, jokingly remarked: "It's good that there were people in them to open the gates for us."

The trophies of the French were huge stocks of weapons and food. Napoleon wrote: “There was a 64-gun ship of the order of the order in the roadstead and another one was on the stocks. To increase the number of light ships in the fleet, the admiral took two half-galleys and two xebecs. He took on these ships the sailors who served the order. Three hundred Turks, who were in hard labor as slaves, dressed up and distributed among the ships of the line. The army was followed by a legion composed of battalions called Maltese. It was formed from soldiers who served the order. The grenadiers of the guard of the Grand Master and several knights also entered the service (in the French army. - A.Sh.). Some Arabic-speaking residents wished to be assigned to generals and various institutions.

Three companies of veterans, made up of old soldiers of the order, were sent to Corfu and Corsica. The fortress had 1,200 cannons, 40,000 guns, 1 million pounds of gunpowder. The chief of artillery ordered to load on the ships everything that he considered necessary for the replenishment and staffing of the materiel. The squadron stocked up with water and food. The warehouses of rye were very large, their contents would have been enough for the city for three years. The frigate "Sansible" took to France trophies and several rarities that the commander-in-chief sent to the government ...

By June 18, not a single knight remained in Malta. The Grand Master sailed for Trieste on the 17th. Silver dishes found in the treasury worth a million were minted into coins upon arrival in Cairo ”(14) .

Napoleon, out of modesty, did not mention the hidden treasures of the Order.

On June 30, 1798, the French fleet approached Alexandria. Well, what was the famous Admiral Nelson doing? While preparing for the campaign of the French Armada, Nelson's squadron stood at the Strait of Gibraltar - what if the villain goes to Foggy Albion? When Horatio learned about the capture of Malta, he rushed in search of the French and got ahead of them. When Nelson's squadron arrived in Alexandria, no one heard anything about Bonaparte or the French at all. Nelson decided that the French fleet was heading for Alexandretta or Constantinople, and also rushed there.

On July 2, the French landing force, led by Bonaparte, moved to storm Alexandria. After the French captured several fortifications, the city's garrison capitulated. The paratroopers lost about 300 people killed and wounded, and the Egyptians 700 - 800 people. The Mamluks who ruled Egypt did not enjoy the special love of the townspeople, therefore, immediately after the surrender of Alexandria, Sheikh Al-Shesri, local ulema and sherfi took an oath of allegiance to Bonaparte.

By order of Bonaparte, General Berthier ordered that a large number of proclamations in French, Arabic and Turkish be posted throughout Alexandria, and also distributed to the inhabitants, the content of which basically boiled down to the following: “Kadis, sheikhs, ulema, imams, Charbodzhiy, people of Egypt! The beys have insulted France enough; the hour of retribution has arrived. God, on whom everything depends, said: the kingdom of the Mamluks has come to an end. You will be told that I have come to destroy the religion of Islam. Answer that I love the prophet and the Koran, that I have come to restore your rights. In all ages we have been friends of the great Sultan. Thrice happy are those who speak out for us! Happy are those who remain neutral, they will have time to get to know us. Woe to the fools who raise their weapons against us, they will perish! Villages that want to surrender themselves under our protection will raise the flag of the Sultan, as well as the army, on the minaret of the main mosque. Villages whose inhabitants commit hostilities will be treated according to the law of war; if such cases occur, they will be burned. Sheikh al-beleds, imams, muezzins are approved in their positions.”

Bonaparte wrote a letter to Pasha, which was delivered to him in Cairo by an officer from a Turkish caravel. This letter stated: “The French government has several times appealed to the Sublime Porte, demanding the punishment of the beys and an end to the insults to which our nation was subjected in Egypt; The Sublime Porte has declared that the Mamelukes are greedy and capricious people... and that she is depriving them of imperial protection... The French Republic sends a strong army to put an end to the robberies, just as she did several times in relation to Algiers and Tripoli ... So, come out to meet me.

700 Turkish slaves freed in Malta were disembarked from French ships and sent overland to their homeland. Among them were natives of Tripoli, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Damascus, Syria, Smyrna and Constantinople. “They were well fed, well dressed, treated with respect. They were given sums of money sufficient to cover their travel expenses” (15) .

The liberated spread rumors about the power and generosity of Napoleon.

As already mentioned, Napoleon took with him only 680 horses, some of which fell on the way. Needless to say, only with them the French army would have died in the desert, even without the influence of the enemy. But Bonaparte's proclamations played their part. Already on July 4, 30 sheikhs of the Henadi, Aulad-Ali and Beniaunus tribes arrived at Bonaparte's main apartment. The generals and sheikhs signed an agreement under which they provided the French with 300 horses and 1,500 camels. Naturally, this was not enough for such an army, but it was possible to move forward.

Leaving a garrison of 8,000 men in Alexandria, led by General Kléber, Bonaparte marched on Cairo.

It is curious that later Bonaparte was credited with the words: "Islam is the true religion." He also added that if people read more, they will become smarter. Then they will follow the logic and look for arguments. Such people will not worship different gods and blindly observe rituals. They acknowledge the oneness of God. "And so I hope that the time will come soon when Islam will be all over the world, because ... It already prevails."

However, there is no evidence of the authenticity of these statements.

After the defeat at Austerlitz, Alexander I did not come up with anything smarter than to order the Holy Synod to declare Napoleon ... the Antichrist. It was announced to the people that Napoleon had secretly converted to Islam back in 1799 in Egypt, as well as many other interesting things. The stupidity of the tsar and the Synod horrified all literate priests. According to the canons of the Orthodox Church, the Antichrist was supposed to initially take over the whole world and only then die from divine powers and not from the hands of people. From which it followed that it was pointless to fight Bonaparte.

By order of Bonaparte, Rear Admiral Perret formed the Nile Flotilla, consisting of two half-galleys, three half-shebeks, four messenger ships and six armed jerms, that is, from 15 pennants with crews of French sailors totaling 600 people.

In several battles, the Mameluke cavalry was defeated. On July 21, 1798, in the battle at the foot of the pyramids, all the fierce attacks of the Mamluks of Murad Bey were smashed against an impenetrable French square. Then Bonaparte uttered his famous phrase: “Soldiers! Forty centuries are watching you!” The Mamelukes were utterly defeated in this battle.

At the same time, the no less famous phrase was uttered: "Donkeys and scientists - in the middle of the square." It was them that the general considered the most important for the success of the expedition.

A fierce battle took place on the Nile between the French and Egyptian river fleets. The Mamelukes had about 600 riverboats, of which 25 were armed with cannons. The Turkish flotilla began to overcome the enemy. Then General Bonaparte ordered several dozen 8- and 12-pounder guns and 24-pound howitzers to be brought to the coast. The Egyptians were forced to withdraw from the battle. Using a fair wind and using oars, they went up the Nile.

Rumors spread around Cairo that the French sultan is a sorcerer who keeps all the soldiers tied with a thick white rope, and depending on which way he pulls it, the soldiers turn right or left, like one person.

On August 1, Nelson finally discovered the French squadron stationed at Cape Abukir at the confluence of the Nile into the Mediterranean Sea. The French squadron, consisting of 13 ships and 4 frigates, was anchored in the Gulf of Aboukir. Nelson had 14 ships and one brig (a total of 1,012 men).

Purely arithmetically, the French were stronger, but in fact the British had significant advantages. Thus, a significant part of the French ships, such as the "Guerrier" and "Conkeran", were old and dilapidated, the maximum caliber of the guns installed on them was only 18 pounds.

Before the revolution of 1789, the percentage of aristocrats among naval officers was much higher than in the army. Accordingly, the percentage of those who left the fleet in 1790 - 1793. officers was much higher than in the army. By 1798, the Republicans failed to prepare a new naval officer corps, which seriously affected the combat capability of French ships.

The commander of the French squadron, Vice Admiral Francois Bruce, acted extremely illiterately. He did not take obvious measures to protect the fleet, which were also possible in the Aboukir Bay, did not keep patrol ships at sea and did not send out scouts to give early warning of the approach of the British. He did not do this on August 1 either, when a significant part of the team was sent ashore for fresh water, and the battery decks were cluttered with barrels pulled out of the hold for pouring water brought from the shore.

The disposition of the squadron itself was arranged illiterately. There were 13 ships of the line in the first line (1 - 120-gun, 3 - 80-gun, 9 - 74-gun), but none of the flanks was so close to the shallows of 4-sazhen depth that the enemy could not bypass it and so that he cannot penetrate the disposition. The passages between the shallows and the flanks were not protected even by the groups of frigates, which (4) formed a second line opposite the middle part of the first. Small vessels (about 30) were under the very shore, at Cape Aboukir.

A battery was built on the island of Aboukir, but due to the weakness of the six guns mounted on it and the range of the distance, it could not stop the breakthrough of enemy ships between the shallows and the northern flank of the first line.

In the battle, Admiral Bruce received two severe wounds and died three hours after the start of the battle.

Nelson, with eight ships of the line, attacked the five ships of Bruce's advance guard. Meanwhile, the rearguard under the command of Rear Admiral Villeneuve calmly watched the destruction of the French avant-garde.

As a result, only two French ships and two frigates managed to leave the battlefield. The French lost over 6,000 men killed, wounded and captured. The loss of the British amounted to about 900 people.

The French ship "Guillaume Tell" and the frigates "Diana" and "Justis" went to Malta, and the ship "Genera" at Candia (Crete) met the British 50-gun ship "Leander", sent by Nelson to England with the news of the Aboukir victory. "Genera" captured the "Leander" and with him came to the fortress of Corfu (Ionian Islands) occupied by the French. Looking ahead, I’ll say that after the capture of Corfu, Admiral Fyodor Ushakov, at the direction of Paul I, returned the Leander to “enlightened navigators”.

The defeat near Abukir significantly hampered the supply of the expeditionary army. However, the phrase from the Russian Military Encyclopedia - "This defeat, depriving the French Egyptian army of communication with France, left it to its own forces" (16) - is misunderstood by all our historians. The French Republic had a fairly large number of warships and thousands of large and small transport ships. Therefore, the supply of the expeditionary army could be successfully carried out from the ports of southern France, northern Italy and from the Ionian Islands. By the way, not all French ships were destroyed even in Egypt. In addition to the four ships and frigates that went to Malta and Corfu, there were two 64-gun ships, 7 frigates, brigs and corvettes in Alexandria. Most of the transport ships also survived.

Another question is that Barras and Co. simply did not want to supply Egypt with weapons and reinforcements, dreaming of the death of Bonaparte. So it’s more literate to say that the Directory, and secondarily Nelson, stopped supplying the Egyptian army.

Sultan Selim III hesitated for a long time between an alliance with France and a declaration of war on her. The battle of Abuqir and the arrival of Ushakov's squadron in Constantinople helped the Sultan to make a choice. On September 1, 1798, the Ottoman Empire declared war on the Republic.

When the population of Cairo learned about the beginning of the war with Turkey, an uprising began in the city, which lasted from October 21 to October 23, 1798. General Dupont and over 100 French were killed. During the pacification of the uprising, up to 5 thousand Arabs died. It should be noted that most of the sheikhs did not take part in the rebellion, and many townspeople hid the French in their homes.

Meanwhile, the Turks were completing the formation of an army in Anatolia and on the island of Rhodes, which, together with the troops of the semi-independent governor of Syria and Palestine, Jezar Ahmed Pasha, was supposed to drive the French out of Egypt.

Napoleon decided to launch a preemptive strike and occupy Palestine and Syria. On January 1, 1799, Napoleon's army consisted of 29,700 combatants and non-combatants, including: Upper Egypt - 6550 people, Lower Egypt - 10,000 people, Syria - 13,150 people. In early January, Bonaparte set out on a campaign in Syria with four infantry divisions and one cavalry division of Murat (about 14 thousand people in total). The Syrian army needed 3,000 camels and 3,000 donkeys to transport food, water and baggage. Namely: a thousand camels to transport a two-week supply of food for 14 thousand people, as well as for 3 thousand horses of cavalry, headquarters and artillery; and 2,000 camels to transport a supply of water for three days.

It was impossible to carry siege weapons across the desert. Therefore, two siege parks, each containing four 24-pounder guns, four 16-pounder guns and four 8-inch mortars, were transferred by sea. One fleet was loaded in Damietta on six shebeks (rowing ships), and the other fleet was sent from Alexandria on three frigates (Jupan, Courage and Alsest).

On February 9, 1799, the French, after a short bombardment, captured the El Arish fort. On February 26, Napoleon was in Gaza, and on March 3 he went to the heavily fortified fortress of Jaffa. On March 7, the divisions of Lannes and Bon, having made a gap in the city wall, after a stubborn assault, captured the city, capturing 40 field and 20 fortress guns.

On March 14, the army, in which the first signs of the plague had already appeared, moved on. On March 19, the French approached Accra and, under the leadership of General Caffarelli, began siege work.

Meanwhile, the English squadron blockaded the coast and on March 18 intercepted six French shebecs with one of the siege parks. The British installed the captured guns on the fortifications of Accra. Frigates with a different fleet were unloaded in Jaffa only on June 15th.

Meanwhile, the 25,000-strong Turkish army of Damascus Pasha Abdullah was approaching Accra. Kléber's division was moved against it. The revealed superiority of the Turkish forces forced Bonaparte to personally go out to meet them with most of the siege corps, leaving Rainier and Lannes divisions in front of Accra.

On April 16, a battle took place near Mount Tabor, in which the Turks were defeated and fled to Damascus, losing up to 5 thousand people and the entire camp.

In April 1799, an 8,000th Turkish corps was sent from Rhodes on ships. By the evening of May 7, the Turkish fleet appeared in sight of Accra. Bonaparte, taking advantage of the calm, which prevented the transports from approaching the shore, immediately launched a desperate attack. On the morning of May 8, the French managed to capture the advanced lines of fortifications. Commander Sydney Smith, despite the distance, nevertheless transported part of the Turkish soldiers, and at a critical moment, when the French were already ready to break into the city, he brought in a landing force, which he led himself.

In this situation, Bonaparte made the only right decision - to return to Egypt. On 21 May he lifted the siege of Accra. The return of the army from Syria was accompanied by the complete devastation of the region in order to complicate the invasion of the Turks into Egypt from this side. On June 2, the army reached El Arish, on June 7 - Salagie, from where Kleber's division was sent to Damietta, and the rest of the troops to Cairo.

On July 15, he received news that thirteen 80-gun and 74-gun ships of the line, 9 frigates, 30 gunboats and 90 transports with Turkish troops anchored in the Aboukir roadstead. The Anglo-Turkish fleet landed a landing force of 16,000 men under the command of Mustafa Pasha. The Turks occupied the Aboukir peninsula, but did not dare to go further.

Bonaparte decided to throw the Turks into the sea, despite the fact that he could only muster 6,000 men. The Turkish position consisted of two fortified lines, of which the first rested on both flanks against the fortifications located on the seashore. On the morning of July 25, Bonaparte sent Lannes and Desteng with a detachment of 1,800 men around the flanks along the seashore. When their attention was diverted, Murat broke through the center with his cavalry and attacked the flanks from the rear. During the first hour of the battle, 8 thousand people died: 5400 drowned, 1400 were wounded or killed on the battlefield and 1200 surrendered. The winners got 18 guns, 30 charging boxes, 50 banners.

Bonaparte decided to immediately attack the second fortified line, in front of which was the village of Abukir and the center of which relied on a strong redoubt. Again, it was decided to divert the attention of the Turks by demonstrations on the flanks in order to break through their center.

Lann managed, with the support of Murat's artillery and cavalry, to penetrate along the coast into the area where the Turks were located, and the French were able to take possession of the village of Aboukir. The Turks retreated to a redoubt located on a flat hill. Several attempts by Murat to penetrate further along the coast were unsuccessful due to the heavy crossfire of the Turks from the redoubt and from the gunboats.

French attacks on the right flank and center were also unsuccessful. Although the French reached the very fortifications, due to the heavy fire of the Turks, they were forced to retreat to the village.

The Turks, for their part, wanting to recapture the village, went on the offensive, which gave the French the opportunity to make a brilliant attack. Taking advantage of the effect produced by it, Bonaparte directed all his forces to the assault, and he himself led his troops into the attack. The fortifications were taken, and only a small handful of Turks managed to take refuge in the castle.

Mustafa was wounded in the hand by Murat, and in turn, the pasha from a pistol wounded the general in the head. In the end, Mustafa Pasha and a thousand Turks surrendered to the victors. The rest tried to escape in the water, but most drowned.

Sydney Smith was nearly captured and barely made it to his boat. Three Pasha's bunchuks, 100 banners, 32 field guns, 120 charging boxes, all tents, carts, 400 horses remained on the battlefield. From 3 to 4 thousand fugitives went to the fort, settled in the village lying in front of them and entrenched themselves in it. All attempts to knock them out of there were unsuccessful.

Then the French artillery began bombarding the fort. At dawn on August 2, a crowd of Turks ran out of the fort and surrendered. In the fort itself there were 1,200 corpses and more than 1,800 seriously wounded. Bonaparte ordered the wounded to be sent back to the English ships. The British were forced to accept the Turks. The English admiral, as a "courtesy", handed over to the French packs of English and Frankfurt newspapers with news related to April, May and June.

These newspapers shocked Bonaparte: “The second coalition was victorious; the armies of Russia and Austria defeated General Jourdan on the Danube, Scherer on the Adige, Moreau on the Adda. The Cisalpine Republic was destroyed, Mantua was besieged; the Cossacks reached the Alpine border; Massena was hardly kept in the mountains of Switzerland" (17). Royalists again started an uprising in the Vendée.

This is how Napoleon later explained his departure. However, the decisive reason for the departure was the complete futility of the war in Egypt. Its outcome was obvious, the only question was the time and conditions for the surrender of the French troops.

In the strictest secrecy, Bonaparte ordered Rear Admiral Gantol to prepare the Muiron and Carer frigates and the Revange and Fortune shebeks for the campaign.

At 9 pm on August 12 (23), 1799, General Bonaparte left Alexandria on the frigate Muiron and, accompanied by three ships, moved west.

In the event of a meeting with enemy ships, Napoleon planned to flee on shebeks, and the frigate was supposed to tie up the enemy ships in battle. Great commander thought out every detail to avoid the slightest risk. A detachment of French ships did not go in a direct way, but along the coast of Africa, and then - the coast of the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. The underwater part of the hulls of both shebeks was sheathed with copper, and they had good sailing speed. Near the coast, the xebec had every chance to get away from the ships and frigates of the enemy on oars, as well as using a small draft.

Bonaparte took with him the best generals of the Egyptian army - Lana, Murat, Marmont, Berthier, Monge and Berthollet. Napoleon left General Kléber as commander-in-chief in Egypt.

Formally, the departure of General Bonaparte without an order from Paris was pure desertion. However, from the point of view military strategy, and most importantly - big politics it was a genius move. Stefan Zweig later called it "humanity's finest hour".

In early September, Ushakov's Russian squadron, which left Palermo, separated from Bonaparte's ships at a distance of about 100 km. Crossing the open sea from the coast of Africa to the coast of Sardinia was the most dangerous part of the route. Deviate the Russian squadron a little to the left, the course of history could change significantly. As for the many dozens of British ships and frigates circulating between Malta, Sicily and the coast of Libya, here Nelson "dipped himself" no worse than Mack himself.

But, alas, history does not tolerate the subjunctive mood, and on October 9, 1799, the fugitive general landed in France near Frejus. And exactly a month later, on November 9, that is, 18 Brumaire according to the revolutionary calendar, General Bonaparte carried out a coup d'état. The directory was deposed, and the Egyptian hero appointed himself first consul.

Leaving Egypt, Bonaparte did not even bother to warn his successor as commander of the army, General Kleber, about this. Tom was just given instructions. In it, Bonaparte reassured Kleber, promising the arrival of a French squadron in Egypt. But after the “calming pill”, Napoleon moved on to the main thing: “If, due to innumerable unforeseen circumstances, all efforts turn out to be fruitless and you do not receive any help or news from France until May, and if, despite all the measures taken, the plague continues and takes away more than one and a half thousand people ... you will have the right to make peace with the Ottoman Porte, even if the main condition for it is the evacuation of Egypt ”(18).

Thus, Bonaparte gave Kleber carte blanche to conclude peace with the Turks and the British, provided that the French army was evacuated from Egypt. In the same order, Napoleon frankly lied: "The government called me at its disposal." In fact, the last thing the Directory wanted was to see Bonaparte in Paris.

Meanwhile, an 80,000-strong Turkish army has already been formed to cleanse Egypt in Syria.

On December 30, 1799, the Turks took Fort El Arish. This forced Kleber to sign on January 21, 1800, the El Arish Convention, according to which French troops were to be transported to France on their own or Turkish ships.

Kleber sent General Desaix with a report about this to the Directory and handed over Katie (Katiyeh), Salagie (Salehie) and Belbeis to the Turks. The French army was already preparing to clear Cairo when a notice was received from Admiral Keith, who commanded the British fleet in the Mediterranean, that the British government demanded the surrender of the French army without any conditions.

Kleber decided to continue the fight. On March 20, near Cairo, near the ruins of the ancient city of Heliopolis, he defeated the main forces of the Grand Vizier and pursued them to Salagie. In Syria, the remnants of the Turkish army were destroyed by the Arabs.

After the battle at Heliopolis, Kleber, sending part of his troops to help the Cairo garrison, surrounded by the rebellious population and the Turkish troops of Nassif Pasha, pursued the Grand Vizier to Salagiya. Leaving Renier there, on March 27, with the rest of his forces, he arrived at Cairo, which was already in the power of Nassif Pasha and Ibrahim Bey. After informing them of the fate of the Grand Vizier's army, Kléber offered to clear the city.

April 25, 1800 Cairo surrendered to the French. Kleber set about putting in order internal affairs and establishing calm in the country. He took measures to staff the army with the local population. So, in Lower Egypt, Copts, Syrians, Ethiopian slaves willingly entered the ranks of the French troops.

On June 14, Kleber was killed by a fanatic sent by the vizier. By this time, the British government, having somewhat changed its view of the Egyptian question, approved the El Arish Convention. But General Menou, who took command after Kleber, referring to the lack of authority, suggested that Admiral Keith, who had informed him about this, turn to Paris. Then the British government worked out a plan for the landing of a 20,000-strong detachment of British troops west of the mouth of the Nile for joint operations with the Syrian army of the Turks, which was to advance along the right bank of the river. At the same time, the 8,000th English corps from the East Indies was supposed to move from Suez to the rear of the French.

Bonaparte, who became the first consul, took all measures to strengthen the army in Egypt and alleviate its situation.

At the beginning of 1801, a plague epidemic broke out in the Turkish army in Syria. Despite the landing of English troops in Abukir on March 8, 1801, the war dragged on, and only on August 31, General Menou, who replaced the murdered Kleber, signed a convention on the evacuation of French troops from Egypt.

Was Napoleon's Egyptian expedition a gamble? Yes and no. Napoleon planned to create a flourishing economy in Egypt. “A thousand locks will curb and distribute flood waters to all parts of the country; 8 or 10 billion cubic tons of water, which disappear every year into the sea, would be distributed among all the low-lying regions of the desert, Lake Meris, Lake Mareotis and the Waterless River, to the oases and much further to the west, and in an easterly direction would flow into Gorky the lakes and all the lowlands of the Isthmus of Suez and the deserts between the Red Sea and the Nile; a large number of injection pumps and windmills they would raise water to reservoirs, from there it could be taken for irrigation; numerous emigrants from the interior of Africa, Arabia, Syria, Greece, France, Italy, Poland, Germany would quadruple the population; trade with India would return to its ancient path by an irreversible force natural conditions; besides, by dominating in Egypt, France would have dominated Hindustan ...

After 50 years of Egyptian dominion, civilization would have spread into the interior of Africa through Sennar, Abyssinia, Darfur, Fezzan; several large nations would be called to enjoy the benefits of the arts, sciences, religion of the true god, for it is through Egypt that light and happiness should come to the peoples of Central Africa !!!<...>

Egypt can already now (1799) provide for the maintenance of an army of 50,000 people and a squadron of 15 ships of the line, partly on the Mediterranean Sea, partly on the Red Sea, as well as a numerous flotilla on the Nile and on the lakes. His territory can provide everything he needs, except for timber and iron, which he will receive from Albania and Syria and from Europe in exchange for his products. His income is 50-60 million” (19) .

The atheism of the republican army played an important role in establishing friendly relations with the Arabs. Napoleon wrote: “Since the revolution, the French army has not performed the rites of any religion. She did not visit the churches in Italy at all, nor did she visit them more often in Egypt. This circumstance was noticed by the penetrating eye of the ulema, who were so zealous and anxious about everything that had to do with their cult. It had the most favorable effect on them. If the French were not Muslims, then at least it was proved that they were not idolaters either.

Many mullahs and even ulema claimed that Sultan Kebir - they called Napoleon so - enjoys the special patronage of the Prophet.

There is no doubt that Napoleon fantasized about something, but on the whole he could realize his plans.

As already mentioned, Napoleon captured three of the four strategic points in the Mediterranean - Malta, Corfu and Egypt. Only Gibraltar remained in the hands of the British.

Alas, General Bonaparte lacked one small thing for success in Egypt and Syria ... a citizen of Bonaparte at the head of the Directory. Under the existing government, talented revolutionary generals were defeated not only in Egypt and the West Indies, but also in Italy and Germany.

The Russian army and navy captured Corfu, and separate landing units successfully operated in southern and central Italy.

The garrison of Malta, under the command of General Vaubois, withstood the siege of the British for 20 months and only on September 5, 1800, surrendered on honorable terms. The entire garrison on British ships was taken to Toulon.

War of 1798 - 1809 in the Mediterranean Sea ended with the defeat of France, Russia and Turkey and the brilliant success of Foggy Albion. The reader, brought up on patriotic books and films, will be indignant - after all, Ushakov took Corfu! Yes, I did. But then the Ionian Islands had to be evacuated, and the huge Russian fleet, which consisted of several squadrons that came from the Baltic and the Black Sea, became a trophy of the French and British.

The death of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean Sea was not the fault of the sailors and admirals, but because of the mediocre policy of Paul I and Alexander I, who dragged Russia four times into the war with France - a state that from 1789 to 1812 did not claim an inch of Russian land .

Well, far-sighted London annexed to its possessions not only Malta, but all the Ionian Islands, including Corfu.