Napoleon in Egypt, Part V; The Fall of Pharaoh Bonaparte, The Rise of Emperor Napoleon IIn case you

Napoleon in Egypt, Part V; The Fall of Pharaoh Bonaparte, The Rise of Emperor Napoleon IIn case you missed Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IVTo stop the Ottoman counteroffensive against him, Gen. Napoleon Bonaparte tried to do what no western army had done since the Crusades, invade Palestine and Syria.  The campaign was almost successful, only to be halted with the Siege of Acre, where impregnable fortifications, British military intervention, and a virulent strain of the plague ended all hopes for victory.  It took over a month for the French Army to slowly march back to Egypt.  Many of the sick and wounded were forced to be left behind, facing torture and execution at the hands of the Ottomans.The army returned to Cairo where it found much needed rest. Despite the terrible defeat, Napoleon cast himself and his army as the glorious victors, although he had little to show for it.  Recuperation in Cairo was short lived, as word was received that an 18,000 strong Ottoman force landed at Abukir Bay and captured Alexandria.  Napoleon quickly marched back to Alexandria with a 11,000 man force and attacked on the 25th of July 1799.  The French easily destroyed the Ottoman army, massacring over 11,000 Ottoman troops.  Despite the victory, Napoleon knew the end was growing near.  The Ottomans and the British had an endless amount of manpower and supplies.  Napoleon’s army, on the other hand, was cut off from reinforcements and slowly being ground to dust.  Defeat was inevitable.By August Napoleon received news that the political situation in France was quickly becoming unstable.   The government was broke and nearing collapse, the French people were growing rebellious, and the enemies of France were preparing to take advantage of the situation.  With word of the the deteriorating state of the French Republic Napoleon decided it was time to cut his losses and move on to greener pastures.  On a pretext that he was touring the Nile Delta, Napoleon left Egypt with his top ranking generals in a small sailing boat.  They were able to successfully sneak by the British Navy and return home 41 days later.  As for the 30,000 French troops left stranded in Egypt, command was left with Gen. Jean Baptist Kleber.  The soldiers were outraged with Napoleon, but Kleber convinced them that he would soon return with reinforcements.  Napoleon would never again step foot in Egypt.French occupation continued in Egypt despite continuous raids and counterattacks by the Ottomans, as well as revolts by the people of Egypt.  Finally in September of 1801 a combined army of Ottoman soldiers, British regular infantry, and Royal Marines invaded Egypt and forced the French to surrender.  Under the terms of surrender the French were allowed to be repatriated, but only on the condition that they never serve in the French military again on the pain of death if recaptured.  The thousands of Ancient Egyptian artifacts collected by the French scientific team were confiscated by the British, including the fabled Rosetta Stone.  Twenty years later the scholar Jean-Francois Champollion was able to decode the Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone, providing a method for historians to translate Ancient Egyptian, and thus building the foundation for modern Egyptology.  Today the Egyptian artifacts collected by the expedition can be found at the British Museum.As for Napoleon, he would certainly be destined for great things.  Upon returning to France he was greeted as a national hero.  Immediately after his return, Napoleon led a coup against the French government.  Upon gaining control of the government, he dissolved the Council of Five Hundred, the main legislative body of the French Republic, and  organized his own puppet council staffed by his friends and supporters.  With a 99.94% percent of the vote he was named First Consul, the supreme executive authority of France.  Though he held a republican title, it was very clear that Napoleon held absolute power as a military dictator.  With no opposition, he was essentially an unofficial emperor with a democratic title.  In 1804 he made it official by crowning himself Emperor Napoleon I of France, thus founding the First French Empire. -- source link

More pics about