Ottoman Empire. French Republic. The French invasion of Egypt and Syria was a military campaign in and occupation of Ottoman territories in Egypt and Syria by French forces under the command of Napoleon during the French Revolutionary Wars.
It was the primary purpose of the Mediterranean campaign of , in which the French captured Malta while being followed by the British Royal Navy , whose pursuit was hampered by a lack of scouting frigates and reliable information. The expedition was the result of a confluence of interests.
Napoleon proclaimed the invasion as being intended to defend French trade interests and to establish scientific enterprise in the region, and envisioned the campaign as the first step of a march to India , where he would join forces with Tipu Sultan , the ruler of French-allied Mysore who was at war with Britain , to attack British possessions in India.
Despite early victories in Egypt and an initially successful expedition into Syria , the destruction of a French Navy fleet by the British navy at the Battle of the Nile stranded French troops in Egypt, and the defeat of Napoleon and his Army of the Orient by Anglo-Ottoman forces at Acre forced the French to withdraw from Syria. Following his defeat in Syria, Napoleon repelled the Ottoman landing at Aboukir , but recognizing that the campaign was lost, and with the news of a Second Coalition reversing French conquests in Europe , Napoleon opportunistically abandoned his army , sailed to France, and overthrew the government.
The French forces left in Egypt ultimately surrendered at Alexandria , concluding the defeat of Napoleon's expedition. These last French forces were repatriated , and the Treaty of Paris officially ended the hostilities between France and the Ottoman Empire. This left Great Britain as the only influential European country still at war with the French Republic.
