HSY2601 - Themes In The 19th Century History: Power And The Western World (HSY2601)
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HSY2601
EXAM
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INTRODUCTION
In the eighteenth century Egypt was under the control of the Ottoman Empire,
1
after being conquered in 1517. Before the Ottoman rule Egypt had been
ruled by the Mamluks, a dynasty of slave warriors, who had themselves
seized control in 1250. Napoleon Bonaparte a French statesman and military
leader who had risen to prominence during the French Revolution and led
several successful campaigns saw an opportunity in the weakened control of
Egypt by the Ottoman Empire. In 1798, a French invasion force under the
command of Napoleon disembarked near Alexandria. The invasion force was
accompanied by a commission of scholars and scientists whose function was
to investigate every aspect of life in ancient and contemporary Egypt. France
wanted control of Egypt for two major reasons, its commercial and agricultural
potential and its strategic importance to the Anglo-French rivalry. During the
eighteenth century, the principal share of European trade with Egypt was
handled by French merchants. The French also looked to Egypt as a source
of grain and raw materials. In strategic terms, French control of Egypt could
be used to threaten British commercial interests in the region and to block
Britain's overland route to India. Napoleon intended bring modernity and
freedom to Egypt, however this was undermined by the cultural and religious
differences between the French and the Egyptians.
Napoléon Bonaparte's invasion of Ottoman Egypt in the summer of 1798 was
intended to forestall the drift of that province into the British sphere of
influence, and to interrupt British communications with India, the more urgent
of which went from Bombay to the Red Sea, up the Nile and across the
Mediterranean to the Atlantic and London. Many French observers had
become convinced that the Ottoman Empire was in swift decline and would
lose its provinces to the British or Russians. The rebelliousness of Egypt
made it especially vulnerable to the Great Powers, since it was already
slipping from Istanbul's grasp.2
1 Burleigh, Nina. Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt. First Edition. New
York: HarperCollins, 2007.
2 Colla, E. (2003). "Non, non! Si, si!": Commemorating the French Occupation of Egypt (1798-
1801). MLN, 118(4), 1043-1069 .
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France wanted control of Egypt for two major reasons--its commercial and
agricultural potential and its strategic importance to the Anglo-French rivalry.
During the eighteenth century, the principal share of European trade with
Egypt was handled by French merchants. The French also looked to Egypt as
a source of grain and raw materials. In strategic terms, French control of
Egypt could be used to threaten British commercial interests in the region and
to block Britain's overland route to India.3
Napoleon attempted to introduce new policies regarding to administrative
systems in what he perceived backward Egypt backward society in Egypt,
while creating a version of indirect colonial rule. His intentions were for the
Muslim clergy to work jointly with France. It is in the implementation of these
policies that Napoleon faced a challenge. Some of the administrative policies
he introduced saw taxes increase for the local people, these changes brought
the people of Egypt new hardships, to most Egyptians French rule seemed
arbitrary and destructive. The Egyptians were used to the Ottoman Empire
rule whose proximity was not as close as that of the French. The economic
impact of French’s presence in Cairo triggered the Egyptian resistance.
Egypt being predominantly a Muslim society, keep their religion sacrosanct,
and sign of blasphemy is treated with resistance. What seem to be one of the
greatest shortcomings of Napoleon was impositions he made on the
Egyptians’ religion, one of them being that the French flag be hoist at every
prayer at the mosque. Napoleon even went as far as persuading the local
clerics to conduct Friday’s duha (prayer) in his name, which according to the
4
Muslim laws is seen as blasphemy. The Egyptians were also told that they
had to wear the tricolour cockade, the red, white and blue badge which
symbolised loyalty to the French Republic. All this made the predominantly
Muslim Egypt to resist the attack on their religion. Napoleon’s gesture of
3 Goldschmidt, Arthur. Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press, 2004
4 Cole, Juan. Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East. First Edition. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2007.
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