Bonaparte and the Egyptian campaign of 1798
General Bonaparte and his successors led their Egyptian campaign from 1798 to 1801. Their aim: to conquer Egypt and the East.
The aim of the expedition has long remained obscure: some thought it was a way of removing Napoleon Bonaparte, too troublesome and ambitious a character, from the political scene; but it was mainly to threaten the commercial power of the British as Egypt played a strategic part in the trade route to India. As France did not want to launch a direct attack on Great Britain, the Directory decided on indirect intervention.
The campaign was associated with a scientific expedition; numerous historians, botanists and illustrators accompanied the army and rediscovered the riches of Egypt.