All the countries on the eastern side of Egypt, which are: Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Iraq, are called Levantine Arabia.
Their role is very important in the whole history of Egypt. It must be acknowledged that Egypt is a country that belongs to Africa geographically, but historically it is an Asian country,
for Egypt, and the above-mentioned countries, have been settlement countries for various peoples since antiquity. Moreover, more than 80% of the ancient expeditions took place in the area between Egypt and Syria. Also when Alexander the Great came into conflict with the Persians, and decided to conquer it, so that he could then start his campaigns in Asia through it, reaching the vicinity of India and Afghanistan.
Also later, in the Middle Ages, when the Crusader campaigns to conquer Jerusalem took place, Egypt was always involved in such battles, because the Egyptians realised how dangerous it was to surrender Jerusalem to the Europeans, and the Europeans themselves realised how impossible it was to conquer Jerusalem without Egypt.
Napoleon realised after the first revolt in Cairo and the defeat and loss of the fleet in Alexandria that he would have to act more decisively and start attacking his enemies in their places, not waiting for them in Egypt.
He was convinced that he would encounter many obstacles on his way: the British fleet in the Mediterranean, the Mamelukes on the borders of Egypt, the Bedouin and disloyal tribes to him in the Nile valley, the Ottomans preparing their forces to defeat him and prevent him from realising his strategies and dreams for Egypt.
It is very important to mention that Napoleon foresaw the confrontation with the Ottomans before the campaign began. He therefore ordered the person in charge of foreign affairs at the time to go to Turkey and meet with the Ottoman Sultan to discuss with him the acceptance of the campaign, to present a friendly attitude towards the Ottoman Empire and to explain that he had no hostile intentions towards the Ottoman Empire.
However, this man of Bonaparte’s did not obey and ignored his order, after which he merely wrote to the king – when it was too late….
Soon, some three months after the first revolt in Cairo, Napoleon began a new campaign towards the Levant.
After capturing the city of Suez and then Alrish on the borders of Palestine, he captured Jaffa and Haifa, but the great obstacle proved to be the city of Acre, which was well fortified and Napoleonic forces were unable to capture this fortress.
But why Acre?
Acre was commanded by a very notorious commander called ” Ahmed Pasha el Gazar” (incidentally, “gazar” means butcher in Arabic). He was an exceptionally ruthless man who slaughtered many people even when he was the Ottoman Sultan’s representative in Egypt. In addition, he had many sources of support from the Ottoman Empire and, in addition, worked with Sir Sidney Smith.
Sidney Smith was one of the strangest figures during this campaign, playing an obscure role, on incomprehensible terms !!!!!!.
As a major general of the French fleet, he was captured and arrested in Paris some two years before the expedition to Egypt, and by a false decree was released from prison and to this day no one knows; by whom, how, why? Could it be that the release of this man and whoever was behind it was to counter Napoleon’s strategy?
After reviewing the course of this expedition and the obstacles the French faced in conquering Egypt, it becomes clear that Napoleon’s comrades were not loyal to him.
Let us return to Acre. Napoleon was convinced that by capturing this fortress, now in the region of Israel and an important point of his power, he would strengthen his power and that the capture of Ahmed Pasha el Gazar’s wealth would improve the economic situation for both him and his expedition.
However, despite attacking the fort for two months, Napoleon failed to capture it, and all his dreams of conquering the Levat were lost.
Kleber spoke most accurately of the failure of this campaign, saying: “We fought them in Turkish and they fought us in British”.
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