Napoleon: The Egyptian Campaign is a docudrama (divided into two episodes) which premiered in 2016.
The topic is Napoleon and the Egyptian campaign which began in 1798 and ended in 1801.
Here is some basic information about this docudrama:
** Director: Fabrice Hourlier
** Writers: Fabrice Hourlier, Stephanie Hauville, and Jacques Dubuisson
** Narrator: no name
** Run time: 2 x 51 minutes = 102 minutes
A docudrama is a combination of two elements:
(1) Some historical experts are interviewed
(2) Some historical moments are reconstructed by actors
Here are the names of the historical experts:
** Michèle Battesti – a historian
** Peter Hicks – a historian – the Napoleon Foundation
** Thierry Lentz – director of the Napoleon Foundation
** Robert Solé – a writer and a journalist
** Ahmed Yousef – a historian
What about the actors? Here are the names of some actors and the historical characters they portray:
** Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
played by Thibault Pinson
** General Jean-Baptiste Kléber (1753-1800)
played by Pascal Parmentier
** Artist, writer, and diplomat Vivant Denon (1747-1825)
played by Olivier Saladin
** Military doctor René Nicolas Dufriche-Desgenettes (1762-1837)
played by Romain Isselee
The Egyptian campaign can be summarized in ten chapters which follow a (more or less) chronological line from the beginning of 1798 to the end of 1801:
Chapter 1 – Assemble an army of more than 30,000 men
Chapter 2 – Select ca. 150 scholars, artists and engineers (known in French as les savants)
Chapter 3 – Find 10,000 sailors and some ships to transport the army and the savants from France to Egypt
Chapter 4 – Sail across the Mediterranean Sea – during this voyage Napoleon captures Malta and turns it into a French colony
Chapter 5 – Land in Egypt – start the military expedition in Egypt and the vicinity
Chapter 6 – The Battle of the Nile (August 1798) – when the French fleet is almost totally destroyed by the British, the army and the savants have no way to return to France
Chapter 7 – The scientific investigation of Egyptian history conducted by the savants (including the discovery of the Rosetta Stone)
Chapter 8 – Napoleon secretly returns to France (August 1799) – leaving his army and the savants to fend for themselves
Chapter 9 – The French army is defeated by the British (1801)
Chapter 10 – The remains of the French army and the savants are transported to France by the British navy in 1801
The Egyptian campaign was a huge military disaster. The French fleet was defeated by the British and the military operations in Egypt and the vicinity were not going well.
The only positive outcome of the Egyptian campaign was the scientific investigation of Egyptian history conducted by the scholars, the artists and the engineers.
The information gathered by the savants was eventually presented in a famous French publication Description of Egypt which comprised several large volumes.
The discovery of the Rosetta Stone in July 1799 was accidental, but once it was discovered, the significance of this item was quickly understood.
The French were not allowed to keep the stone. After the French defeat in 1801, the British took possession of the stone, which is the reason why it ended up in the British Museum in London.
Before the stone was handed over to the British, the French made a full-scale facsimile of the inscription, which would later allow the French scholar Jean-François Champollion to study the inscription and solve the mystery of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Why did Napoleon go to Egypt?
What was the reason for this campaign?
According to some observers, the French wanted to block the British route to and from India. This interpretation is not convincing, because it is based on the false assumption that the Suez Canal existed in 1798. It did not. In fact, the Suez Canal was not completed until 1869.
One observer has remarked that Napoleon did not choose to go there. He was told to go there. In 1798, he was not yet the undisputed leader of France. He was a military officer who had scored some victories for the French army.
Some French politicians saw him as a threat, because it was obvious that he had political ambitions. They wanted to find a way to get rid of him. Or at least get him out the way. One of them had a bright idea:
“If we order him to conduct a military campaign in Egypt, he will no longer be a threat to us. Let us do that!”
Perhaps this is the reason why he was ordered to go to Egypt? This campaign would keep him busy for a while.
He would be far from France. He might even be killed during this campaign. In that case, he would no longer be a problem to them.
This interpretation seems highly plausible.
Whatever the reason, Napoleon did what he could to get something out of this project.
He made serious preparations for the mission. And while preparing for the mission, he had an unusual idea:
He selected around 150 scholars, artists and engineers to join the expedition. He wanted them to conduct a scientific investigation of Egyptian history. He believed there was something which could and should be studied there.
He was right!
This is why the history of Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign has two separate story-lines:
# 1. The military operations in Egypt and the vicinity
# 2. The scientific investigation of Egyptian history
In this docudrama, the history of both items is told in great detail. We learn about the first item which was a huge disaster. We also learn about the second item which became a huge success.
Napoleon is often described as a military genius. This description is not supported the historical facts.
The Egyptian campaign
is one of several examples which proves this point beyond any doubt: he was not a military genius.
What do reviewers say about this docudrama?
On IMDb it has a rating of 70 percent which corresponds to a rating of 3.5 stars on Amazon.
In my opinion, this rating is too low. The story about Napoleon and his Egyptian campaign deserves to be told. And in this docudrama, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
Napoleon on the Nile:
Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt
By Lisa Small
2006
Napoleon in Egypt
By Paul Strathern
2008
Mirage:
Napoleon’s Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt
By Nina Burleigh
2009
# 2. Film and video
Monsieur N
A historical drama
2003
Napoleon: The Russian Campaign
A docudrama with two episodes
2015
Napoleon: In the Name of Art
A documentary
2021
Les îles de Napoléon
A documentary
2021
*****
Description of Egypt
Published in more than thirty large volumes
over several years
(1809-1829)
*****
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