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Welcome to the Age of Napoleon.

Episode 46 The End of Illusion.

Thanks for joining me.

We left off last time in the late summer of 1798. the Army of the Orient had taken Cairo, and Napoleon was

busy establishing himself as the ruler of Egypt. At a glance, it looked like Bonaparte was well on his way to achieving his aims,

but delve a little deeper and it becomes immediately evident that the expedition was facing

serious, potentially fatal problems.

We've discussed these setbacks at length in previous episodes,

the destruction of the French fleet, the looming threat of another war in Europe,

an impending counter-attack from the Ottomans, and the inherent challenges of governing

a country that was very alien to the French.

The closer you examine the state of the expedition, the bleaker it looks.

However, not all was lost, not yet.

Napoleon's opponents were disorganized.

The Republican Army was still the best fighting force in the world, arguably the strongest institution of any type, military or otherwise.

And Bonaparte was still Bonaparte.

The setbacks had not dampened his energy. We've seen him triumph against longer odds.

We spent a lot of time last episode dwelling on the failings of the French administration in Egypt,

and still managed to barely scratch the surface.

This shouldn't be surprising.

The French came as colonialists, and were ultimately in Egypt to serve their own interests,

...