Table of Contents
Military Power
Religion and culture
Learning
Al-Jabarti’s Napoleon Chronicles are a collection Arab opinions that reflect African modern history. This book explains the western conquest of Egypt in 1978. It brings together all the events which took place when France invaded Egypt. Sheik records daily observations and moods of Cairo residents, along with the African perspective. Edward W. Said is Napoleon’s Secretary, and he describes the French perspectives. Accordingly, based on Al-Jabarti’s 1978 chronicles, I have documented both the African’s and French’s perspectives on an inversion.
The Military PowerAl-jabarti chronicles have a number of themes that are important. Robert L.’s introduction to the first Chapter sends a tense tone both to Egyptians civilians as well as the Egyptian State at the time. He introduces the Chapter by mentioning 400 French ships with over 36000 French forces on board that were sailing toward the Egyptian ports. This terrorized Egypt (Murphy, Jane). The Egyptians clearly feared for the security of their country and were also concerned about the state’s stability. The Egyptians changed their perspective of the French army after the arrival of Bonaparte in 1978. The natives began to realize that Europe was a powerful power capable of overthrowing the Mamluk army. Egyptians eventually became more frightened and concluded that inversion’s goal was to destroy their Mamluk army through war, much like the Spanish did for Native Americans. This perception was misplaced because the French military didn’t wipe out the Egyptians as previously thought. Instead, they exposed their many political weaknesses in relation to the western world (Murphy & Jane, 11). The fact that they had two different opinions on inversion is evident. The French believed they were exposing Mamuk’s weakness, whereas the natives felt that France invaded to disrupt peaceful coexistence and destroy the state. Salim ibn-Mustafa, Egypt’s new leader, continues to implement the French military strategy.
The themes of Religion and Cultural follow those of Military. In the second chapter, we read that Egyptians were forced to flee their homes and even lose their lives when the French arrived in various ports. Al-Jabarti catches our attention when he describes how the Egyptians perceive the French based on their culture, religion and women. Bonaparte’s reputation is negatively portrayed by locals, as an example ( Murphy & Jane, 19). The Chronicle mentions the French’s involvement in Egyptian life. People who were sick in this time period would go to hospital for an examination to determine whether the illness was caused by plague. Egyptian culture does not allow a deceased person to be buried next to their family members in traditional cemeteries. French law didn’t allow graves to be located near a homestead. Moreover, they destroyed all cemeteries or graves established within the homesteads. In the eyes of Egyptians, this inversion was a way to undermine the culture that has been part of their land for many years. Frenchmen, on the contrary, think that Egyptians should not bury their dead in the vicinity of the homestead. French thought that they could bring about a new civilization which bridged Egyptian religion and culture.
EducationEducation appears in both French and Egyptian chronicles with conflicting viewpoints. The French Inversion in Egypt had the main objective of enhancing reforms to the educational system that could be used to oversee changes in the methods, content and style of education. The French wanted to improve the Egyptians’ educational status by introducing a western education system. We learn in chapter four that the French inversion aimed to improve both educational and military reforms in Egypt. The Egyptians were not as naive as the French. They believed the French inversion aimed to destroy their education, culture, and religion.
Al-Jabarti Chronicles provide more proof of the French Inversion as it was documented. The book provides a chronological account of the events at the time when the French inversion occurred. A contrasting perspective is the best way to present the story. Egyptians thought that Napoleons invasion of Egypt was primarily a destruction mission, which is not what the French intended. According to this article, France wanted to change the military, education, religion and culture.
