Napoleon led troops into the sea to protect French trade interests.
The French Campaign in Egypt and Syria ( 1798 -- 1801 ) was Napoleon Bonaparte 's campaign in Ottoman Egypt and Ottoman Syria , proclaimed to defend French trade interests , weaken Britain 's access to British India , and to establish scientific enterprise in the region . Napoleon . Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars .