Beirut 1799: Bonaparte's Siege That Wasn't

In March 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte laid siege to the walled port city of Acre, just south of modern Lebanon. What happened there — and what didn't happen in Beirut — reshaped the entire eastern Mediterranean. This episode follows the French army's march up the coast, the alliance between Ottoman-backed Jazzar Pasha and the British Royal Navy, and the crucial role of Lebanese Druze and Maronite leaders who chose sides. We focus on a rarely told dimension: how the people of Mount Lebanon and Beirut navigated the invasion. The siege's failure ended Napoleon's dream of an eastern empire, but it also exposed the fractures within Ottoman Lebanon — between Emir Bashir Shihab II, who tried to stay neutral, and the powerful Druze chieftains who saw opportunity. We also explore the forgotten French bombardment of Beirut in 1799, a prelude to the more famous 1840 bombardment. Names you'll hear: Napoleon Bonaparte, Jazzar Pasha, Sir Sidney Smith, Emir Bashir Shihab II, the Shihab dynasty, Mount Lebanon, Acre, Beirut, the French Orient Army.

#Napoleon #Bonaparte #SiegeOfAcre #JazzarPasha #EmirBashirShihab #MountLebanon #Beirut1799 #OttomanEmpire #FrenchRevolutionaryWars #SirSidneySmith #RoyalNavy #Druze #Maronites #LebaneseHistory #Mamluk #18thCentury #History #FexingoHistory

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