1799-Napoleon's army in Egypt launches an offensive into the Levant. Taking Gaza easily, the army then lays seige to Jaffa (near Tel Aviv).
-7th March: Jaffa falls. Napoleon gives orders for all prisoners to be treated well, and for the townspeople to be, so far as possible, left undisturbed (POD: IOTL, after taking Jaffa, Napoleon massacred all 4000 of the prisoners, making towns further along the invasion route more likely to resist him)
-2nd April: Acre falls, after a brief siege. This convinces Basher Shihab, the Maronite Catholic Emir of Lebanon, to turn against the Ottoman empire and ally with Napoleon (OTL: Knowing of Jaffa's fate, the Acre garrison fiercely resisted Napoleon. The siege dragged out much longer and ultimately failed, ending Napoleon's Syria campaign. Basher Shihab remained neutral)
-June: Reinforced by supplies and a contingent of Lebanese troops provided by Basher Shihab, Napoleon's forces storm Damascus.
-July: Napoleon lays siege to Aleppo. However, plague has broken out in the French army, Egypt is becoming restive, and Napoleon's supply lines are becoming long. Having second thoughts, Basher Shihab and his soldiers depart from the siege and go back to Lebanon.
September 16th: A Turkish army, reinforced by British soldiers, routes Napoleon's forces outside the walls of Aleppo. Napoleon begins a slow, fighting retreat down through Syria, but is again intercepted by a pro-Ottoman army in Damascus on October 20th. Napoleon fights them off, but suffers heavy casualties. His army is now only a quarter of the size it started as, Napoleon retreats back to Egypt, where he faces a Mamluk rebellion his severely reduced army is unable to put down. At the beginning of December, Napoleon slips out of Egypt and heads back to France.
******
However:
December 14th 1799: A contingent of Albanian mercenaries in Damascus, led by Muhammad Ali, has gone unpaid ever since helping the Ottomans against Napoleon in October. Furious, they storm Damascus citadel and take the Ottoman pasha prisoner. In the following months, Muhammad Ali gradually subjugates the area around Damascus.
March 1800: Meanwhile, hoping for Ottoman support, several Druze warlords have risen against Bashir Shihab in Mount Lebanon. Muhammad Ali allies with Bashir and sends his men to help put down the Druze. In return, Bashir agrees to support Muhammad Ali in the rest of Syria. In July, Muhammad Ali takes Homs, which had been occupied by another local warlord. Hama falls the next month, and in late 1800, after intevening in several intertribal disputes among the Alawites on the northwest Syrian coast, Muhammad Ali gains the support of most of the Alawite tribes.
1801: In March, Muhammad Ali launches a six-month offensive into Palestine, that puts all of that territory down to Gaza and Aqaba under his control. Like in northern Syria the previous year, Muhammad Ali relies as much on diplomacy as on military force-he intervines in intertribal disputes, and promises tribes and other local leaders who support him broad local autonomy.
January 1802: Muhammad Ali captures Aleppo from the Ottomans, who award him the title "Kheldive of Syria" in exchange for a yearly tribute. Egypt is now effectively independent as well, under Mamluk control, and the Ottomans continue to hold most of Iraq (including the part of the Euphrates valley in OTL NW Syria)
-7th March: Jaffa falls. Napoleon gives orders for all prisoners to be treated well, and for the townspeople to be, so far as possible, left undisturbed (POD: IOTL, after taking Jaffa, Napoleon massacred all 4000 of the prisoners, making towns further along the invasion route more likely to resist him)
-2nd April: Acre falls, after a brief siege. This convinces Basher Shihab, the Maronite Catholic Emir of Lebanon, to turn against the Ottoman empire and ally with Napoleon (OTL: Knowing of Jaffa's fate, the Acre garrison fiercely resisted Napoleon. The siege dragged out much longer and ultimately failed, ending Napoleon's Syria campaign. Basher Shihab remained neutral)
-June: Reinforced by supplies and a contingent of Lebanese troops provided by Basher Shihab, Napoleon's forces storm Damascus.
-July: Napoleon lays siege to Aleppo. However, plague has broken out in the French army, Egypt is becoming restive, and Napoleon's supply lines are becoming long. Having second thoughts, Basher Shihab and his soldiers depart from the siege and go back to Lebanon.
September 16th: A Turkish army, reinforced by British soldiers, routes Napoleon's forces outside the walls of Aleppo. Napoleon begins a slow, fighting retreat down through Syria, but is again intercepted by a pro-Ottoman army in Damascus on October 20th. Napoleon fights them off, but suffers heavy casualties. His army is now only a quarter of the size it started as, Napoleon retreats back to Egypt, where he faces a Mamluk rebellion his severely reduced army is unable to put down. At the beginning of December, Napoleon slips out of Egypt and heads back to France.
******
However:
December 14th 1799: A contingent of Albanian mercenaries in Damascus, led by Muhammad Ali, has gone unpaid ever since helping the Ottomans against Napoleon in October. Furious, they storm Damascus citadel and take the Ottoman pasha prisoner. In the following months, Muhammad Ali gradually subjugates the area around Damascus.
March 1800: Meanwhile, hoping for Ottoman support, several Druze warlords have risen against Bashir Shihab in Mount Lebanon. Muhammad Ali allies with Bashir and sends his men to help put down the Druze. In return, Bashir agrees to support Muhammad Ali in the rest of Syria. In July, Muhammad Ali takes Homs, which had been occupied by another local warlord. Hama falls the next month, and in late 1800, after intevening in several intertribal disputes among the Alawites on the northwest Syrian coast, Muhammad Ali gains the support of most of the Alawite tribes.
1801: In March, Muhammad Ali launches a six-month offensive into Palestine, that puts all of that territory down to Gaza and Aqaba under his control. Like in northern Syria the previous year, Muhammad Ali relies as much on diplomacy as on military force-he intervines in intertribal disputes, and promises tribes and other local leaders who support him broad local autonomy.
January 1802: Muhammad Ali captures Aleppo from the Ottomans, who award him the title "Kheldive of Syria" in exchange for a yearly tribute. Egypt is now effectively independent as well, under Mamluk control, and the Ottomans continue to hold most of Iraq (including the part of the Euphrates valley in OTL NW Syria)
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