Continuing...
The first major change we see ITTL outside of France is in Egypt, where the French fleet partakes in the Bombardment of Alexandria, so that the city is taken slightly quicker, with the joint Anglo-French (or Franco-British) forces in charge of the city earlier, so that the entire mouth of the Nile is in Anglo-French hands by the end of July, incidentally just in time to prevent the American's Egyptian expedition from being of any use.
During the subsequent First and Second Battles of Kassassin the Egyptians are even more thoroughly thrown back when they attempt to dislodge the invaders; however the Anglo-French can't defeat them either during ITTL's Battle of Kafr-el-Dawwar. Though they are able to press closer than IOTL, just as in our timeline the Europeans can't break through, though not for lack of trying, and due to their increased moral and belief in their superiority from their greater numbers, and the complications of the joint Anglo-French command, the Europeans continue to hammer at Urabi's forces at Kafr-el-Dawwar for seven weeks as opposed to IOTL's five. However, again like IOTL, the Egyptians are still well-armed, and well-prepared, with successive lines of ditches and embankments, covered walkways, gun positions, redoubts and embrasures, well stocked with modern Krupp artillery and arms and ammunition, determined defenders, and of course the better position, so though the Europeans are able to edge closer than they did in our timeline they still cannot break through.
Now, IOTL, under the advice of Ferdinand de Lesseps, Urabi did not take any precaution in defending, or perhaps even destroying, the Suez Canal as he believed that the British would not risk damaging it. This oversight allowed the British to land some 20,000 troops and some 70 guns using 40 warships to secure the canal zone in less than two weeks after shifting their operations east from Kafr-el-Dawwar, leading to Tel el-Kebir and the final British victory over the Egyptians. However ITTL Urabi doesn't trust de Lesseps due to the French involvement in the war, so he does post a guard along his flank at Suez, and when the British, against the advice and will of the French, decide to try a landing at Suez, Urabi's forces are there to resist them. Now while its unlikely that Urabi's forces could defeat the British in total from such a position, they could however spike the canal, either by flooding it with mines, or, more likely, simply sink one or two British vassals within the canal itself. Considering the canal is only 210 meters across at its widest in the present day after several enlargements, and the Egyptians were using Krupp guns - likely either the C64 or C67 - it would have been quite easy, and either way the Suez would be spiked and of no use to anyone, while the Europeans were prevented from flanking the Egyptians.
From that point forward the war would become a long, drawn out affair. Unable to press forward, and with Urabi's fatwā and the anger over the joint Anglo-French invasion, piled on top of the already simmering rage that had initially led to the populist Urabi Revolt, the situation would quickly change for the Europeans from one of fighting an opposing army on an open field to one of fighting an insurgency and occupation duties in the North of Egypt. By late spring of 1883 Verne's government would fall, and in either the late summer or early autumn of the same year the government in London would also be swept out of office. However, while the newly established Northcote government would continue the war in Egypt, with Gladestone retiring from politics, as he had planned to do IOTL in 1882 though never did, in Paris Charles Duclerc is swept into office largely on the promise of ending France's string of colonial adventures (the failed intervention in Tonkin in 1873, the conquest of Tunisia in 1881, ITTL's Egyptian Expedition, the beginning of the First First Mandingo War, the First Madagascar expedition, and the Tonkin Campaign all in the early part of 1883), and instead focusing on France's 'true' raison d'être - revanche against Germany. To this end, and perhaps most importantly for our story, Duclerc places Jean-Baptiste Billot in charge of the War Ministry, and Billot in turn places Georges Ernest Boulanger as Director of the Infantry, allowing Boulanger to begin some much-needed reforms in the French army, which hadn't seen a major shakeup since before the Franco-Prussian War.
During this time Verne enters his first foray into the political wilderness. During this time he writes ITTL's Frritt-Flacc, a commentary on the socio-economic morality of French society, and a critique of the Duclerc government's handling of the miner's strike at Montceau-les-Mines. He also finds time to write The Vanished Diamond, attacking British colonial policy, comparing it to a more 'enlightened,' French one; Mathias Sandorf, a Tom Clancy-ish thriller which touches upon the question of Germany (and the Duclerc government's focus on it); and Robur the Conqueror, which is ITTL seen to be an attack directly on the current government.
However, partially due to Verne's own writings, the government doesn't last long, collapsing within months due to the sudden shift away from focusing on Egypt (a colonial expedition that the French people had supported) to focusing on Germany (a European affair which the French people both were supportive, and anxious, of - especially considering Bismark's successful revival of the League of the Three Emperors in 1881 and formation of the Triple Alliance in 1882), as well as the aforementioned Montceau-les-Mines riots, and perhaps most importantly Duclerc's (lack of a) reaction to the publication of a Bonapartist Manifesto by Prince Napoléon V which reopened the debate in French society about the role, if any, that members of the former ruling houses (either Bonapartes, Orléans, or Bourbons) could play in French civil government or the military, which cost Duclerc the support of the Right. Through a compromise measure passed by the Chamber of Deputies Duclerc resigns and is replaced by his Interior Minister, Armand Fallières. However Fallières, as in OTL, isn't up to the task, and resigns within a month, forcing the Left Republicans to elect Jules Ferry to the Premiership; who, as an aside, makes Fallières his Minister of Public Education, where Fallières undertakes a major reform of the French education system. Unlike Duclerc, and indeed most French politicians, Ferry's policy in foreign affairs was to cooperate with Germany, believing that France had been eclipsed as the hegemon of the continent and that only by working with the new empire could others empires, such as Britain, powers' be checked in foreign and colonial affairs. This was especially appealing to Ferry as Germany had no colonial empire aside from the very small settlement in German New Guinea, still in the process of being formally recognized by the other powers as a German colony and sphere of influence. However this alienates Ferry's support in the Left and Center, and he further angers the Right by his oversight of the passage of the Law of Exile of 1884, which forces all members of former ruling families that are pretenders to the throne to flee France or face life imprisonment (this is two years ahead of OTL).
Into this political situation Jules Grévy decides to retire as President of France in 1885, instead of seeking a second term as he did IOTL. Though Ferry attempts to rally the Left Republicans to him, he is opposed within his own party by other, more Germanophobic voices - such as Marie François Sadi Carnot and Georges Clemenceau, both of whom wish to challenge Ferry for the leadership of the party. Although some among the right attempt to come together at this critical opportunity, even going so far as to start a 'draft Mac-Mahon' campaign, it ultimately falls apart over disagreements between the imperialist, royalists, and conservative republicans. However Rightist feeling is still strong in France, and Jean Casimir-Perier becomes the 5th President of France in 1885 on a shaky Opportunist Republican/Conservative Republican, Center-Left/Center-Right, coalition that sees marked improvements for the Opportunist, moderate, and conservative republicans in the election of 1885; about a 20-30 MP shift from the radical Left, the Bonapartists, and the monarchists to the center over IOTL. Searching for a leader who will unite their disparate factions, and one who is not only acceptable but also preferable, Verne is called out of his political exile, and by the end of the year asked to form a new government.
One of Verne's first acts is to appoint Jules Louis Lewal as his Minister of War. Lewal, drawing from his experience working under Adolphe Niel prior to the Franco-Prussian War, and working with Boulanger, builds upon both the former and the latter's reforms, applying a substantial reformation to the whole army. Lewal imposes a far-reaching scheme based on universal military service, with large reserve forces that could be quickly moved about France via her recently improved rail, canal, and road networks. Lewal also revives the old imperial proposal of a Garde Mobile, a rapid-deployment force of professional soldiers as opposed to recruits, outfitted with the best and newest equipment - including the Lebel Model 1886, a marked improvement from the already superb Chassepot. By the summer of 1886 France is rapidly gaining the position of having one of the most well equipped, well organized, and largest armies in all of Europe - something that begins to make Bismark quite anxious...
However Verne's next move isn't against Germany, but rather instead back to Egypt. Britain has carried on the fight alone the past three years, and after the fall of the Northcote government in early 1886 and the return of the Liberals under Hugh Childers London is quite keen to finally put an end to the entire Egyptian Affair. Working in tandem with a renewed French offensive the joint Anglo-French force is finally able to smash through Urabi's defenses, taking Cairo in late 1886, forcing Urabi to flee southward, joining forces with Muhammad Ahmad; the two of which would enter into an uneasy alliance which would prevent further European penetration down the Nile, or indeed into the Central Sahel at all, for until the start of the 20th century. In the meantime however Egypt is established as a joint Franco-British condominium, with Tewfik Pasha placed upon the throne, nominally under the suzerainty of Istanbul, but in reality dictated to by the entente, whose first two tasks are to clear and repair the Suez Canal, and to establish some semblance of peace in the south of the country. The former is quickly taken care of, largely by the British navy and backed by British funds, the latter will take several more years of hard work, largely by the French army, and backed by British funds.
