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Following Napoleon Bonaparte's victories over the Austrian Empire in Northern Italy – helping to secure France victory in the War of the First Coalition in 1797 – Great Britain remained the only major European power still at war with the French Republic.
The French Directory investigated a number of strategic options to counter British opposition, including projected invasions of Ireland and Britain, and the expansion of the French Navy to challenge the Royal Navy at sea.
Despite significant efforts, British control of Northern European waters rendered these ambitions impractical in the short term, and the Royal Navy remained firmly in control of the Atlantic Ocean.
However, the French Navy was dominant in the Mediterranean Sea, following the withdrawal of the British fleet after the outbreak of war between Britain and Spain in 1796.
This allowed Bonaparte to propose an invasion of Egypt as an alternative to confronting Britain directly, believing that the British would be too distracted by an imminent Irish uprising to intervene in the Mediterranean.

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