To get at England, Bonaparte sets out in grand style to conquer the East.
Here s What You Need to Know: By the year 1798, the First Coalition was collapsing. Only Britain remained as France’s implacable foe. With the advent of relative peace, the governing body of France, the Directory, ever in need of cash, now sought new means of employment for the army and its general, Napoleon Bonaparte. Also for the first time since 1792, the war’s revolutionary zeal and national survival had given way to overt imperialism. The Directory’s desire for treasure and territorial aggrandizement coincided perfectly with a certain French general’s private thirst for military glory and political advancement.