The Egyptian adventure of J.-L. Tallien
Zaytseva Daria
The Egyptian expedition became one of the most grandiose ideas of Napoleon Bonaparte: in addition to the military, dozens of civilians went to the unknown eastern country, called to explore this distant and mysterious civilization. There was Jean-Lambert Tallien among them, an eminent revolutionary politician, the hero of the state coup of 9 Thermidor, a former deputy of the National Convention and of the Council of Five Hundred. Having lost his former political influence in Paris, experiencing a personal drama, in dire need of money, he took the risk of following Bonaparte to regain authority and, if possible, improve his financial situation. Going to Egypt, he placed great hopes on this expedition and on the talents of its organizer. However, after Bonaparte, leaving his army to the mercy of fate, fled to France under a plausible pretext, Tallien entered the inner circle of General Jean-Baptiste Kleber, who took over as commander-in-chief of the Army of Orient. Tallien won Kleber’s trust, but after the tragic death of the General on June 14, 1800, it was impossible for him to find a common language with the new commander-in-chief, General Menou. The author of the article, based on the analysis of wide range of sources, among which a special attention was paid to Talien's personal and official correspondence, as well as the memoirs of his contemporaries, attempted to study the motives that prompted him to join this expedition, his activities in Egypt as a civil commissioner, the evolution of his relationship with Kléber and the reasons that forced Tallien to leave Egypt a few months after the assassination of the commander-in-chief.
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