What do the humble Jami Jedid Mosque in the centre of Limassol, the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow and the Battle of Nations Monument in Leipzig - the largest monument on the European continent - have in common?
Jami Jedid- Christ the Saviour Cathedral - Battle of Nations Monument
Incredible, but true: all these buildings were erected to commemorate the victories over Napoleon Bonaparte.
France in Egypt
In the 1790s, France was in a state of political instability. Following the French Revolution, the country experienced periods of terror, changes of government and economic hardship. The government of the Directory (1795-1799) had little credibility among the people because of its inability to govern effectively. The young general Napoleon Bonaparte was rapidly gaining popularity for his talents and his successful campaign in Italy, where he led an army against a coalition of the Austrian Empire and its allies and won a series of brilliant victories.
The government was keen to get rid of such a colourful leader and sent him on a long, gruelling and dangerous campaign to Egypt, which was then within Britain's sphere of interest. Of course, fear of Napoleon's ambitions was not the only or even the main reason. The Directory wanted to combine the pleasant (sending Napoleon away) with the useful (taking Egypt and annoying England).
France was looking for new markets and ways to expand its colonies after losing most of its North American possessions in the Seven Years' War. Egypt, on the other hand, was of interest in terms of trade routes and resources. Control of Egypt would open access to the riches of the East and allow the initiative to be taken from England, which dominated the trade routes to India.
Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign, which began in 1798, was one of the French commander's most ambitious military campaigns. After conquering Malta en route, Napoleon landed his army in Egypt and soon defeated the Turco-Egyptian army at the Battle of the Pyramids.
Antoine-Jean Gros "Battle of the Pyramids"
He then took Cairo and began to consolidate French power in the region, proclaiming himself the liberator of Egypt. On 1 August 1798, a British squadron under Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile. As a result, the French lost almost their entire fleet, effectively cutting Napoleon and his army off from France and depriving them of naval support. This naval defeat made it unlikely that France would gain a foothold in the region. But Napoleon did not give up.
In early 1799, the Corsican decided that it was necessary to take strategic positions in the Levant in order to strengthen himself for further expansion to the east. This decision was also motivated by his desire to prevent the unification of the Ottoman and British armies, which could threaten him from the east. In February 1799, Napoleon launched the Syrian Campaign, which aimed to capture cities on the eastern Mediterranean coast and secure control of the sea lanes. The campaign began with successful attacks on the cities of El Arish and Gaza, after which Napoleon moved north towards Acre (now the city of Acre in Israel), which was controlled by Ottoman forces under the command of Jezzar Pasha.
In March 1799, after taking Jaffa, Napoleon approached the walls of Acre. The town was fortified and ready for defence. Acra was defended by Ottoman troops under Jezzar Pasha and British reinforcements from the sea, led by Commodore Sidney Smith.
Robert Ker Porter's 'Portrait of Sir Sidney Smith'.
He was able to mount an effective defence which greatly complicated Napoleon's plans.
Napoleon's failure
The siege of Acre was the turning point of the campaign. It was not possible to take the city quickly. On the side of the Anglo-Ottoman defenders of Acre was the luck of Smith. He managed to intercept a ship carrying French siege cannon that was on its way to help Bonaparte by sea. In fact, Smith deprived Napoleon of powerful cannons and forced him to besiege the city with less effective means.
The Ottoman forces under the command of Jezzar Pasha launched regular counterattacks. These actions, supported by the fire of the British fleet, created serious difficulties for the French army. Soon after the siege began, it became known that large Ottoman forces were preparing a counter-offensive. Napoleon realised that his army could be caught between the besieged city and an army approaching from the rear.
Lithograph of the final assault on Acre
This threat forced him to speed up the attack, but all attempts to take the city eventually failed. The long siege drained the resources of the French army and undermined morale. The soldiers suffered from disease, lack of food and battle fatigue. Eventually, Napoleon was forced to admit that continuing the siege would be disastrous for his army. On 20 May 1799, Bonaparte decided to lift the siege and withdraw to Egypt.
Turkish Cypriots on the battlefield
Among the soldiers of the Ottoman army was Haji Ibrahim Agha Koprulu, a resident of Limassol. He was mobilised and sent to fight against Napoleon. Before being sent to Akra, Ibrahim promised that if he returned from the war unharmed, he would build a mosque in his home town. After defeating Napoleon, the Turkish Cypriot returned home safely and fulfilled his vow. Jami Jedid, or 'the new mosque', was built in 1825. At that time, this area was one of the most important Turkish-Cypriot areas in Limassol. It was bustling with life, with apartment blocks, warehouses and cafes.
In addition to the mosque, Koprulu built, at his own expense, a wooden bridge that connected the mosque to the street where all the members of his family lived (today it is Fevzi Pasha Street, a story in itself). When Ibrahim Agha died, he was buried in the courtyard next to the mosque.
A small cemetery on the grounds of the mosque
In 1894 there was a flood. The Garillis River burst its banks, swept away the wooden bridge and damaged the mosque. The mosque remained in ruins until 1909. With financial help from Istanbul, the mosque was restored. A few metres from the mosque is St Anthony's Church, built in 1830. These two buildings remain an important testimony to the coexistence of the two communities and the peaceful life of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
Today, the Garillis River is no longer a threat to anyone.
What came next for Napoleon?
The situation in Egypt was not easy for Napoleon, the administration of the conquered territories required enormous resources. At the same time, news was reaching him that the Directory's days were numbered. He preferred to return home to take part in the political struggle. In September 1799, Bonaparte left Egypt and handed over command to General Jean-Baptiste Kleber. He did not inform his soldiers, or even his closest associates, of his intention to sail for France in order to avoid a drop in the army's morale.
With a few of his closest associates, Napoleon secretly boarded two frigates, managed to bypass the British fleet blockading Egypt, and successfully reached the southern coast of France in early October 1799, landing near the town of Fréjus. He arrived in Paris in mid-October, where he was greeted as a hero despite his failures in the Middle East.
In November 1799, Napoleon organised the coup of the 18th Brumaire, overthrowing the Directory and establishing the rule of the Consulate, in which he took the key position of First Consul. This effectively made him the dictator of France and paved the way for his further rise.
Monument to Napoleon on the cholla of his name near Acre
Conclusion
Finally - a few words about the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and the Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig, as we started our conversation with these sights. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow was built as a symbol of gratitude to God for saving Russia from Napoleon's army. After the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, Emperor Alexander I issued a decree for its construction, but work did not begin until 1837, under Emperor Nicholas I, and lasted almost half a century, until 1883. It was to be a monument to victory and the memory of the fallen. The original temple was demolished in 1931.
It was rebuilt in the 1990s. The Völkerschlachtdenkmal (Monument to the Battle of the Nations) in Leipzig is a grandiose monument that stands on the site of the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. This is where a coalition of European powers defeated Napoleon.
The monument was unveiled in 1913, on the 100th anniversary of the battle. It symbolises the collective resistance of European nations against Bonaparte and their victory. And today, 112 years later, it is the most massive monument on the European continent.
The Jami Jedid Mosque in Limassol, on the other hand, is a symbol not of European but of Middle Eastern resistance to the Corsican. Cypriots were also involved in this resistance. Although the mosque is far from the grandeur of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, it is valuable as a monument to the participation of a small man in great historical events.
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