Editing Battle of the Nile (section)

===Effects===
The Battle of the Nile has been called "arguably, the most decisive  naval engagement of the great age of sail",<ref name="SM272">[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 272]]</ref> and "the most splendid and glorious success which the British Navy gained."<ref name="WLC371">[[#Reference-Clowes|Clowes, p. 371]]</ref> Historian and novelist [[C. S. Forester]], writing in 1929, compared the Nile to the great naval actions in history and concluded that "it still only stands rivalled by [[Battle of Tsushima|Tsu-Shima]] as an example of the annihilation of one fleet by another of approximately equal material force".<ref name="CSF120">[[#Reference-Forester|Forester, p. 120]]</ref> The effect on the strategic situation in the Mediterranean was immediate, reversing the balance of the conflict and giving the British control at sea that they maintained for the remainder of the war.<ref name="NM274">[[#Reference-Mostert|Mostert, p. 274]]</ref> The destruction of the French Mediterranean fleet allowed the Royal Navy to return to the sea in force, as British squadrons set up [[blockade]]s off French and allied ports.<ref name="PP132"/> In particular, British ships cut Malta off from France, aided by the rebellion among the native Maltese population that forced the French garrison to retreat to Valletta and shut the gates.<ref name=WJ189>[[#Reference-James|James, p. 189]]</ref> The ensuing [[Siege of Malta (1798–1800)|siege of Malta]] lasted for two years before the defenders were finally starved into surrender.<ref name="RG70">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 70]]</ref> In 1799, British ships harassed Bonaparte's army as it marched east and north through [[Ottoman Palestine|Palestine]], and played a crucial part in Bonaparte's defeat at the [[Siege of Acre (1799)|siege of Acre]], when the barges carrying the siege train were captured and the French storming parties were bombarded by British ships anchored offshore.<ref name="JHR144">[[#Reference-Rose|Rose, p. 144]]</ref> It was during one of these latter engagements that Captain Miller of ''Theseus'' was killed in an ammunition explosion.<ref name=WJ294>[[#Reference-James|James, p. 294]]</ref> The defeat at Acre forced Bonaparte to retreat to Egypt and effectively ended his efforts to carve an empire in the Middle East.<ref name="RG62">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 62]]</ref> The French general returned to France without his army late in the year, leaving Kléber in command of Egypt.<ref name="DC226">[[#Reference-Chandler|Chandler, p. 226]]</ref>

The [[Ottoman Empire]], with whom Bonaparte had hoped to conduct an alliance once his control of Egypt was complete, was encouraged by the Battle of the Nile to go to war against France.<ref name="NR461">[[#Reference-Rodger|Rodger, p. 461]]</ref> This led to a series of campaigns that slowly sapped the strength from the French army trapped in Egypt. The British victory also encouraged  the [[Austrian Empire]] and the [[Russian Empire]], both of whom were mustering armies as part of a [[Second Coalition]], which declared war on France in 1799.<ref name="RG13"/> With the Mediterranean undefended, an [[Imperial Russian Navy]] fleet entered the [[Ionian Sea]], while Austrian armies recaptured much of the Italian territory lost to Bonaparte in the previous war.<ref name="RG14">[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 14]]</ref> Without their best general and his veterans, the French suffered a series of defeats and it was not until Bonaparte returned to become [[First Consul]] that France once again held a position of strength on [[Continental Europe]].<ref name="SM275">[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 275]]</ref> In 1801 a British Expeditionary Force defeated the demoralised remains of the French army in Egypt. The Royal Navy used its dominance in the Mediterranean to invade Egypt without the fear of ambush while anchored off the Egyptian coast.<ref name=RG78>[[#Reference-Gardiner|Gardiner, p. 78]]</ref>

In spite of the overwhelming British victory in the climactic battle, the campaign has sometimes been considered a strategic success for France. Historian [[Edward Ingram (historian)|Edward Ingram]] noted that if Nelson had successfully intercepted Bonaparte at sea as ordered, the ensuing battle could have annihilated both the French fleet and the transports. As it was, Bonaparte was free to continue the war in the Middle East and later to return to Europe personally unscathed.<ref name=EL142>[[#Reference-Ingram|Ingram, p. 142]]</ref> The potential of a successful engagement at sea to change the course of history is underscored by the list of French army officers carried aboard the convoy who later formed the core of the generals and marshals under Emperor Napoleon. In addition to Bonaparte himself, [[Louis-Alexandre Berthier]], [[Auguste de Marmont]], [[Jean Lannes]], [[Joachim Murat]], [[Louis Desaix]], [[Jean Reynier]], [[Antoine-François Andréossy]], [[Jean-Andoche Junot]], [[Louis-Nicolas Davout]] and [[Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas|Dumas]] were all passengers on the [[Mediterranean campaign of 1798|cramped Mediterranean crossing]].<ref name=SM259>[[#Reference-Maffeo|Maffeo, p. 259]]</ref>