ARMY OF THE SULTAN Padisah: mahmood Sadr-i Azam: Shawa_Super Although the Ottoman Empire did not participate directly in the major theaters of the Napoleonic Wars, it still played an important role in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Napoleon’s 1798 invasion of Egypt was viewed as a direct attack on Ottoman territory, prompting the Empire to align itself with the coalition powers. This hostility toward France eventually subsided, however, and in the following years the Ottoman Empire adopted a more neutral stance in European politics.