The Ottoman Empire had landed 18,000 troops at Aboukir to reclaim Egypt. Napoleon attacked immediately — a classic offensive response to a threat that would only grow stronger if allowed to establish itself. The battle lasted a single day. Murat's cavalry charge drove the Ottoman forces off the peninsula and into the sea; the Turkish troops, caught between the French cavalry and the Mediterranean, had no choice but to drown or surrender. Mustafa Pasha was captured after being wounded. The victory was so complete — only 5,000 Ottoman troops escaped of 18,000 — that Napoleon considered it among his greatest.
Aboukir demonstrated Napoleon's tactical genius in isolation from his strategic situation — he was still stranded in Egypt with no way home. He used the victory as propaganda to disguise the failure of the Egyptian expedition, and returned to France shortly afterward to participate in the 18 Brumaire coup that made him First Consul. The battle won him nothing strategically but saved him politically.
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The Fascist Grand Council voted 19-7 to strip Mussolini of command, and King Victor Emmanuel III had him arrested as he left the royal palace. Mussolini reportedly said nothing and was driven away in an ambulance.
Mussolini's fall led to Italy's armistice in September 1943 and eventual switch to the Allied side, opening the Italian campaign.
Outcome
Mussolini arrested; Italy begins negotiations to switch sides