Napoleon inaugurated the systematic use of scholarship for empire

Evidence

This is not to say that knowledge about the enemy was not essential in earlier periods. Even during medieval times, European rulers gathered accurate information about Muslim kingdoms through spies, officials, and informants in order to develop martial strategies. They did not, of course, share this knowledge with the public. Instead, they used the vitriolic rhetoric of the Holy Wars to motivate the Crusades and the Reconquista. While this general method persists even in the twenty-first century, what Napoleon’s invasion inaugurated was the systematic use of scholarly knowledge to serve the needs of empire, both abroad and at home. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 106

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Napoleon’s expedition deliberately taught Egyptians imperial ambition; Napoleon’s geographers aimed to instill an active imperial sense in Egyptians; Napoleon’s 1798 Egyptian campaign founded modern Orientalism — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 381 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• French ethnology was founded explicitly to serve colonial control objectives #exemplifies (0.70)
• Nineteenth-century Europe traded Enlightenment universalism for imperialist superiority #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 119
• So-called universal scholarship actually reflects imperial national biases #corroborates (0.55) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 592