Charles Sulpice Jules Chanoine (December 18, 1835, Dijon,

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or (; literally, "Golden Slope") is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

military officer who led the first French mission sent to Japan, between 1867 and 1868. Early in his career, he served as chief of the French troops in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

during the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

(1856–1860). Later, from 1867 to 1868, he was posted to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

as the commander of the First French Military Mission to Japan, sent to that country by Napoleon III at the request of the 14th '' shōgun'' Tokugawa Iemochi. Among the officers under his command in Japan was Jules Brunet, who would play a key role in the conflict between the Shogun and the restoration forces of the Meiji Emperor during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

. Due to the involvement of the Mission in supporting the Shogun, Chanoine had to leave Japan with the majority of the other French advisors in October 1868, per orders of the new emperor Meiji. Those who chose to remain, led by Jules Brunet, sent letters of resignation from the French army before joining the forces of the Shogun. This was done apparently with Chanoine's tacit agreement, as he covered up their departure for a period of several days. As Henri Brisson's third Minister of War in 1898, Chanoine, like his predecessors, Generals Cavaignac and Zurlinden, attempted to prevent a review of the

Dreyfus case The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

, against the wishes of the cabinet, which had already decided to support review. The indecision within the government caused by Chanoine's actions, as well as the chaos on the streets caused by the anti-Dreyfusards, led to the fall of the government. During his Ministry, Chanoine named Jules Brunet, his former aide in Japan thirty years earlier, to the position of Chief of Staff of the French army ("Chef d'Etat Major"). Chanoine had a son, Lt. Julien Chanoine, who played a role in the French conquest of

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

, in the Voulet-Chanoine Mission.

External links

I
at membres.lycos.fr

at www.military-photos.com 1835 births 1915 deaths Military personnel from Dijon French military leaders Meiji Restoration French military personnel of the Second Opium War Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French Ministers of War {{france-mil-bio-stub

See also

External links