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Thread: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

  1. #1

    Default Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    Hello!

    I was just wondering, considerng you can use American, British, French troops in FotS, that if there was any real foreign troops in the real Boshin war?

    Perhaps european merceneries? I haven't found anything on google or Wikipedia, perhaps someone else knows?

    Thank you

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    The Europeans did bombard two harbours (Kagoshima and Shimonoseki). However, they never sent troops, only advisors, to Japan.
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  3. #3

    Default Re: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    As Destin Faroda wrote, there were only some military advisors. A quick overview on wikipedia:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_...67%E2%80%9368)

    And the most notable individual was this guy. Resigning from French Service and supporting the Shogunat. He was the inspiration for the 'Tom Cruise' character in the Last Samurai-Movie:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Brunet

  4. #4
    Steph's Avatar Maréchal de France
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    Default Re: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    And as usual with American movie, the hero must be an American...

  5. #5

    Default Re: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    Quote Originally Posted by Steph View Post
    And as usual with American movie, the hero must be an American...
    nothing wrong with americans is there?

  6. #6

    Default Re: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    you watched the last samurai a too many times...

  7. #7

    Default Re: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    Quote Originally Posted by Steph View Post
    And as usual with American movie, the hero must be an American...
    I was mildly amused by the scene at the end where the Japanese army all kowtowed on their knees to the American guy. Technically speaking, they were paying a homage to the brave slain warriors without even deeming to notice the sole living dirty gaijin in their midst, but one can't help assume the implications caused by an image a bunch of Asians bowing down to a Caucasian foreigner.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    Quote Originally Posted by Carl Jung was right View Post
    I was mildly amused by the scene at the end where the Japanese army all kowtowed on their knees to the American guy. Technically speaking, they were paying a homage to the brave slain warriors without even deeming to notice the sole living dirty gaijin in their midst, but one can't help assume the implications caused by an image a bunch of Asians bowing down to a Caucasian foreigner.
    I disagree. To be honest, the film was like a pure Japanese propaganda, about how United States committed genocide and how honored the Japanese are. The Caucasian was disgusting from his own people, wanted to be a Japanese himself.

    In reality, as a huge fan of Japanese culture, I must admit that they were brutal, just like any other cultures. Samurai were just as selfish and dishonored as European or Central Asian warlords. Also, living isolated in an island for 250 years keep them in medieval ages and made them more racist than other cultures.

    That doesn't make them less cool though, I like savage cultures

  9. #9
    General Maximus's Avatar Vicarius Provinciae
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    Default Re: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    What I wonder is, why would Britain land it's own troops in Japan? By this time they had raped India out of existance, Mughal Empire was dead and all former Mughal and Maratha breakaway provinces now provided their own armies to UK. In all their wars around Asia including Opium Wars, Britain used Indians and their troops to fight someone or help someone.

    If anything, instead of Royal Marines or whatever that unit is, there should've been soldiers from southern India, like Sepoys of Carnatic or from what is now Andhra Pradesh. They were as well disciplined and equipped as an army could be in those days, only falling behind by WW1.
    सार्वभौम सम्राट चत्रवर्ती - भारतवर्ष
    स्वर्गपुत्र पीतसम्राट - चीन
    महाराजानाभ्याम महाराजा - पारसिक

  10. #10

    Default Re: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    What about French presence? I know that they had footing in Vietnam and the likes, but what about Japan? Shogun 2 FOTS has french troops I assume for unit variety, but still, there has to be a stronger historical connection.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Did foreign troops fight in the Boshin War? (Fall of the Samurai)

    No, as far as my understanding of the period – the official position of the great powers during the Boshin War was neutrality, however there were notable exceptions, which could certainly be argued to amount to active influence, but not direct intervention.

    The intro to the campaign draws reference to Western intervention leading up to the Boshin War, most obviously with the Bombardment of Kagoshima (in Satsuma Domain) by British warships in August 1863.

    However an example of more active intervention occurred in September 1864, which did see Britain, France (and potentially the US, who were involved, though I cannot find a reference for) land troops to silence the guns which had been hampering western shipping in the Shimonoseki Straits (in Choshu Domain). There as some nice prints and photographs illustrating this (or at least its aftermath) which give a good indication of the scale of the battle – namely, a small skirmish. Moreover, Russia – which was omitted from the game, had long been feared by the Japanese through it eastward expansion, made attempts to 'seize' the Island of Tsushima in 1861.

    The western powers also had legations (embassies) in Japan since the mid-1850s, many of which were sacked at some point, and it would be expected that the handful of legation guards participated in the defence. I seem to recall the sacking of the British legation led to a permanent detachment sent to protect it, so there were certainly British troops (through I would expect less than a hundred men) stationed in Japan. Moreover, the western powers certainly had an economic interest in Japan – European traders, such as the Scotsman, Thomas Blake Glover, were instrumental in arming both sides, supplying them with rifles, artillery, ammunition and many of the ships to both the Imperial and Shogunate Navies.

    Additionally, it has been stated, western powers, notably France sent military advisors which included Jules Brunet (reputed to be the inspiration for the character depicted in the Last Samurai) as part of efforts to strengthen diplomatic and military ties. Brunet famously refused orders to return to France, at the outbreak of the Boshin War. As for the use of Indian troops, they likely would have been used if a major conflict broke out (which it did not!), just as they had been in the later stages of the Second Opium War, however the small scale of these 'incidents', prevented anything more than Marines, and more often disembarked sailors, fighting at Shimonoseki.

    Hope this answers the question – direct western intervention was very limited, and there were certainly no 'battles' as could be reasonably be represented in game.

    G.
    Last edited by xoGIORGIOox; December 07, 2016 at 08:10 AM.

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