page_title: Edgar Humann
section_title: Admiral (1889–1903)
hierarchical_section_title: Edgar Humann / Admiral (1889–1903)
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Mekong river basin. Intended to replace older map here. Made using Natural Earth data.
context_page_description: Edgar Eugène Humann was a French naval officer.
  He rose through the ranks to Admiral, and commanded the Far East naval division during the Paknam incident.
  He served as Chief of Staff of the French Navy in 1894–95.
context_section_description: Humann was appointed Rear admiral (Contre Amiral) on 12 November 1889.
  He was made a member of the Naval Council and a member of the Lighthouse Commission.
  He was promoted to Commander of the Legion of Honour on 30 December 1890.
  In 1892 he was placed in command of the Far East naval division.
  At this time Britain and France were extending their spheres of influence in Southeast Asia.
  The British had taken control of Burma and the trans-Mekong Shan States, while France had established a protectorate over Annam (central and southern Vietnam).
  The independent kingdom of Siam (Thailand) lay between the two colonial powers, and could potentially serve as a buffer.
  In February 1893 Théophile Delcassé, head of the French colonial office, declared that the Mekong River defined the western limit of the French sphere of influence in Indochina.
  Tensions rose between Siam and France with armed clashes in May and June.
  In late June three French gunships appeared at the mouth of the Menam River to the south of the Siamese capital of Bangkok.
  Humann commanded the French fleet.
  The Siamese refused permission for the French to pass beyond the forts at Paknam.
  When they proceeded anyway the forts opened fire and grounded one of the ships.
  The other two continued upstream and anchored off Bangkok.
  On 18 July 1893, while the French warships Inconstant and Comète continued to threaten Bangkok, the French foreign minister Jules Develle served an ultimatum on Siam demanding recognition of French rights to the left bank of the Mekong and payment of reparations.
  On 30 July Humann ordered the commander of the British H.M.S. Linnet to leave the position he had taken in front of Bangkok.
  This incident marked the peak of tension in the Anglo-French confrontation.
  The French soon apologized and the two powers settled down to protracted negotiations over buffer zones and borders.
  The French government claimed that Humann's actions were in defiance of (or due to failure to receive) orders instructing him not to enter the river. However, instead of being reprimanded, Humann was promoted to Vice admiral on 3 February 1894.
  From September 1894 to November 1895 he was Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, and Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of the Navy.
  In November 1896 Humann was commander of the Mediterranean reserve squadron.
  In October 1897 he was given command of the Western and Levantine Mediterranean Squadron, with the battleship Brennus as his flagship.
  In October 1898 he was made Inspector General of the Navy.
  He was made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour on 11 July 1899.
  In 1902 he was Chairman of the Council of Marine Works.
  He retired from active duty in May 1903.
caption: The Mekong, separating Burma to the west from Annam to the east
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