Talk:Amédée Courbet

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message: Dear Rama,
Courbet restored the honour of French arms after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War  That is the chief significance of his victories in the Sino-French War, and I will be happy to provide suitable quotes and references to demonstrate that fact.  For a start, here is Thomazi's assessment in the 1930s, speaking of the French victory at the Battle of Fuzhou.
The admiral was entirely justified when, on reaching Matsu on the evening of 30 August 1884, he said in his Order of the Day to the squadron: ‘You have just accomplished a feat of arms of which the navy can be justifiably proud.’  Observers who had believed that the French squadron had put its head into a noose now realized that its ascent of the Min River had been a magnificent act of considered boldness, and judged its descent to the sea as ‘a military feat of the first order, whatever one might think of the military virtues of the Chinese’.  The greatness of the exploit was also recognized in France, and Jules Ferry cabled Courbet, ‘The country which saluted you as the victor of Son Tay is now in your debt for a new feat of arms.  The Government of the Republic is happy to accord to your admirable crews and to their glorious leader this expression of the nation’s gratitude.’  The victorious Courbet was awarded the médaille militaire.
This time, he also won fame.  ‘Nobody talks here of anybody else but you, or admires anybody else but you,’ wrote a friend, M. E. Ferry, mayor of the ninth arrondissement.  ‘On every street corner we find portraits of you, of varying degrees of inaccuracy.  What really pleases me is that the parties have forgotten their differences, and all declare that you are a hero.  Wait and see the reception you get when you come to Paris.  People will fight to see you.’  He featured in the musée Grévin, and was deeply annoyed when he heard.  ‘I am bewildered by this whole sorry business.  I have a horror of hero-worship in general, and of this kind of hero-worship in particular.’ But the tributes kept flowing in from all sides and in every shape and form.  Paul Bert wrote to him, ‘I beg that Admiral Courbet will be kind enough to accept this expression of enthusiastic admiration and respectful homage from a patriot.  He has made me feel happy for the first time since the news of our disasters.’  The entire navy was proud of its hero, and in the army the ablest spirits paid him homage.   ‘You would be touched to know,’ General de Négrier wrote, ‘how much your old soldiers and sailors have been buoyed up by your latest victory.  Since 1870 we have lived under the shadow of defeat ...  You have given us what we most needed: confidence.’  Perhaps the praise which the admiral relished most was that given by a sailor under his command, reported by the naval surveyor Bouquet de la Grye:  ‘Admiral Courbet is a great commander. He doesn’t get his men killed for nothing.’Thomazi, La conquete de l'Indochine, 212-13
  
I will shortly be adding a paragraph to the article on the reception of Courbet's victories in France.  In the mean time, my statement that Courbet restored French honour is a historical fact, and the most important aspect of his career.  That is why I want that statement up front in the first paragraph.  Why did you remove it?
Djwilms (talk) 01:52, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Significance of Courbet's victories