AMADE Albert d' (EN)

Biographical Article

Albert d'Amade was the son of Adolphe d'Amade (1821-1892), assistant to the military Commissariat, and Marie-Thérèse Amélie de Ricaumont (dates unknown). They both resided in Algiers. D’Amade was a strong student, and he had an academic education before going on to lead an exemplary career in the military, where he steadily climbed the ranks.

Military Training (AN, LH//27/37)

On October 24, 1874, he entered the École spéciale militaire. He volunteered for a period of five years on March 3, 1875. On August 24, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal, then on January 31, 1876 to Sergeant. He received mention of merit at his exit exams. From 1878 to 1879, the officer continued his training at the École de tir in Blida, in Algeria, from which he graduated first out of thirteen students.

Subsequently, he carried out numerous campaigns in Africa. As a member of the Tunisian expeditionary force, he was enlisted in the 3rd Regiment of Algerian riflemen, as a Second Lieutenant, on October 1, 1876. On December 9, 1881, he was assigned to the 143rd infantry regiment as Lieutenant. He took courses at the École Supérieure de Guerre from November 1, 1882 to November 1, 1884 and obtained the brevet d’état-major (general staff brevet), with honours. On March 29, 1885, he was admitted as a Captain in the 108th Infantry Regiment.

The Mission in China and Tonkin

While the Treaties of Tianjin (天津) [May 11, 1884 and June 9, 1885] put an end to the Franco-Chinese war and led to the recognition of French sovereignty in Indochina, Albert d'Amade was sent to Tonkin, under French protectorate since 1883. He participated in the Tonkin Expeditionary Force from April 13, 1885 to May 22, 1887, detached to the staff of the 3rd Tonkin Brigade, on March 4, 1886. The "pacification" enterprise (Munholland K. , 1978, p. 82), supported by the second government of Jules Ferry (1832-1893), caused him to be overthrown on April 6, 1885. The government had to deal with endemic revolts. The situation was growing worse.

Albert d'Amade was appointed military attaché of the legation of the French Republic in China, in Tianjin, by decree of March 7, 1887. His mission allowed him to travel on the Yangtze (长江) and in Yunnan (雲南) from 1888 to 1889, which he extended to Korea in 1890. He was relieved of these functions by a decision of December 17, 1890.

On February 26, 1894, he was elevated to the rank of battle chief, attached to the 18th infantry regiment.

On his return from Beijing (北京), after four years of service in China, D'Amade married  Nelly Pauline Amélie Marie Mieulet de Ricaumont (dates unknown) on August 8, 1891, in Libourne, Gironde, with whom he had four children, two daughters and two sons.

Because of his knowledge of China, Albert d'Amade was asked along with the interpreter Gabriel Dévéria (1844-1899) to act as a guide to the Viceroy of Beizhili (北直隸) [former region, including the Beijing capital and part of Hebei (河北)], Li Hongzhang (李鴻章) [1823-1901] during his visit to Paris. He was thus part of the diplomatic delegation, which welcomed him upon his arrival at the Gare du Nord in Paris on July 13, 1896.

On August 19, the officer was called to the 2nd Bureau of the Army General Staff. D'Amade continued his investigations in China and on the Tonkinese border, charged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gabriel Hanotaux (1853-1944), to probe the various access routes from Tonkin to China, with the aim of "creating in China an immediately productive path" and "to adopt the most direct and easy line of penetration between our possessions in the Far East and the wealthy provinces of the Middle Kingdom" (ANOM, GGI 6632). This mission resulted in the writing of several notes and reflections on the subject. He wondered about the possible connections of Tonkin with the trade routes of Yunnan, Guangxi (廣西) and Guangdong (廣東). He wrote another report on the access routes to be cleared in China with a view to establishing a rail network in the two countries, in May 1897. The mission thus sought to respond to the Sino-Burmese convention, signed on February 4, 1897 in Beijing by Li Hongzhang and Claude MacDonald (1852-1915), newly appointed British Minister to China (1896-1900). Indeed, the construction of the Chinese railway to the border, its connection to that of Burma and the modifications made to the Sino-Burmese border to the advantage of England, jeopardised trade between China and the provinces of Indochina, which were essentially based on the Yunnan railway project (ANOM, GGI 6632). These reports addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 4, 1897, would serve as a basis for this project and be read carefully by Charles Marie Guillemoto (1857-1907), head of the mission, already on site (1896-1898).

A General in the Field in Morocco

By decree of October 28, 1899, until August 5, 1900, Albert d'Amade, promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on July 12, 1900, was appointed military attaché at the headquarters of the English army in the Transvaal. This mission allowed him to follow the operations carried out in southern Africa. He obtained the rank of Colonel on December 31, 1903, to be promoted to Brigadier General, by decree of March 12, 1907, effective March 27. He received command of the French troops who landed in Casablanca on December 27, 1907, and continued to lead his men under the functions of Division General, by decree of October 1, 1908, effective October 9. His mission was to pacify Morocco, in the grip of revolt, following the signing of the Act of Algeciras (1906) by Sultan Moulay Abd al-Aziz (1878-1943); a situation that turned into civil war (1907), pitting the official sultan against his brother Moulay Abd al-Hafid (1875-1937). In March 1908, Jean Jaurès (1859-1914), opposing French penetration into Morocco, judged Albert d'Amade responsible for the massacre of the population in the Chaouïa region, surrounding Casablanca (Fabre R., 2015, § 29). From 1910, he served as Major General of the colonial troops. His knowledge of the African territory earned him the position of Resident General of France in Morocco.

The Dardanelles Expedition

During the Great War (1914-1918), Albert d'Amade sat on the Superior War Council. In 1915, he commanded the French Eastern Expeditionary Corps in the Dardanelles. France, sinking into the inertia of trench warfare, sought with the British to jointly open a second front and to force the Ottoman Empire, under the Young Turk dictatorship, to withdraw from the war. The objective was to rush into the Black Sea to supply the Russians with weapons, in order to rebalance forces. The expedition, however,  was entrapped by Turkish-German forces and failed.

A Career as a Distinguished General Officer

Albert d'Amade was elected president of the Union nationale des combattants de la 18^e région (Gironde), whose headquarters were in Bordeaux. The association supported his candidacy for obtaining the superlative decoration of the grand’croix de la Légion d’honneur. The government approved their request and awarded him the decoration, by decree of the Minister of War, on January 30, 1925, to assume the rank of Major General of the reserve section. He was also honoured with the commemorative medal of Tonkin and Annam, as well as the colonial medal, for services rendered during his missions carried out in the colonies of Tonkin and Morocco. Sadi Carnot (1837-1894), President of the Republic from 1887 to 1894, authorised him to accept the decoration of the first degree of the 3rd class of the Chinese double dragon. The Emperor of Russia granted him the decoration of Knight of the Order of Saint Nicholas 2nd class, to be worn in the buttonhole, on December 14, 1893.

Albert d'Amade retired to Fronsac, to his Château de Pontus, near Libourne, where he became a winemaker.

The Collection

The collections of the Defense Communication and Audiovisual Production Establishment (ECPAD) consist of a set of twenty collections of photographs, compiled by Albert d'Amade or purchased commercially during his trip to China and the during his various military campaigns. It should be noted the presence of a series of photographs, which contrasts with the rest of the collection, devoted to leisure. Albert d'Amade photographed moments spent with his family in the Basque Country, in Bayonne, Biarritz and Hondarribia, on the Spanish border, as well as in Royan, in Gironde, between 1902 and 1904 (ECPAD, D137-21). His trip to China represents more than half of the collection. Four hundred and ninety photographs, divided into ten albums, evoke this mission.

Souvenir Photographs

D'Amade devoted two albums to the journey that led him to China, bringing together 78 photographs. Very few are of his doing. The first (ECPAD, inv. D 137-3) presents the work of Italian photographer Luigi Fiorillo (1847-1898), showing views of Cairo ad the pyramids of Keops and Alexandria, which he probably acquired in his workshop, located in Mehemet Ali Square in Alexandria. These are tourist photographs, bringing together the memories of an Egyptian stopover.

The second (ECPAD, inv. D 137-4) consists of photographs by Hippolyte Arnoux (18? -19?), Gabriel Lekegian (active ca. 1887-1908), and the studio of the brothers Constantin and Georges Zangaki, from the island of Minos in Greece. D'Amade must have obtained the pictures of these last photographers, in their studio, created in Port Said around 1880, unless he took advantage of his return to visit their branch opened in Cairo in the 1890s. He thus collected photographs of the Suez Canal, the Port of Aden, and the cities of Colombo and Kandy on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

A Military Construction of China's Beizhili Landscape

Six other albums refer directly to his trip to China, as military attaché to the French Legation between 1887 and 1891. He traveled in the provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi from October 1888 to May 1889 and went up the Blue River in November of the same year. His photographs bear witness to his travels. His gaze turned out to be scrutinising, carefully observing the topographical configuration of the terrain he discovers. These shots seem characterised by a strategic determinism, as the officer responded to concerns of a military nature according to his mission.

Albert d'Amade took note of the presence of the Chinese army in the landscape and studied the location of defensive works, forts, and enclosures, built under the aegis of the Chinese government. Anxious to have a global view of the topographical configuration and the military situation, the photographer made efforts to gain altitude, giving most of his images a certain depth of field. He also carried out some close-ups on certain elements of the fortifications. D’Amade thus photographed the installation of Chinese military camps in the former region of Beizhili. He attended Chinese military reviews and manoeuvres. On the Bai he (白河), his gaze focused on the forts of Tanggu (塘沽) and the Chinese torpedo boats stationed in front of the entrance to the pass, inside the port.

D'Amade also delivered some portraits of Chinese notables and dignitaries, such as Li Hongzhang, taken with his family, or Liu Yongfu (劉永福) [1837-1917], leader of the Black Pavilions. The few photographs of natives, like those taken in the studio, confirm a limited interest for the local populations. The photographer was more interested in covering territory, observing the banks of the Blue River, and capturing the passage of the famous Yichang Gorge (宜昌).

His mission took him to Korea, where he noted the territorial ambitions of the Japanese. He photographed the Japanese concession in Busan and attended the funeral of the Queen Mother of Korea in Seoul on October 11, 1890.

A Strategic Look

The photographs were probably useful in building topographical knowledge of the terrain and respond to a fundamental strategic aim, which conditioned the methods of shooting. In addition to the topographical documents addressed to Gabriel Lemaire (1839-1907), Minister Plenipotentiary in China, d'Amade sent a few photographic views under special cover, which he asked to be transmitted for all practical purposes to the Minister of War, Charles de Freycinet (1828-1923) [AMAE, inv. 107 PAAP 3].

Picturesque Views of China

These informational views, apparently documentary in nature, are complemented by some more picturesque views. Albert d'Amade managed to photograph certain aspects of the Chinese cities while establishing a particular atmosphere. Photographs by Thomas Child (1841-1898) and William Saunders (1832-1892) complement this latter style of representating China.

A Glimpse of Siberia

A last album helps understand the work of collecting that Amade carried out. In addition to photographs of Siberia, particularly of Port-Arthur (present-day Lüshun [旅順]), the officer collected photographs of archaeological objects from Siberia, plates presenting various artefacts in an exploded way, which contrast with the rest of the production.

In conclusion, Albert d'Amade stands out as an amateur photographer, and also as a collector of views. There is no denying the diversity of this collection of photographs taken by this soldier, who, because of his assignments, focused on his duties, without venturing too far into Chinese life and culture.