Les relations franco-japonaises de 1859 à 1895
The history of Franco-Japanese relations is a source of surprise to many historians, both countries having a few reason to become closer. France's Second Empire is one of the first powers to go to Japan and quickly showed a keen interest in the development of Japan. From the first treaties signed in 1859, the French presence grows to reach the top a few years later. Despite the regimes changes in Japan and France, this presence has remained strong until the early 1880s before declining.  What explains this interest? And most importantly, what explains the lack of interest in France after the 1880s? There are only a few authors who have attempted to find an answer, and their results are, in our view, inconclusive: either France acts to increase its prestige, or it acts according to its representatives.  We try in this paper to identify and, if possible, to find other causes explaining the French position in Japan. Would it be the trade of some resources that motivated France to go to Japan, partly because of the crisis of the silkworm? Could it be the religion with the whole issue of persecution of Christians? Or is it a larger issue related to the colonization of Indochina?  To answer this question, we have studied the archives of the French government and the economic data of the time, to identify the importance that had certain reasons, such as the crisis of silk, religious persecution and French presence in Indochina, in the decisions of the French government.
France Christianity France Japan trade silk