Maximilian August Scipio von Brandt (born 8 October 1835 in Berlin; died 24 August 1920 in Weimar) was a German diplomat, East Asia expert and publicist.
Maximilian August Scipio von Brandt (born 8 October 1835 in Berlin; died 24 August 1920 in Weimar) was a German diplomat, East Asia expert and publicist.
Max von Brandt was the son of Prussian general and military author Heinrich von Brandt. He was baptized as Protestant and attended the French College in Berlin. At first he became a Prussian officer before taking part in the Eulenburg Expedition of 1860/61 to East Asia leading to the signage of a Japanese-Prussian trade-treaty on January, 24th. Afterwards, Max von Brandt was consul and later general consul of the North German Confederation, and from 1872, German "Ministerresident" in Japan. From 1875 to 1893 he then was imperial envoy in China and, in 1882/1883, concluded a trade- and amicability-treaty with Korea, where he intensely studied the culture and history of East Asia. Due to his detailed knowledge of Asia, his impressive personality as well as his pleasantness, von Brandt was highly esteemed in Beijing, where he became doyen of the diplomatic corps for many years.
Max von Brandt spent most of his diplomatic career serving in East Asia, where he was first a part of the Prussian mission in 1860. [1] Two years later, he became the Prussian consul at Yokohama. In his early years in the region, he was mostly dismissed due to his low rank as a consul. Brandt, therefore, acquired a tendency to assert himself in order to coordinate the German policy with the other representatives of treaty powers in East Asia. [2] It was said that, in order to do this, he often outlined ambitious colonial projects to assert his own influence.
There were several recorded documents that offer insights into Brandt's activities in Japan. For example, he started cultivating German assets, whom he sent to serve as military advisers to emerging Japanese groups after learning of the successes of a German sergeant called Carl Koppen. [3] Koppen built a reputation for transforming a band of samurai into a modern army in Wakayama. [3]
Brandt played an important political role in Japan during the 1860s, alongside fellow Western diplomats Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek, Townsend Harris, Rutherford Alcock and Gustave Duchesne, Prince de Bellecourt. Although these men were bound by personal friendship, national rivalries and differences in dealing with the Japanese led to conflict and antagonism. However, the chaotic and ungovernable circumstances of the first few years forced them to cooperate. [4] He solidified his position in Japan by successfully transitioning the focus of the German policy in the country. Initially, there was the ambition of creating a German colonial outpost in Ezo (Hokkaido), Japan. [5] However, due to the consolidation of Japan under the Meiji emperor, Brandt promoted the expansion of German commercial and cultural presence in the country. [5]
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