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Brazil's Early Nineteenth-Century Policy Towards Denmark and Sweden, 1808–1831

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2011

Extract

Brazil's active foreign policy tradition dates from the beginning of its existence as an independent state in the early nineteenth century. More than the former Spanish colonies in Latin America, Brazil considered the international recognition of its sovereignty an important goal. Therefore, Brazil demonstrated in the 1820s a great interest in the establishment of diplomatic relations and the negotiation of commercial treaties with the European nations and the United States.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Research Institute for History, Leiden University 1996

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References

Notes

1 See, for instance, Cervo, Amado Luiz and Bueno, Clodoaldo, História das relacōes exteriores do Brasil (Sāo Paulo 1992) 30–35; Sérgio Buarque de Holanda ed., Históría da Civilizacāo Brasileira II/1 (6th ed.; Sao Paulo 1985) 353360 and 366–367.Google ScholarPinto, António Pereira gives in his commented and annotated edition of the treaties: Aponlamentos para o direito international II (2nd ed.; Rio de Janeiro 18641868)Google Scholar, Brasília, Ministério da Justica - Universidade de Brasília, 1980, a thorough survey of each treaty. But he exaggerates his criticism when he states that all the treaties contained stipulations belonging to the internal legislation of a state: Ibid., 5. In fact, this was only the case for the treaties with France and Britain.

2 Platt, D.C.M., Latin America and the British Trade (New York 1973) 29.Google Scholar

3 Platt, Latin America, 75–77.

4 Mexico experienced one empire (1821–1824) under Iturbide, during the independence process, and another imposed by France, under Maximilian (1864–1867). But these were shortlived experiences that never arrived at the consolidation and legitimacy enjoyed by the Brazilian empire.

5 The creation of the Reino Unido de Portugal, Brasil e Algarve in 1815 was a consequence of the presence of the Royal Court of Portugal in Brazil. By this means Brazil came to enjoy the same status as Portugal in the Portuguese Empire.

6 In his first marriage, Dom Pedro I was married to an Austrian princess, Leopoldina, and the Prime Minister of Austria, the Prince Metternich had, so to speak, auto-nominated himself the political mentor of the young emperor. See Ramirez, E.S., The Relations Between Austria and Brazil (Stanford University Press 1952) passim.Google Scholar

7 Sweden recognized the independence of Brazil in a note from 5January 1826, addressed to the Brazilian resident in London, the Viscount of Itabayana. Denmark did this on 27 February. Santos, Raúl Adalberto dos, Relaçōes diplomáticas do Brazil de 1808 a 1917 (Rio de Janeiro 1913).Google Scholar

8 Britain and Portugal signed commercial treaties in 1642, 1651 and 1703 (Methuen). These treaties gave privileged access for British manufactured products to Portugal and its colonies and opened the chief ports of Brazil for British merchants. But still, all navigation to and from Brazil had to go via Lisbon.

9 For a discussion in depth of the negotiations, see Freitas, Caio de, George Canning e Brasil (Sāo Paulo Brasiliana 1958).Google Scholar

10 The treaty with Belgium was identical to the treaty with the Netherlands and was signed in function of the separation of the two states in 1830. The complete text of the treaties can be found in: António Pereira Pinto, Apontamentos II.

11 Levasseur, E., Histoire du commerce de la France (Paris 1912) 118120Google Scholar; Porter, G.R., The Progress of the Nation (London 1851) 372.Google Scholar The United States collected import duties of 40–50%, Rabbeno, Ugo, American Commercial Policy (Reprint from the 2nd ed. from 1895; New York and London 1974) 158159.Google Scholar

12 Antonio Pereira Pinto, Apontamentos, 158 n. 18.

13 Except with Belgium (1834), after its separation from the Netherlands.

14 Cunha, Lígia F.F. da, ‘O Barāo von Lōvenstern no Brasil’, Revista do Inslituto Histórico e Geográfico do Brasil 299 (April-June 1973) 116194.Google Scholar

15 Letters from the merchants of Altona to the Danish government, Danish National Archive Copenhagen, ‘Departementet for Udenrigske anliggender’, 2937.

16 Olintho dal Borgo di Primo to the Marquis of Inhambuia 27 March 1827, Arquivo Histórico do Itamaraty Rio de Janeiro, 282–4–2.

18 This claim is also found in the papers concerning the treaty with the Hanseatic Cities. See Minnemann, Herbert ed., Tratado de Comércio entre os Senados das Cidades Livres e Hanseáticas de Lübeck, Bremen e Hamburgo e sua Majestade o Imperador do Brasil (Hamburg 1977).Google Scholar

19 The minister was still the above-mentioned Count Schimmelmann. Even if it was not unusual that foreigners entered the diplomatic service of another country, the eagerness of the Danish Foreign Minister to employ his relatives by mariage in the foreign service caused aversion and revolt in the Danish diplomatic circles.

20 Lígia F.F. da Cunha, O Barão.

21 Danish National Archive Copenhagen, ‘Departementet for Udenrigske antiggender’, 2937.

22 ‘Correspondência diplomática do Ministro da Suécia no Rio de Janeiro, 1806–1811’, Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro 276 (July-September 1967) 184.Google Scholar

23 Swārd, Sven Ola, Latinamerika i svensk politik under 1810 och 1820-talen (Uppsala 1949)Google Scholar, and ‘As relacōes sueco-brasileiras no início do século XIX’, Revista de História 29/59 (Sāo Paulo 1964) 132146.Google Scholar

24 Sven Ola Swārd, Latinamerika.

25 After the independence, Brazil established diplomatic relations with Lisbon, London, Paris, Vienna and Washington. Other legations were established afterwards in the Latin-American countries and in the countries with which Brazil had concluded commercial treaties. Only reasons of family can explain the establishment of a diplomatic legation in Sweden in 1829.

26 At that time there were only two sovereign Scandinavian states, Denmark and Sweden. Norway had entered a union with Sweden in 1814, Finland was a Grand-Duchy attached to Russia, while Iceland pertenced to Denmark.

27 Sven Ola Swārd, Latinamenka.

28 It must be remembered that the Brazilian government was very suspicious about the North-American relations with the separatist and republican rebellions of Northeast Brazil in the 1810s and 1820s. Condy Raguet was, besides, a continuous source of misunderstandings between the governments of Brazil and United States, due to his irascible manners and direct intervention in Brazilian internal matters. See, for instance, Bandeira, Moniz, Presenca dos Estados Unidos no Brasil (Rio de Janeiro 1978) 55.Google Scholar

29 Relatório, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1831) 18.Google Scholar

30 Lygia F.F. da Cunha, O Barāo, 123. Other numbers of the same proportion are given by the letters from the Brazilian residents in Copenhagen to the Foreign Ministry in Rio, Arquívo Histórico do Itamaraty Rio de Janeiro, for instance 209–2–2, 23 April 1835.

31 Stemmer, Juan E. Oribe, ‘Freight Rates in the Trade between Europe and Latin America, 1840–1914’, Journal of Latin American Studies 21/1 (1989).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

32 Brockstedt, Jūrgen, Die Schiffarts- und Hnndelsbeziehungen Schleswig-Holsleins nach Lateinamerika, 1815–1848 (Kōln 1975) 259.Google Scholar

33 Ibid., 262. And Diogo de Soares Silva de Bivar who stated, in the ‘Appendice à Chrónica de 1842’, Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro 20 (January 1844) that in the year of 1842 167 British, 164 North-American, 65 Danish, and 58 Swedish ships called at the port of Rio.Google Scholar