A New Map of the Franco-Brazilian Border Dispute (1900)

Abstract

In the Reclus-Perron cartographical collection held in the Public Library of Geneva, a recently discovered map by the explorer Henri Coudreau seems to have been essential, together with other published and unpublished cartographic materials, in deciding the 1900 Swiss arbitration of the Franco-Brazilian border dispute. These materials provide an opportunity not only to analyse the political power of maps, but also to explore a different European way of conceiving maps and geography, that of anarchist geographers, which diverged from the uncritical hagiographies of colonialism and geographical discoveries that were typical in European science during the Age of Empire .

Rediscovering other geographical traditions

“…Several cases of indigenous agency and complex negotiations in colonial mappings and maps' uses in decolonisation are likewise discussed in this book for cases such as Colombia (Castillo, ), Egypt (Culcasi, ) and India (Ramaswami, ). Other studies in the history of cartography highlighted how mappings were crucial in the controversies between South American decolonised states and European colonial powers, like in the case of the 1897–1900 French‐Brazilian border dispute over Guiana, eventually won by Brazil (Ferretti, ). Therefore, de‐colonial mappings, counter‐mappings and complex agencies within the production of colonial maps can be considered as part of other geographical traditions, and further work is needed in this direction.…”

Tropicality, the unruly Atlantic and social utopias: the French explorer Henri Coudreau (1859 − 1899)

“…Coudreau, who had started his career in the context of official imperial missions for the French government, was increasingly marginalized and finally dismissed for his indiscipline. He ended his career as a ‘freelance’ explorer appointed by the governor of the Brazilian state of Pará (Ferretti, ).…”

Imperial ambivalences. Histories of lady travellers and the French explorer Octavie Renard-Coudreau (1867–1938)

“…Many others served European colonial powers for which 'a sizable group of women also travelled into colonial regions and returned with information that was used to legitimate and promote colonialism' (Domosh and Seager 2001, 144). In the case of Octavie, this occurred outside direct imperial involvement because she was marginalized in the French context, as her husband was also one of the people (indirectly) responsible of the loss of the territory disputed between France and Brazil in 1900 (Ferretti 2015).…”

“…This region, which extended over 300,000 square kilometres, corresponds roughly to the present-day Brazilian state of Amapa. The works of French heterodox geographers such as Reclus and Coudreau, who admitted that this region was mainly settled by indigenous people and Portuguese-speaking colons, were used by the referees as an argument against French imperial pretentions (Ferretti 2015). In 1895, Coudreau's appointment in Brazil was considered a betrayal by the French, and the explorer wrote to Elisée Reclus recalling the 1871 Paris Commune:…”

“…He was officially declared persona non grata in the territory disputed by France and Brazil due to his support for an independent Amazonia, leading to his political disgrace despite the commercial success of his books. When he sought a new appointment, the French Ministry of Colonies refused to him (Ferretti 2015).…”