From Slave Trade to Empire

Much has been written about the origins of the great push which led Europe to colonise sub-Saharan Africa at the end of the nineteenth century. This book provides a new perspective on this controversial subject by focussing on Europe and a range of empire-building states: Germany, France, Italy and Portugal. The essays in this volume consider economic themes in addition to the political and cultural aspects of the transition from commerce to colonies. 1. Introduction: A missing link? The significance of the Years 1780s-1880s - Olivier Pétré-Grenouilleau, Lorient University and the Institut Universitaire de France, Paris Part One: Economic Relations between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa: a Global Weighing up 2. African and European Relations in the Last Century of the Transatlantic Slave Trade - David Eltis, Emory University, USA 3. Background to Annexation: Anglo-African Credit Relations in the Bight of Biafra, 1700-1891 - David Richardson, Hull University, UK 4. Economic Relations between Europe and Black Africa c. 1780-1938. A Quantitative Analysis - Bouda Etemad, Lausanne and Geneva Universities, Switzerland Part Two: Southern Europe and Germany: About the 'Imperialism of the Poor' and the Desire for Power 5. An Imperialism with no Economic Basis: the Case of Italy, 1869-1939 - Romain Rainero, Milan University, Italy 6. The Continental Drift: the Independence of Brazil (1822), Portugal and Africa - Luis Felipe de Alencastro, Paris-IV Sorbonne University, France) 7. The Portuguese Empire (1825-1890): Ideology and Economics - Valentim Alexandre, Lisbon University, Portugal 8. The Scramble for Africa: icon and idiom of modernity - Albert Wirz, Humboldt University, Berlin and Andreas Eckert, Hamburg University, Germany Part Three: France: From a Civilising Mission to the Highest Form of Mercantilism? 9. Cultural Systems of Representations, Economic Interests and French Penetration into Black Africa 1780s-1880s Olivier Pétré-Grenouilleau, Lorient University and the Institut Universitaire de France, Paris 10. The Place and Role of the Players in Colonial Expansion: France and East Africa in the Nineteenth Century - Valérie Valey, Lorient University 11. Commercial Presence, Colonial Penetration: Traders of Marseilles in West Africa in the Nineteenth Century - Xavier Daumalin, Aix-Marseille University, France