Expanding colonial borders: science, diplomacy, and military strategy in the formation of Angola (1883-1886)

Description

The purpose of this communication is to show how science, diplomacy, and direct military action were mobilized to expand the borders of the Portuguese colonial empire in Africa further north during the scramble for the continent. In the late nineteenth century, economic and political interests coalesced to make the colonization of Africa an appealing undertaking, technoscientific advances being crucial in this context. Portugal, a small European kingdom of limited financial resources, had enormous colonial ambitions in the lower Congo and defended them in terms of its historical priority in the region. The Portuguese elite saw its empire as a central piece of its national identity and a necessary element for the recognition of its sovereignty in the international arena. However, Portuguese colonial claims risked being entirely overthrown as other colonial powers tried to effectively occupy disputed territories. The coordination among agents who accumulated scientific and diplomatic expertise, such as J. V. Barbosa du Bocage (1823–1907), Portugal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1883 and 1886, and Francisco Ferreira do Amaral (1843–1923), then Angola’s Governor-General, resulted in the expansion of Angola north of the Congo River, thus redefining the colony’s borders by creating the Cabinda exclave. This diplomatic victory emerging from the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 had far-reaching consequences, which are still felt today, as Cabinda retained its connection to the modern-day state of Angola following its independence.

Period	23 Jul 2021
Event title	V CHAM International Conference: Frontiers of Humanity and Beyond: towards new critical understandings of Borders
Event type	Conference
Location	Lisbon, PortugalShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International