tansfer et impera. The Relocation of the Portuguese Royal Court to Brazil: Police and Government During the Global Crisis (1808-1822)

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Debora Gerstenberger
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2013 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 233989624

The transfer of the Portuguese Royal Court from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro constitutes a unique episode in the history of European colonial empires. The PhD dissertation analyses the relocation of the Portuguese monarch João VI and the entire apparatus of the state from the Old to the New World and the ensuing reconstruction of imperial space in the context of the first global crisis.The introduction announces the basic orientation of the study, describes its structure and basic assumptions, and reviews the current state of research on the subject.The analysis is split into two main parts. The first, consisting of six chapters, provides the frame narrative: three chapters deal with the events and processes that led to the transfer of the court from Lisbon to Rio (1807/1808), three other chapters shed light on the return of the monarch in 1821 and the independence of Brazil in 1822.The second, more extensive part analyses the time between these major historical events and seeks, from a cultural historical perspective, to explore how imperial space was held together during the global crisis. What actually happened while nothing seemed to be happening? What kinds of threats and dangers did the Portuguese Empire face and how did the rulers react? In order to find answers to these questions, government and police documents acquired both in the National Archive of Brazil and the National Archive of Portugal are analysed. The results of the study, not least because they are based on research in the archives of two countries, contradict many of the theses of Brazilian and Portuguese national historiographies: it was not national movements that brought the Portuguese Empire down; the global crisis did not crash into the empire from without. Rather, it was the authorities themselves - on both sides of the Atlantic - who unintentionally nurtured nationalist tendencies by constantly adapting the (micro-) techniques of governance to perceived global threats. The global crisis and the end of Luso-Brazilian unity were produced in the very centres (capitals) of the empire.The results and main thesis of the study are summarised in the last chapter and placed into the context of the relevant areas of research. Furthermore, the chapter points to some promising avenues for further research and suggests possible project ideas.The PhD thesis contributes substantially to the history of the Portuguese Empire and the history of the Atlantic Revolutions. Due to its innovative methods, however, it also opens up new paths for research in the new global history.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants