When Montevideo Was French: European Civilization and French Imperial Ambitions in the River Plate, 1838–52

Abstract

This article examines French informal-imperial ambitions in the River Plate from 1838 to 1852. It argues France achieved considerable influence, and that a shared liberal understanding of ‘civilization’ drove French politicians, diplomats and journalists to promote deeper imperial connections with the region. This ideology was an important antecedent to the colonial civilizing mission of the Third Republic. It also had supranational appeal and was adopted and adapted by Platine elites, such as Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Juan Bautista Alberdi, to further their own political projects with French support. Thus, for these politicians, France was not an imperial aggressor, but rather the defender of ‘European civilization’.