Table Of ContentPétré-Grenouilleau has provocatively contextualised in a century-long
global process what we still too often contemplate as an ‘event’ or a ‘tran-
sition’. He allows his contributors to suggest the full multi-centred com-
plexity of what historians have tried and failed to describe convincingly in
terms of single global processes, political or economic. This book thus
makes very timely contributions to rethinking both national and global his-
toriographies.
Joseph C. Miller, T. Cary Johnson, Jr. Professor,
University of Virginia
The latest thinking on European involvement in Africa, emphasising the
continuity of the relationship from the Slave Trade to Colonisation.
A.J.H. Latham,author of Old Calabar 1600–1891
This is an important book, because of the subject matter, the often
neglected period between 1780 and 1880, the variety of approaches and the
quality of the contributions. Recommended reading for every student of
the history of European expansion.
H.L. Wesseling, author of The Partition of Africa, 1880–1914,
and Europe’s Colonial Century, 1815–1919
Frontispiece ‘Les Anglais faisant part aux Africains du traité sur l’abolition de la
traite’, engraving, Paris, M. Sanne, Bibliothèque nationale de France.
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 pro-
vides a new perspective on this controversial subject by focusing on Europe and a
range of empire-building states, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal. The chap-
ters in this volume consider economic themes in addition to the political and cul-
tural aspects of the transition from commerce to colonies.
Unlike other texts on the subject, this refreshing new volume redresses many
imbalances, by:
• considering a number of empire-building states, instead of just one of them
• giving prominence to powers other than Britain
• giving weight to economic themes without losing sight of the equally import-
ant political and cultural aspects of the transition from commerce to colonies
• taking the analysis beyond the 1880s, and revealing the broader picture – cov-
ering the time of the first attacks against the slave trade (during the 1780s) to
the premise of the Scramble (1880s)
• considering the period 1780s–1880s for its own sake and not as a function of
what preceded or followed it
• reviewing the colonial process (excepting that of Great Britain) as the reaffir-
mation and exacerbation of the ancien régime (as well as an icon of moder-
nity), and partly as a reflection of the highest form of mercantilism rather than
the highest form of capitalism
• illuminating the importance of circumstantial phenomena, at the level of
Europe and its different countries.
By emphasising the variety of those involved, and the diversity of regional and
local situations, this book shows how necessary it is to link the general history of
ideas, national and micro-history. The contributors suggest a truly cosmopolitan
history of imperialism, one which is of great relevance in our times of globalisation
and reconstruction since September 11, 2001.
Olivier Pétré-Grenouilleau is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at
the University of Lorient. He has worked extensively on the French slave trade and
French maritime expansion. Previous publications include a biography, in French,
of Claude-Henri de Saint Simon (1760–1825). A global and comparative history of
slave trades (occidental, oriental and internal) is also forthcoming, in French (2004)
as well as in English. He is a member of the Institut Universitaire de France.
Routledge studies in modern European history
1 Facing Fascism
The Conservative Party and the European dictators 1935–1940
Nick Crowson
2 French Foreign and Defence Policy, 1918–1940
The decline and fall of a great power
Edited by Robert Boyce
3 Britain and the Problem of International Disarmament 1919–1934
Carolyn Kitching
4 British Foreign Policy 1874–1914
The role of India
Sneh Mahajan
5 Racial Theories in Fascist Italy
Aaron Gilette
6 Stormtroopers and Crisis in the Nazi Movement
Activism, ideology and dissolution
Thomas D. Grant
7 Trials of Irish History
Genesis and evolution of a reappraisal
Evi Gkotzaridis
8 From Slave Trade to Empire
Europe and the colonisation of Black Africa 1780s–1880s
Edited by Olivier Pétré-Grenouilleau
From Slave Trade to Empire
Europe and the colonisation of Black
Africa 1780s–1880s
Edited by Olivier Pétré-Grenouilleau
First published 2004
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
© 2004 Olivier Pétré-Grenouilleau for selection and editorial matter;
individual contributors their contribution
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with
regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and
cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or
omissions that may be made.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-32309-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-714-65691-7(Print edition)
The chapter by Albert Wirz is the last he wrote, before his
death. We would like to dedicate this volume to him.
Contents
List of illustrations xi
List of contributors xiii
1 Introduction: a missing link? The significance of the
1780s–1880s 1
OLIVIER PÉTRÉ-GRENOUILLEAU, TRANSLATED BY
JUDITH CHRISTIE
PART I
Economic relations between Europe and sub-Saharan
Africa: a global weighing-up 19
2 African and European relations in the last century of
thetransatlantic slave trade 21
DAVID ELTIS
3 Background to annexation: Anglo-African credit
relations in the Bight of Biafra, 1700–1891 47
DAVID RICHARDSON
4 Economic relations between Europe and Black Africa
c.1780–1938: a quantitative analysis 69
BOUDA ETEMAD
