Colombia's Military and Brazil's Monarchy: Undermining the Republican Foundations of South American Independence

(Hardback)

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This important new study relates the origin of the decline of republican politics in South America to the existence of monarchic rule in Brazil. Millington suggests that if the European-oriented monarchy in Brazil had been overthrown at the time of independencesomething that the South American republics, led by Colombian power, had within their power to accomplishthe independence movements in Spanish South America would have been able to collaborate with emergent republican forces in Brazil in the construction of a continental, American-style system. By failing to challenge the monarchy in Brazil, the South American republics lost an important opportunity to disavow European-oriented principles of elitism in the New World.

Reviews

"For a number of reasons I am pleased to recommend this book in the strongest possible terms....In putting politics back into history, Millington's work offers an excellent case study of South American international affairs from the perspective of the strategies, objectives, and ideas of key South American actors. This approach is distinctive. Millington does an excellent job of bringing the grand sweep of continental issues together....Few authors are capable of weaving so many strands into a meaningful analysis which at once tells a compelling story."-James W. Wilkie, Professor of Latin American History University of California at Los Angeles
"Millington's study...is an original contribution to our understanding of the independence period in Latin America. It is neither purely diplomatic nor purely domestic political history. Rather, it relates the interplay of domestic politics and international relations to the process of state-building in Latin America during the 1820s....Millington's scholarship is sound. His interpretations are based upon a careful reading of primary sources, particularly the writings of Bolivar and Sucre. He has demonstrated skill in carefully developing his arguments from these sources, and has presented his findings in a clear, readable style....I think that Millington has produced an original book on an important subject. I strongly recommend it."-Robert N. Burr, Professor Emeritus University of California at Los Angeles
Millington's provocative analysis will stimulate challenges as well as interest among students of the Latin American independence era.-Choice
"Millington's provocative analysis will stimulate challenges as well as interest among students of the Latin American independence era."-Choice

Author Bio

THOMAS MILLINGTON is Professor of Political Science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. He is the author of Latin American Debt Politics after Independence (1992).