Fabio Rossinelli

Switzerland, which officially had no colonies, played a significant role in 19th-century colonialism. But finding and talking about sources relating to the State is a complex task. They exist, but it is not easy to find them, and their study remains marginal in historiography. However, these sources can help to contradict a very commonplace view: the absence of the State in Swiss expansionism overseas. This article – in French – plunges into this new field of historical research, which  consists of questioning the implications of the State (in this case the Confederation, but there are also cantons and communes) in Switzerland’s colonial past.

This article, co-written with Bertrand Lévy, introduces a special issue of the geographical journal Le Globe (2023) about the decolonisation – a publication for which I was scientific editor. It discusses the opportunities and challenges that decolonial approaches can bring to research in the humanities and social sciences, with a particular focus on history and geography. The contributions made for this collective publication are also presented. The article, like the rest of the volume, is in French.

Despite the ‘celebrity’ of David de Pury (1709-1786), known for his involvement in slavery and whose statue in Neuchâtel has been the subject of controversy, almost no historical study exists on the de Pury Family. The social reproduction of these powerful aristocrats was fostered by a Family Fund (called ‘Caisse de Famille’) created in 1770 and still existing today. This article – in Italian – analyses its origins and operations during its first 150 years, thanks to the private archives of the de Pury Family and with a quantitative history approach.

This entry for the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland – in three languages: French, German and Italian – provides, for the first time, a biography of the Swiss geographer David Kaltbrunner (1829-1894). He was the author of a bestseller of the time, “Le Manuel du voyageur” (1879), which proposed an epistemology of exploration. Kaltbrunner worked for the Swiss State and a colonial company in Algeria, but also in France on African issues.

This article – in three languages: French, German and Italian – gives an insight into my forthcoming project in Contemporary History, which questions the role of the Swiss State in the colonial expansion of the 19th century. It invites to rethink the actions of European States overseas, with or without colonies.

The article examines some forms of 19th century entrepreneurial emigration and analyses their impact on the place of provenance. Taking the small town of Le Locle (Jura Mountains, Switzerland) as a case study, the author reconstructs two ambivalent paths of watchmaking families who saw some of their members emigrate overseas and diversify their economic activities. These trajectories reverberated on their native community in different ways. While, in one case, there was a return and investment directed to modernise the homeland, in the other we can see a runaway dynamic that caused financial losses to a fraction of the population. Investigating the reasons that drive two families in some ways similar to position themselves so differently, the essay – in Italian – argues that the choices made, but not necessarily intended, were influenced by the evolving political context of their place of provenance.

The article examines the history of «L'Afrique explorée et civilisée», an international journal of colonial geography founded in Geneva by Gustave Moynier, in the light of the latest archival discoveries. Particular attention will be given to the origins of the journal, linked to the colonial project of Leopold II, King of the Belgians, in Central Africa, but also to other aspects, including the allegorical analysis of its cover image. The language of this article is French.

This article – in French – presents the results of my doctoral thesis in contemporary history (University of Lausanne, 2020). What role did Switzerland play in the exploration and colonization of the world? The study of Swiss geographical societies in the 19th Century provides some answers.

Leopold II, King of the Belgians, founded the "Congo Free State" in 1885 after almost ten years of political preparations in Europe and explorations in Central Africa. Swiss bourgeoisie took part in the creation of then-to-be Belgian colony by participation of national geographical societies in the "International African Association" (founded in 1876). Although Swiss partnership to Leopold II's project pretended to help the fight against slavery, quite different were actually the reasons for the Swiss bourgeoisie to support the Belgian King financially, legally and intellectually. This article – in french – analyses the origins and the challenges of colonial philanthropy applied by Swiss geographical societies during Congo's Leopoldian colonization.

In the second half of the 19th century, the world is explored and mapped by European colonial powers bent on expanding their political and economic influence overseas. At the heart of such "geographical" activities there are geographical societies, also known as private clubs, where businessmen, politicians, military officers and intellectuals get together to discuss official or unofficial possibilities for national expansion. Despite the lack of a colonial empire, Switzerland is among the first countries in the world to found geographical societies. In what ways do these societies allow us to identify the presence of Swiss imperialism? This issue is discussed in this article – in french.

The international development of the geographical science in the 19th century accompanied the expansionist ambitions of the European bourgeoisie. In all this, Switzerland was no exception. This article – in french – reconstructs the origins of the Association of Swiss Geographical Societies (1881) showing their links with the colonial imperialism.

This article – in italian – is about geographical society of Geneva and its involvement in the 19th century colonial imperialism. Through this society, Swiss bourgeoisie takes part in the exploration and colonization of the world. Is this participation a sign of Swiss imperialism? This issue will be at the heart of this study.

Did Gustave Moynier, co-founder of the Red Cross in 1863, also co-found the Congo Free State? This brutal rubber extraction regime led by Leopold II came into being in 1885 after a decade of exploratory and conquering events. Switzerland took part in these events through the geographical societies of which Moynier was a member.
Far from merely revealing a dark aspect of this man’s life, this book – in French – shows the economic, political and cultural involvement of the Swiss bourgeoisie in the colonial imperialism of the 19th century. To do this, the history of geographical associations in Switzerland is analysed from an international perspective. Until the Great War (1914-1918), these societies represented, together with other circles, cenacles where a racist discourse accompanied by expansionist actions emerged.