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Cartoon diplomacy: visual strategies, imperial rivalries and the 1890 British Ultimatum to Portugal
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 April 2023
Abstract
This paper offers a novel interpretation of the 1890 British Ultimatum, by bringing to the front of the stage its techno-diplomatic dimension, often invisible in the canonical diplomatic and military narratives. Furthermore, we use an unconventional historical source to grasp the British–Portuguese imperial conflict over the African hinterland via the building of railways: the cartoons of the politically committed and polyvalent Portuguese artist and journalist Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (1846–1905), published in his journal Ponto nos iis, from the end of 1889 and throughout 1890. We argue that the Ponto nos iis cartoons played a so far overlooked role in the unfolding of British–Portuguese affairs, as they shaped at a distance a diplomatic exchange with the British satirical journal Punch. Attacking and counterattacking his fellow cartoonists in Britain, Pinheiro surged into the role of informal diplomat. This cartoon visual and public diplomacy unfolded in the pages of both journals and was tied to the two countries’ colonial conquests in Africa, where the Portuguese and British empires were competing to dominate the African hinterland through large technological systems. Hence the cartoons made visible to wider audiences the otherwise hidden role that technologies played in the two countries’ affairs. In turn, the cartoons aimed at persuading the Portuguese public and ruling classes alike that only regime change, from monarchic to republican, would restore the wounded Portuguese national pride.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- The British Journal for the History of Science , Volume 56 , Special Issue 2: Science, Technology and Visual Diplomacy , June 2023 , pp. 147 - 166
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of British Society for the History of Science
References
1 In this paper it is not our aim to characterize the pattern of circulation of comics nationally, in Europe and abroad, nor to unveil the various ways in which cartoonists interacted. There is an extended literature on this topic, particularly within the British sphere of influence. See Codell, Julie F., ‘Imperial differences and culture clashes in Victorian periodicals’ visuals: the case of Punch’, Victorian Periodicals Review (2006) 39, pp. 410–28CrossRefGoogle Scholar; De Nie, Michael, ‘Laughing at the Mahdi: British comic press and Empire’, Victorian Periodicals Review (2019) 52, pp. 437–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Foster, Roy, Paddy and Mr. Punch: Connections in British and Irish History, New York: Viking, 1993Google Scholar; Hans Harder and Barbara Mittler (eds.), Asian Punches: A Transcultural Affair, Heidelberg: Springer, 2013; Miller, Henry, ‘The problem with Punch’, Historical Research (2009) 82, pp. 285–302CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Noakes, Richard, ‘Representing “The Century of Inventions”’, in Henson, Louise, Cantor, Geoffrey, Dawson, Gowan, Noakes, Richard, Shuttleworth, Sally and Topham, Jonathan R. (eds.), Culture and Science in the Nineteenth-Century Media (Milton Park: Routledge, 2004), pp. 151–63Google Scholar. Concerning Portugal and Bordalo Pinheiro's satirical journals the literature is much scarcer; examples are França, José-Augusto, Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro: O Português tal e qual, 2nd edn, Lisbon: Bertrand, 1982Google Scholar; Ana Olímpio, ‘Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro: O grande mestre da caricatura em Portugal’, in ‘Uma Caricatura de país’, unpublished MSc thesis, Universidade de Lisboa, 2013, pp.12–19; Medina, João, Caricatura em Portugal: Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro. Pai do Zé Povinho, Lisbon: Edições Colibri, 2008Google Scholar; Paisana, Joanne, ‘Anglo-Portuguese colonial rivalry in late nineteenth-century Africa: visual commentary in contemporary satirical journals’, in Chrzanowska-Kluczewska, E. and Witalisz, W. (eds.), Migration, Narration, Communication. Cultural Exchanges in a Globalized World, New York: Peter Lang, 2011, pp. 103–15Google Scholar.
2 Scientific and technological dimensions behind the Berlin Conference and the British Ultimatum, as seen from the perspective of Portugal, have recently begun to catch the attention of historians of science. See, for example, Diogo, Maria Paula and van Laak, Dirk, Europeans Globalizing: Mapping, Exploiting, Exchanging, London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2016Google Scholar; Diogo, Maria Paula and Saraiva, Tiago, Inventing a European Nation: Engineers for Portugal from Baroque to Fascism, Williston and London: Morgan & Claypool Publishers, 2021CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Gamito-Marques, Daniel, ‘Science for competition among powers: knowledge, colonial diplomatic networks, and the Scramble for Africa’, Berichte zur Wissenchafts-Geschichte (2020) 43, pp. 473–92CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed; and Catarina Madruga, ‘Taxonomy and empire: zoogeographical research on Portuguese Africa, 1862–1881’, unpublished PhD dissertation (in English), University of Lisbon, 2020. In what relates to general introductions to science diplomacy see Lloyd S. Davis and Robert G. Patman (eds.), Science Diplomacy: New Day or False Dawn?, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2014; Pierre-Bruno Ruffini, Science and Diplomacy: A New Dimension of International Relations, Cham: Springer, 2017. From the perspective of geopolitical resources and globalization see Lino Campubri and David Pretel (eds.), Technology and Globalization, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
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5 O Século, 16 January 1890.
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7 Gamito-Marques, op. cit. (2); Madruga, op. cit. (2).
8 ‘The Rhodes Colossus striding from Cape Town to Cairo’, Punch, 10 December 1892.
9 Gerry Beegan, The Mass Image: A Social History of Photomechanical Reproduction in Victorian London, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008; Christoffer Hibbert, The Illustrated London News: Social History of Victoria Britain, London: Angus & Robertson, 1977. For the Portuguese case see Jorge Pedro Sousa, ‘Iconografia do progresso técnico português em sete revistas ilustradas do Fontismo (1851–1887)’, in Clara Baptista and José Pedro Sousa (eds.), Para uma história do jornalismo em Portugal, Lisbon: ICNOVA, 2020, pp. 345–73.
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12 Alves, op. cit. (11), p. 60.
13 Constantinou, op. cit. (4).
14 Olímpio, op. cit. (1), p. 15.
15 On the construction of the techno-scientific nation by engineers, military men and politicians see Diogo and Saraiva, op. cit. (2); Macedo, Marta, Projectar e Construir a Nação: Engenheiros, Ciência e Território em Portugal no século XIX, Lisbon: Imprensa de Ciências Sociais, 2012Google Scholar; Macedo, Marta and Valentines-Álvarez, Jaume, ‘FORUM STEP Matters. Technology and nation: learning from the periphery’, Technology and Culture (2016) 57(4), pp. 989–97CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
16 Created in 1712, John Bull had become associated with Britain and the British by the end of the eighteenth century. By the period under discussion, in Punch John Bull was often dressed in a Union Jack waistcoat and accompanied by a bulldog. Symbolizing England or Britain, he was also used by foreigners as a target for anti-British sentiments. See John Arbuthnot, History of John Bull (introduction by Henry Morley), n.p.: Hard Press, n.d.
17 The Pontos nos iis was sold at sixty réis per issue against ten réis for the generalist daily newspapers.
18 This and other relevant information is included in the journal's pages. See also Tengarrinha, José Manuel, História da imprensa periódica portuguesa, 2nd edn, Lisbon: Editorial Caminho, 1989Google Scholar; França, op. cit. (1).
19 Spielman, M.H., The History of Punch with Many Illustrations, London: Cassel and Company limited, 1895Google Scholar; Houfe, Simon, The Dictionnary of British Book Illustrators and Caricatures 1800–1914, Woodbridge: Baron Publishing, 1981Google Scholar.
20 ‘Viva Serpa Pinto’, Pontos nos iis (9 January 1890) 237.
21 ‘A partilha de África’, Pontos nos iis (9 January 1890) 237.
22 ‘Cheek’, Punch, 13 July 1889.
23 Henshaw, Peter, , ‘The “key to South Africa” in the 1890s: Delagoa Bay and the origins of the South African War’, Journal of Southern African Studies (1998) 24(3), pp. 527–43CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bixler, Raymond W., ‘Anglo-Portuguese rivalry for Delagoa Bay’, Journal of Modern History (1934) 6(4), pp. 425–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Eidelberg, P.G., ‘The breakdown of the 1922 Lourenço Marques port and railways negotiations’, South African Historical Journal (1976) 8, pp. 1104–18Google Scholar.
24 Navarro, Bruno, Um Império projectado pelo ‘silvo da locomotiva’: O papel da engenharia portuguesa na apropriação do espaço colonial africano. Angola e Moçambique (1869–1930), Lisbon: Colibri, 2019Google Scholar; Pereira, Hugo Silveira, ‘Colonial railways and conflict resolution between Portugal and the United Kingdom in Africa (c. 1880–early 1900s)’, HoST: Journal of History of Science and Technology (2018) 12, pp. 75–105Google Scholar.
25 UK Parliament, House of the Lords, Hansard Archives, Africa (South), Delagoa Bay Railway, vol. 322, debated on Monday 27 February 1888, at https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/1888-02-27/debates/1dc39b12-83eb-48a1-907e-14533750a35d/Africa(South)—TheDelagoaBayRailway.
26 ‘Cheek’, Punch, 13 July 1889.
27 ‘Página Feia (ugly page)’, Pontos nos iis (18 July 1889) 188.
28 Translation by Paisana, op. cit. (1), p. 110. In this paper the author contrasts cartoons appearing in Punch and in Pontos nos iis to exemplify the role of cartoon migrations across social and political borders. However, she never framed them in the broader context of a consistent overall political strategy deployed by Bordalo Pinheiro which goes far beyond reacting to Punch.
29 ‘Ce vaillant John Bull’, Pontos nos iis (18 July 1889), 188. In this issue, other pages followed, reinforcing Bordalo's argument: a cartoon titled ‘On the court of Europe’ occupied pages 4 and 5, and represented Zé Povinho bringing a British drunken mariner to the court of Europe, and on the last page a cartoon named ‘In the mansion of immortal poets’ featured a conversation between William Shakespeare and Luís de Camões, as poetic representatives of the two conflicting nations, in which Shakespeare apologized for his compatriots’ shameful behaviour.
30 Pedro Teixeira da Mota, ‘Fernando Leal, biografia do poeta, peregrino de terras desconhecidas, cientista e oficial (1846–1910)’ at https://pedroteixeiradamota.blogspot.com/2014/10/fernando-leal-oficial-cientista-e-poeta.html (accessed 27 March 2021). In 1884, he wrote ‘Palmadas na pança do John Bull, Foguete de Guerra oferecido a Camilo Castello Branco’ (Spanking the belly of John Bull, a war rocket offered to Camilo Castello Branco), reacting strongly against the lack of principles of the British government.
31 ‘Nobre John Bull’, Pontos nos iis (3 August 1889) 220.
32 ‘Bravo John Bull’, Pontos nos iis (3 August 1889) 220.
33 ‘Vilíssimo John Bull’, Pontos nos iis (3 August 1889) 220.
34 The expression ‘the straw that broke the camel's back’ in the subsection title may seem an overstatement from a British perspective. In fact, books such as Pakenham's The Scramble for Africa, op. cit. (6), do not even mention the British Ultimatum explicitly, except for three lines on page 387 in a 750-page book. But its consequences for Portugal were devastating. They meant the beginning of the end of 750 years of monarchy and a complete change in the political and social conditions of the country.
35 ‘The mischievous monkey’, Punch, 14 December 1889.
36 ‘A partilha de África’, Pontos nos iis (19 December 1889) 229.
37 Two pages before, Bordalo Pinheiro reproduced Punch's moralizing conclusion, answering it by twisting its meaning and adding an illustration to reinforce his interpretation. The cartoon showed the monkey choking John Bull with his cane. Pontos nos iis (19 December 1889) 229.
38 ‘A partilha de África’, Pontos nos iis (19 December 1889) 229. In the first paragraph of the translation we follow Paisana, op. cit. (1), p. 113. The second paragraph of the translation is ours.
39 ‘Plain English’, Punch, 18 January 1890.
40 ‘Plain English’, Pontos nos iis (23 January 1890), 239. Again in this case, the preceding page titled ‘The deeds of Lord Salisbury’ also caricatured British accomplishments in Africa.
41 ‘Africa Portuguesa’, Pontos nos iis (6 February 1890) 241.
42 ‘A nossa fiel aliada,’ Pontos nos iis (6 February 1890) 241.
43 The magazine's title is referred to in Portuguese and so far we have been unable to clearly identify it. We suspect that it is the English Illustrated Magazine, but unfortunately not all issues are online.
44 ‘A altiva Inglaterra’, Pontos nos iis (6 February 1890) 241.
45 Misspelled by Bordalo as ‘Claveland’.
46 ‘O Ultimatum/Modus Vivendi’, Pontos nos iis (20 November 1890) 282.
47 ‘The ultimatum’, Pontos nos iis (10 January 1891) 289. Hemeroteca de Lisboa.
48 Constantinou, op. cit. (4), pp. 5–7, 5.