Rethinking the dynamics of woody vegetation in Uruguayan campos, 1800–2000

Simplistic interpretations of the impact of newcomers on South American ecosystems retain currency in the environmental history of the subcontinent. European settlement is almost invariably seen to produce a continuous and linear destruction of the environment. On the basis of several crisis narratives contained in historical documents, it is widely accepted that there was a severe decrease in the extent of woody vegetal formations in the Río de la Plata area during the 19th and 20th centuries. To test this perception, and to develop a more accurate and more complex analysis of the environmental consequences of European occupation, this article focuses on Uruguayan territory from c. 1800 to 2000. Changes in the shape and extent of forest lands in this broad area were assessed by comparing 251 land-survey charts, drawn between 1830 and 1860, with modern-day forest maps. Changes in shrubland abundance were assessed by comparing current distributions with those inferred from the accounts of five travellers who passed through this territory in the first half of the 19th century. Over 200 years, there is no evidence of major changes in forest distribution, extent or shape, and shrublands appear to be much more abundant today than in the early 19th century. These observations, although based on limited data, contradict the most common interpretation of regional environmental evolution. They confirm other claims that the idea of forest destruction in the early 19th century was created and manipulated by actors involved in land conflicts. Close examination of such socially-constructed crisis narratives, through the use of new archives, leads to a better understanding of recent changes in the South American environment.     

Russia,Turkey, and the Problem of the Black Sea Straits in 1898–1908

The article deals with the main geopolitical problem in Russian—Ottoman relations at the turn of the twentieth century. Using ample archive sources the author shows the course of Russia’s struggle for influence in the straits. He concludes that the Ottoman policy was more flexible and the Turks proved able to assert their interests in the region. At the same time the straits question did not become the cause of any serious escalation between the two powers.     

Miners,Masculinity and the ‘Bataille du Charbon’ in France 1944–1948

In 1944, the French provisional government, backed by the Parti communiste français and the Confédération générale du travail, undertook an aggressive propaganda campaign to persuade miners to embark upon a ‘battle for coal’ which raised their efforts in extracting coal to that of a national endeavour. At the same time, miners had great hopes that nationalisation of the coal industry, under discussion at this time, would bring significant improvement to their working lives. In identifying the ways in which publicists posited miners as an ideal of working-class manhood, this article will argue that ‘la bataille du charbon’ marks a crucial moment in the celebration of working-class masculinity and that the ‘statut des mineurs’ which was passed in 1946 as a part of nationalisation enshrined many of the existing gender assumptions about mining life. What does an incorporation of gender to an analysis of the treatment of miners in the years 1944–1948 add to our understandings of the various economic, political and social dynamics around ‘la bataille du charbon’? How do these insights inform our perceptions of French coalfield societies in the mid-twentieth century?     

Black Swan/White Raven: the racial politics of Elizabeth Greenfield’s American concert career, 1851–1855

In 1851, the former slave turned singer Elizabeth Greenfield traveled from her home of Philadelphia to Buffalo, New York, to pursue a career as a concert singer. This article explores the terms and reception of Greenfield’s tours of the northern United States and Upper Canada in the early 1850s, where she performed before predominantly white audiences. While white critics celebrated Greenfield in highly racialized terms as an untrained natural wonder, black activists like Frederick Douglass focused on the racist management of her career and criticized Greenfield for the segregation of her concerts. Told through analysis of reviews and promotional literature, the story of Greenfield’s early career makes visible the race and gender politics operating at the intersection of popular entertainment and black movements for racial uplift and equality in the antebellum North.