Bartolomé Mitre: Reflections on the circulation of ideas, the writing of history, and diplomacy in Brazil-Argentina relations

Abstract

The following article focuses on several aspects of the ideas and actions of soldier, historian, and former president of Argentina, Bartolomé Mitre (1821-1906), in terms of Brazil-Argentina relations. The article’s point of departure is the report written by political advisor Manoel Francisco Correia published in the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute (IHGB) journal in 1897 on the negotiations conducted with Mitre during the diplomatic mission to Brazil in 1872. We interpret the role of the mission itself as well as the relations between Mitre and the Empire of Brazil in the shaping of its influence on the generation of historians defending the growing rapprochement between the two countries in the early decades of the twentieth century. Mitre’s correspondence with the Viscount of Rio Branco is also analyzed, with its emphasis on the defense of peace and cordial relations. We trace a parallel between the ideas placed into circulation in the final years of the Empire in the 1860s to the 1880s, and those upon which projects of integration were based by means of diplomacy and the writing of history in the twentieth century. With such projects taking Mitre as a point of reference and precursor, his actions therefore serve as a point of connection guiding us in the tracing of links between different historical periods and figures.