Vatriotismos trasatlánticos. Raza y natión en el imyacto de la Guerra de Africa en el Caribe español de 1860

Abstract

The article argues that racial and civilising discourses were useful tools for claiming political rights in Spain during the early 1860s. It does so by exploring some links that connected the first Spanish-Mo- roccan War (1859-1860) -the War of Africa- with colonial Cuba in the year 1860. It then explores further continuities during the early years of the Spanish annexation of Santo Domingo (1860-1862). These previously unexplored links are brought to light through the trasatlan-tic biographies of two Catalan volunteers in the War of Africa -Francisco Fort and Antonio Serret- who were received with great fanfare in Cuba and Santo Domingo. The article sheds light on the relationship between nation and empire during the liberal age. This European phenomenon also had its Spanish chapter.