Yugoslav Emigrants in Brazil from the Habsburgs to Karađorđevićs: Transnational Political Engagement on the Peripheries?

Abstract

This article addresses how the Habsburg Empire and interwar Yugoslavia engaged with their emigrants in Brazil, and examines emigration patterns. It suggests that despite these emigrants not insignificant presence in Brazil, both European states demonstrated minimal interest in their subjects in the largest Latin American country. By contrast, the emigrants themselves aimed at attracting their home state’s attention, thus making the Yugoslav emigrant network visible. Tracing emigrant transnational political practices on the eve of the First World War, this article examines the establishment and withering of the South Slavic community in Brazil. It does so by situating the emigrant network within the transnational social field, defined by the sending and receiving states and by emigrant activists. Without oversight from the home state, and restrictive policies by the receiving country, these activists manipulated emigrants’ interests for personal benefit, contributing to community disruption before the Second World War.