Enterprising merchants in the global Atlantic: Austrian-Netherlandish trade with West and Central Africa, 1776-1786

Powered by an increasing European demand for exotic produce, a complex system of economic and demographic exchange emerged in the Atlantic basin during the Early Modern period. Traditionally, historians have attributed this Atlantic system to big colonial empires and their monopolistic trading companies. This has created a double blind spot. First, this perspective has overlooked the importance of minor maritime powers that relied on enterprising, individual merchants and their self-organised networks. Second, concerning Africa, Euro-African trade has generally been depicted as a static exchange between one ‘active’ and one ‘passive’ player. Following trends in Atlantic and global history, this project adopts an actor-centred approach to maritime history and puts the spotlight on the alternative trading system developed by competing, minor maritime players, and focuses on the agency of individual merchants and buyers in Africa. Using previously unexplored sources, this PhD project reconstructs the trade patterns and strategies of Austrian-Netherlandish merchants performing bilateral and triangular trade with West and Central Africa between 1776 and 1786. By doing so, this project tests the hypothesis whether enterprising merchants were able to profit from a window of opportunity provided by wartime and create a 'unique selling proposition' with goods that benefited Austrian-Netherlandish industries and African markets alike.