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I skuggan av global rivalitet och maritim handel : svenska sjömän i marockansk fångenskap, 1754-1763

På svenska

Author

  • Gustaf Fryksén

Summary, in English

"In the shadow of global rivalry and maritime trade. Swedish sailors in Moroccan captivity, 1754-1763". In the attempt by the Swedish government to expand its commercial trade in the Mediterranean in the 18th century several of its trading vessels were captured by Moroccan corsairs. By initially employing maritime diplomacy and sending naval expeditions to the area they sought to protect its merchant navy, but were finally inclined to negotiate peace with the sultan in 1763. The paper seeks to explore the captivity of those sailors that were held for ransom in northern Morocco by employing histoire croisée as analytical framework. The study is divided into three levels, each corresponding to three adapted analytical levels. The first level seek to identify the captives and the second, by crossing the identified objects, explores the interaction between captives and their external environment and thus reconstructing the maritime and trans-cultural connection between Morocco and Sweden. The third level aims at historicizing the preceding results while employing a discussion on attitudes towards community and identity that were generated in captivity. The result of the empirical research reveal that not less than a hundred sailors were held in captivity and that at least 17 vessels were captured by both violent and non-violent means. The study also reveal an extensive network of government officials, merchants, consuls and local leaders that interacted with the captives, all with their own agendas that led to a conflict of interest, intrigue and controversy in the process of ransoming the captives and thus prolonging the captivity. The third level shows tendencies of a maritime identity among the captives, as well as conflicting attitudes towards hierarchy and the group, inflicting disruptures in the community. The study concludes with pointing at the prevalence of inter-dependency at various levels of interaction.

Department/s

Publishing year

2011

Language

Swedish

Document type

Student publication for Bachelor's degree

Topic

  • History and Archaeology

Keywords

  • konsulära nätverk
  • interaktion
  • transkulturella möten
  • fångenskap
  • kapningar
  • sjöfart
  • Sjuårskriget
  • 1700-talet
  • Sverige
  • Marocko
  • Medelhavet
  • global historia
  • maritim historia
  • gemenskap
  • interdependens
  • histoire croisée

Supervisor

  • Joachim Östlund (Ph D)