Book Highlights Brazil’s Role in the Alabama Claims

FUNAG has just published the book O Brasil e as Reclamações Alabama [Brazil and the Alabama Claims], by diplomat Rafael Souza Campos de Moraes Leme. This publication analyses Brazil's participation in the Geneva Court of Arbitration (1871-1872), which judged the Alabama Claims, one of the most emblematic disputes in international law. The case involved the United States and the United Kingdom over the actions of Confederate ships, built in British shipyards, which caused damage to the US merchant marine during the War of Secession (1861-1865). The most famous of these ships was the CSS Alabama, after which the case is named.  

Among the five arbitrators chosen to judge the case, three were considered neutral: one Italian, one Swiss and one Brazilian. Despite diplomatic tensions and the fact that it still maintained slavery, Brazil was chosen as a neutral country, represented by the Baron of Itajubá. The book investigates why Brazil was selected, the role of Pedro II in the choice and the importance of Brazil's role at this key moment in international law. 

The book is available free of charge from FUNAG's digital library.