Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia

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Orélie Antoine de Tounens I.

The Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia (also known as Nueva Francia or Nouvelle France ) was a state planned in South America in the mid-19th century by the French lawyer and adventurer Orélie Antoine de Tounens . De Tounens pursued the goal of defending the indigenous Mapuche population in the Arauco War against the military and economic advance of Chile and Argentina . However, the establishment of the state was ignored by the governments of the other states and de Tounens was arrested by Chilean authorities only two years later and deported to France. This attempt to establish the kingdom is regarded by historians as a curious and sometimes comical episode.

history

Orélie Antoine de Tounens sympathized with the Mapuche, who had repeatedly successfully defended their independence since the 16th century. How his coronation as "King of Araucania and Patagonia" actually took place and whether the Mapuche present even knew what it was about is not known. There was also no Mapuche leadership that was legitimized for such an act. He had been able to convince her of the draft constitution he had drawn up himself, possibly also simply of the idea that her cause would be better represented by a European. Then de Tounens began to form a government, created a flag and had coins minted for his nation called Nouvelle France .

His efforts to gain international recognition for the Mapuche through newspaper ads were thwarted by the Chilean and Argentine governments, which captured him on various occasions and even imprisoned him in an asylum in Santiago . The French ambassador in Santiago had long argued in vain that de Tounens was not “in control of his senses”, but then managed, despite being sentenced to ten years in prison, that de Tounens was finally deported to France.

From France he made further unsuccessful attempts to enter South America in order to still gain control of his "kingdom". De Tounens died in the Dordogne department in 1878 .

The curious continuation of the “phantom state” belongs more to the obsessions of bourgeois France than to the politics of South America. A French champagne dealer and friend of de Tounens, impressed by the story, claimed the vacant “throne” as Aquiles I (1878–1902). His descendant Antonio III. (1916–1952) left the title to his friend, the lawyer Philippe Boiry (1927–2014), against payment. He lived in France and proclaimed the ongoing struggle of the Mapuche to support self-determination. He described himself as "King of Araucania and Patagonia". While visiting the country, Boiry was treated in a hostile manner by the Chilean and Argentine authorities, and most of the Mapuche organizations also ignored him.

After Boiry's death, the “Regency Council” of Araukaunia-Patagonia elected the social worker Jean-Michel Parasiliti di Para as the new king, who reigned under the name Antoine IV until his death on December 16, 2017.

After Antoine's death, the “Regency Council” of Araukaunia-Patagonia elected the French heraldist Frederic Luz as Prince of Araucania. The election took place in Paris on March 24, 2018. Fifteen councilors, including four Mapuche, took part in the elections.

  • Coat of arms, historical (coin minted in Berlin around 1874)

  • Coat of arms, modern variant on araukanie.com

  • Flag, modern variant on araukanie.com

  • Claimed area (according to the North American Araukanian Royalist Society )

literature

  • Jutta Müther: Orlie-Antoine I, King of Araucania and Patagonia or Nouvelle France. Consolidation problems in Chile 1860–1870 (= Europäische Hochschulschriften. Series 3, Bd. 421). Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al. 1990, ISBN 3-631-42595-3 (also: Cologne, Univ., Diss., 1989).
  • Eckart Kroneberg: Don Quixote in the Andes. Novel. Volk & Welt, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-353-00875-6 .
  • Heinz-Siegfried Strelow: King of the Indians. The adventurous life of a French in Patagonia. Telesma-Verlag, Treuenbrietzen 2014, ISBN 978-3-941094-08-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Simon Collier, William F. Sater: A history of Chile, 1808-2002 (= Cambridge Latin American Studies 82). 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2004, ISBN 0-521-82749-3 , p. 96 .
  2. ↑ a b Nahuel Lopez : Paradise is hell. My trip to the last Mapuche Indians. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2014, ISBN 978-3-579-06689-9 .
  3. ↑ Ortrun C. Hörreiter: Chile with Easter Island. Travel guide. 5th updated edition. Iwanowski's Reisebuchverlag, Dormagen 2009, ISBN 978-3-933041-50-0 , p. 34.
  4. ↑ Clive Cheesman, Jonathan Williams: Rebels, Pretenders & Imposters. British Museum, London 2000, ISBN 0714108995 , p. 141.
  5. ↑ Bruce Chatwin: In Patagonia. Summit Books, New York 1977, ISBN 0671400452 , p. 25.
  6. ^ Leslie Ray: Language of the land. The Mapuche in Argentina and Chile. IWGIA, Copenhagen 2007, ISBN 978-87-91563-37-9 , p. 61.
  7. ^ Natalie Minnis: Chile (= Insight Guides. South America Series ). 3rd edition, updated. Langenscheidt Publishing Group et al., Maspeth NY et al. 2002, ISBN 981-234-890-5 , p. 41.
  8. ^ Leslie Ray: Language of the land. The Mapuche in Argentina and Chile (= IWGIA. Document 119). IWGIA, Copenhagen 2007, ISBN 978-87-91563-37-9 , pp. 61f.
  9. ↑ Antoine IV on the website of the North American Araucanian Royalist Society (NAARS), accessed April 15, 2018 (English)
  10. ↑ Election du nouveau Prince d'Araucanie et de Patagonie (PDF; 1 MB) on araucanie.com , accessed on April 15, 2018 (French)