National et cosmopolite: le Corps (grec) du Génie (1830-1870) et les « Ponts et Chaussées Européens

Résumé :

The existence of “Ponts et Chaussées Européens,” i.e., a transnational space inhabited by engineers of various nationalities specializing in public works, and characterized by multiple and intense circulations — of people and artifacts, engineering knowledge and technical practices, educational models and regulations— connecting national territories that are geographically distant from one another, is attested by a series of recent historical works. However, systematic and in-depth studies treating the modalities of its constitution, its precise modes of operation, and the specific mechanisms of its maintenance, reproduction, and extension are much rarer. Taking inspiration from studies dealing with small-scale objects and relatively short time frames with a view to connecting their local (micro)findings to broader processes and phenomena, the present article takes advantage of the existence of abundant and mostly unpublished documentation to transform the case of the (Greek) Army Corps of Engineers (1830s-1860s) into a vehicle for exploring the (micro)processes of constitution and (micro)modalities of operation of “Ponts et Chaussées Européens” in the 19th century.