iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

That world came to an end in the 1880s. Frustrated by the debts and reeling from heavy losses at the Abyssinian front, several regiments of the Egyptian army revolted under the leadership of colonel Ahmed 'Urabi. Although Khedive Tawfiq appointed ‘Urabi Minister of War, tensions remained high.3bis

Will Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai now have to hand over the baton as well? 9/9

150

In the wake of the British occupation, Egypt’s center of gravity shifted to Cairo. In the next years, most new hotels, clubs, learned societies, and companies were established in the capital. It would become the region’s new hub for imperial financial experimentation, exploitation and investment.8/9

Alexandria recovered after the war. The Place des Consuls was rebuilt, and new palaces replaced the old. Yet the city had lost its innocence. It had proven unsafe and vulnerable. The oligarchic Levantine elite of Alexandria clung to the past. 7/9

Consuls and envoys spent day and night cabling their respective governments to track their whereabouts. While Egyptian casualties far outnumbered foreign ones, the European press promoted the trope of an anti-Christian massacre and conspiracy. 6/9

During the bombardment, much of what had given the city its cosmopolitan allure was destroyed. The Place des Consuls, the beating heart of Alexandrian elite life, was reduced to rubble. Although some 50,000 Europeans fled in haste, tens of thousands of expatriates found themselves in a war zone. 5/9

On 11 June 1882, widespread violence between members of the foreign communities and local inhabitants erupted. Sabers rattled in Whitehall. An ultimatum to disarm the city’s fortifications was rejected. The British fleet responded with a devastating bombardment between 11 and 13 July 1882. 4/9

They decorated their city palaces with precious Egyptian antiquities and European fine art, cultivating a taste for all things gold-plated. Had “Dubai chocolate” existed at the time, it would surely have been served in their salons. 3/9

250

In many respects, Alexandria played a similar role in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. From 1875 onward, the Mixed Courts system granted subjects of Western powers a privileged legal status. Banking clans made staggering fortunes by speculating on the cultivation and trade of cotton. 2/9

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Are the Emirates experiencing their Alexandria moment? Over the last decade, the Gulf’s skyscrapers, luxury hotels, and sandy beaches have attracted influencers, crypto enthusiasts, and aspiring real estate moguls seeking fortune, fiscal optimization, and a jet-set lifestyle. 1/9

2125

The nineteenth century is so back.

071

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Silly me for thinking 2026 would be the year of precedented times.

060

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Am I engaging with the historiography, or am I actually constructing an overly intricate straw man argument? Stay tuned for more updates.

220

Reposted by Gert Huskens

Kristof Smeyers @kristofsmeyers.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

how many more students will I hear on the train talking about how chatgpt is writing their thesis before I scream challenge

4676

The statue was featured at the 1937 World Expo in Paris*

020

An image of the statue is prominently featured on the cover of Stanard, Matthew. 2023. The Leopard, the Lion, and the Cock Colonial Memories and Monuments in Belgium. Leuven: Leuven University Press. A summary of its history can be found on pages 160-162. Via library.oapen.org/viewer/web/v...

071

Paris before it was installed at its current location in Etterbeek in 1962, two years after Congo’s independence. It’s one of the most contested displays of Belgian colonial art in the public space. Via collections.heritage.brussels/fr/objects/5...

380

Dupagne was an agent of mining company Société internationale forestière et minière du Congo (Forminière) between 1927 and 1935. Upon resettling in Belgium, he became one of the country’s most productive sculptors in the field of colonial propagandist art.

141

The Lausanne Project (TLP) @lausanneproject.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

So apparently Jeffrey Epstein had a taste for Belgian colonial art. In the newly-released pictures of his estate we can see The Archer [Tireur à l'arc] by Arthur Dupagne (1895-1961).

1265

Reposted by Gert Huskens

Gert Huskens on applying social network analysis to the history of sanitary internationalism (with handy advice for anyone new to producing visualisations). thelausanneproject.com/2025/09/26/p...

thelausanneproject.com

Plotting in a Time of Cholera

Gert Huskens on applying social network analysis to the history of sanitary internationalism.

062

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

🔗 thelausanneproject.com/2025/09/26/p... From obscure Belgian ophthalmologist to one of the contested sanitary experts. In this blog on Dr. Pierre-Joseph Dutrieux’s cholera mission in 1883 Egypt, I demonstrate how networks, empires and epidemics intertwine.

273

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Op dit moment werk ik een artikel af waarbij ik, onder andere, laat zien hoe het Belgische kolonisatieproject in Guatemala niet losstond van andere vormen van Europees imperialisme. Zo werd het Belgische experiment in Santo Tomas zelfs aanzien als een "model" voor de Franse kolonisatie van Algerije.

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Needless to say, it was never realised. This is what the "city" looked like in 1844. 🗺️via uurl.kbr.be/1824398, digitized by @kbrbe

120

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

One of my favourite pieces of Belgian international history. A plan for the Belgian colonial city of Santo Tomas de Guatemala, 1844. A Foucauldian fever dream in Central America. 🗺️via uurl.kbr.be/1824400, digitized by @kbrbe.bsky.social

1100

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Als Brits diplomaat was Lord Ponsonby rond 1830 betrokken bij zowel de Uruguayaanse als de Belgische onafhankelijkheid?🇺🇾 🇧🇪 Ramiro Cabrera en Eva Moeraert maakten daarom de documentaire PONSONBYLAND. En ik mocht iets vertellen over Ponsonby's latere carrière. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9yL...

050

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

On the imperial dimensions of the (inter alia) Belgian Revolution. Must read.

081

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Elevator says no. Als je jarenlang een verrottingsstrategie toepast op de federale instellingen, waaronder het Rijksarchief, dan breekt de veer uiteindelijk. En daarom is één van onze belangrijkste archieven nu vleugellam door één (1!) kapotte lift. standaard.be/binnenland/d...

standaard.be

Door één kapotte lift in het Rijksarchief ligt heel veel onderzoek plat: “Het is Kafka op speed”

Een kapotte lift in het Brusselse Rijksarchief blokkeert talloze onderzoekers en mensen op zoek naar hun antwoorden over hun familiegeschiedenis: “Onze archieven zijn klinisch dood.”

0228

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Quiz question. What former colony is this a flag from?

161

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

On the bottom of Lake Aswan. Powered by the Dam. Imagine.

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

A sensational document. The Final Act of the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885. The birth document af the Scramle for Africa. Now on display at the Musée du Quai Branly.

030

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Omdat die filmpjes de complete leegheid zijn. Het is uit gemakzucht. Ze willen enkel kapitaliseren op de clicks en hun (ultra) nationalistische, soms pro-koloniale standpunt uiten. Ze geven geen zier om geschiedenis.

100

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Ik heb al veel AI blob gezien maar dit is toch een nieuw dieptepunt. Een filmpje op het Instagram account the_dutch_archaeologist0 over de Belgische Revolutie. Kijk naar die kaart en huiver.

Matt Fitzpatrick @kilderbenhauser.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Reposted by Gert Huskens

With such great AI history being produced, historians will soon be out of work! 🙃

0162

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Diving into Belgian relations with the nineteenth-century Mediterranean again. Eugène Van Maldeghem (1813 – 1867), Réception de l’ambassade tunisienne à Bruxelles 1865, Tunis, Institut national du patrimoine, collection Qsar es-Saïd, © Fondation Rambourg Tunisie / Christian Michelucci.

041

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

dn790003.ca.archive.org/0/items/5edw...

000

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

The newly-appointed Chinese minister in Brussels, Dr. Chang Nai Yen, and his suite, visiting the Pyramids (while making their way to Belgium?), 1934. 📰Le Soir Illustré, 24 March 1934, p. 13. uurl.kbr.be/1952254

110

Gert Huskens @gerthuskens.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

In zijn indrukwekkend overzichtstuk over de "Global Monarchy" wijdt David Motadel ook enkele passages aan Lili'uokalani! Zie: eprints.lse.ac.uk/121125/1/Glo...