Anecdote about the European blockade of Venezuela, in the early twentieth century
In 1902, three European nations imposed a naval blockade on the Caribbean-and-Atlantic coastline of Venezuela. The three European nations were Great Britain, Germany, and Italy. All of these European countries would later be fighting both of the others at least once during the future world wars. But, at this time, these three European countries were united – due to some foreign debts that the Venezuelans were then refusing to pay. The Venezuelan president, Cipriano Castro, assumed that the United States would then invoke the Monroe Doctrine on Venezuela’s behalf. But the American president (which was Theodore Roosevelt) saw this doctrine as applying “only to European seizure of territory, rather than intervention per se” – as Wikipedia’s page on the crisis puts it. Thus, the blockade instead went unopposed, and managed to disable the navy of Venezuela. A compromise was eventually worked out in 1903, with the European blockade being maintained in Venezuelan waters throughout the negotiations. But it was one of a number of precursors to the Latin American involvement in the World Wars. Despite the American Monroe Doctrine, there had been much European colonization in the Americas during the nineteenth century. But the Venezuelan Crisis of the early twentieth century reminded Latin Americans of how connected with Europe they still were. And naval affairs in South America would soon lead to a naval arms race.
Blockade of Venezuelan ports, 1902
The South American dreadnought race is ended by the outbreak of the First World War
It was called the “South American dreadnought race.” Specifically, it was an arms race between the three major powers of South America: Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. The dreadnought was then a relatively new kind of battleship, which was much sought after by the world’s navies. Brazil was particularly interested in improving its navy during this arms race. However, a partially-finished (and already-obsolete) dreadnought was later sold to the distant Ottoman Empire during some bad economic times. This was partially prompted by a 1910 naval revolt in Brazil. Argentina and Chile countered with some major dreadnoughts of their own. In August 1914, the Panama Canal opened. This would be important for both of the upcoming world wars. But, later that month, the South American arms race ended, when the First World War instead began in Europe. Two of the Chilean dreadnoughts were then purchased by the British, although one was later re-acquired by Chile after the war. The First World War would bring its own problems for Latin America. One of them was the 1914 “Battle of the Falkland Islands,” which was off of the coast of Argentina. But the biggest of these problems was a disruption of international trade.
The gun trials of the Brazilian dreadnought Minas Geraes, 1910
Brazil fights U-boats in the Atlantic, and Germany tries to win the favor of Mexico
Most of Latin America still tried to stay neutral in the First World War. But several of Brazil’s merchant ships were being sunk by the Germans – casualties of the “unrestricted submarine warfare.” After this kept happening, Brazil declared war on Germany, and participated in the Atlantic campaigns. This was the biggest contribution of Brazil to the Allied war effort. Brazil was the only Latin American nation to actively participate in the Great War. However, the Germans also tried to get Mexico involved in a war with its northern neighbor: the United States. Unfortunately for the Germans, their infamous “Zimmermann Telegram” was soon intercepted by the British. The British showed the telegram to the American government, causing an uproar in the United States. Mexico never got formally involved in the Great War, but the United States certainly did. Thus, this was one of a number of dangerous miscalculations on the part of the Germans. There was also some limited U-boat fighting in the Caribbean during the Great War. However, it was still small compared to what followed there in the Second World War.
Brazilian president Venceslau Brás declares war on the Central Powers, 1917
In the Second World War, the Battle of the Atlantic arguably begins in Latin America
In the Spanish Civil War, Spain was quite far removed from its former colonies in Latin America. But Mexico actually supported the Republican side of the civil war in Spain. Some have referred to the Spanish Civil War as a “dress rehearsal” for the Second World War. When that war began, its “Battle of the Atlantic” arguably began off of the coast of South America. Specifically, in 1939, a German ship called the “Graf Spee” was engaging in commerce raiding near the estuary of the Platte River. This was close to both Argentina and Uruguay. Unfortunately for the German ship, it was sighted by three ships from the British Empire. A battle ensued, in which the German ship was critically damaged. The German ship “entered the port of Montevideo, the capital of neutral Uruguay, to effect urgent repairs” (as Wikipedia’s page on this battle puts it). But the German commander was told “that his stay could not be extended beyond 72 hours.” Apparently, the Uruguayans did not want to offend the mighty British Empire. The German commander thus ordered for the ship to be scuttled instead. The German commander then committed suicide three days later. Again, this was the beginning of the Second World War “Battle of the Atlantic.” Some of this involved the related “Battle of the Caribbean,” which now saw heavier combat there than in the First World War.
German cruiser “Graf Spee” is scuttled by her crew – Off of the coast of Uruguay, 1939
Brazil fights U-boats and sends troops to Europe, while Mexico sends a squadron to the Pacific
Again, Brazilian merchant ships in the Atlantic were now being targeted by the Germans. Thus, the Brazilians again declared war on Germany in retaliation. Thus, they again participated in the Atlantic campaigns. They did much to sink German U-boats at that time. Brazil was also strategically important, because it was geographically the closest part of Latin America to the important African campaigns, of the earlier parts of the war. Brazil was the only country to send troops to the European theater of the Second World War. However, Mexico sent a fighter squadron to the Pacific, known as the “Aztec Eagles” (or “Águilas Aztecas”). Thus, Mexico had some limited involvement in the Pacific War. The United States was also investing in Latin America with the Lend-Lease Act. This had some beneficial economic effects in the region. But the Axis side was finding some support in Argentina and Chile. Thus, the Axis powers interfered with local internal affairs, distributed propaganda, and even conducted some espionage. This is an (understandably) forgotten aspect of World War II. Some have connected the pro-Fascist propaganda with the right-wing military juntas of later years. For example, there were the regimes of Juan Perón in Argentina, and Augusto Pinochet in Chile. (More about them in a different post.) Again, though, most of Latin America tried to stay neutral in the Second World War. But the disruption of international trade again made this somewhat hard at times. Thus, a few Latin American countries had skirmishes with the German U-boats and cruisers, in either the Caribbean or the South Atlantic – or both places, in some cases. The disruption of their international trade also caused some economic damage to all nations involved.
Mexican fighter squadron (Escuadrón 201), known as the “Águilas Aztecas” or “Aztec Eagles”
Conclusion: The Latin American involvement was comparatively small, but still important
It is understandable that the Latin American role in both World Wars is usually forgotten today. Of all of the inhabited continents, South America seems to have been the least involved in both of these two great conflicts. This, too, is understandable – because Latin America had plenty of problems of its own during these two World Wars. But both sides of the war courted the favor of various Latin American nations, and tried to get them more involved than they were in the conflict. And, in particular, the Brazilian involvement did make some important difference to the war’s naval campaigns. Some areas of the Atlantic were being patrolled by the Brazilian navy, which otherwise would have required patrols from other Allied navies instead. Thus, while the Latin American involvement may still have been comparatively small, it did play some role in how the two wars turned out. It was one important theater of the great international chess game, and it may deserve to be more remembered today than it is.
Footnote to this blog post:
After 1945, Latin America would play a much more important role in the upcoming Cold War. Both the free world and the communist world would compete for influence in Latin America. If the Cold War were a chess game, Latin Americans were often the pawns. For more on Latin American involvement in the Cold War, see this post, where I go even further into their twentieth-century history. (Here, if you’re interested.)
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