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World War I in Latin America
Category:
History
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN-10: 0786433507
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 420
Copyright: 2016
ISBN-13: 9780786433506
World War I in Latin America was a war between intelligence services that entangled operatives from Germany, Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Canada, the U.S., Japan, Mexico, all Latin American republics and scores of exile and revolutionary groups. This book reveals tragedies, plots, coups, betrayals, gunfights and assassinations that changed the political landscape of the Americas during the world war and its aftermath.
World War I did not bypass Latin America. Within days of the war's outbreak, European belligerents mobilized intelligence assets and secret diplomacy to compete for Latin America's allegiances and resources. This intelligence war entangled all of the American republics and even Japan. Dreary consular offices from the Rio Grande to the Straits of Magellan were abruptly thrust into covert activities, trafficking in fugitives, running contraband and conducting sabotage. Revolutionary and counter-revolutionary movements, big oil, international banks and businesses were also drawn in. Drawing on long-classified U.S. intelligence documents, this narrative of the Latin American intelligence war reveals the complexity and chaos behind the placid veneer of wartime Pan-America. The author connects the dots between Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Guatemala City, Lima, Havana, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, London, Washington, Tokyo and dozens of safe houses, front companies, consulates, legations and headquarters in between. Scores of unrecognized veterans of the intelligence war are revealed.
Excerpt
The morning of August 1, 1914, Buenos Aires streets buzzed with excitement. Men huddled over newspapers plastered with announcements of European embassies and legations calling men under military obligation to duty. Several days would pass before the European capitals finished issuing declarations of war to their enemies, but the apocalyptic clarions already sounded around the globe. Throughout Argentina thousands of British, French,
Belgians, Italians, Austro- Hungarians,
Germans, Dutch, even Swiss and others
promptly quit their jobs, broke leases or liquidated businesses and property, and headed for Buenos Aires to board ships back to their homelands. Argentina saw the rapid exodus of thousands of Englishmen alone, a flow that would eventually drain between 4,800 and 6,000 farmers, workers, technicians, administrative personnel
and executives out of a community
of about 27,000 British subjects in 1914. Italians would quickly outpace them. Likewise in Chile, hundreds of French and British reservists boarded the mail steamers to answer the call to duty. For a short time, there was a festive atmosphere as men enjoyed the holiday from work and the sense of embarking on a great adventure.
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