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Fascist governments background
During the 1930s european diplomacy grew more tense and threatened to plunge the world into war again. Germany's chancellor, adolf hitler, flexed his nations considerable muscle and promises to spread german influence throughout europe. Italy under Benito Mussolini grew aggressive, invading libya and ethiopia in northern africa.
The german and italian regimes (nazi and fascist), resembled each other in authoritarian structure, censorship, propaganda, militarism, and intolerance of minority populations
Meanwhile, Japan also began a decade of military expansion into china and southeast asia that would ally it militarily with the NAzi and fascist governments (forming the axis powers) ) when war broke out in September 1939. These events reverberated with threatening tones in the America
Lead up to the war in the Western Hemisphere
World order had deteriorated and collapsed into all out war. Most of Latin america experienced shortages of basic imported goods (consumer and machinery), intelligence breaches, political challenges, and even armed crashes
In the spirit of multilateralism, cooperation, and good neighborliness, the nations of the western hemisphere participated in a series of inter-american meetings convoked to deal with security treats in the late 1930s
Latin america taken into account on scale in america for first time.
In 1936, the foreign ministers of the hemisphere convened in buenos aries and signed a treaty promising to submit hemispheric conflicts to mediation.
Two years later, responding to axis aggression in europe, pointer-american delegates in Lima, Peru, passed a more forceful declaration: the hemisphere pledged to defend itself against internal or external attacks
When war broke out, the foreign ministers of the Americas hurriedly met in Panama in September 1939 to discuss ways to keep the war from spreading across the Atlantic.
They declared a neutrality zone around the continents, extending three hundred miles out to sea.
War brought to the americas
The fall of France to nazi armies in June 1940 brought the war to the Americas. French and Dutch colonies in the Caribbean basin, now under German control, could be used as platforms for aggression inside the neutrality zone.
Martinique and the Guianas could endanger oil tanker sea lanes, Panama Canal approaches, and air routes. These territories that came under German control could be used for submarine bases and even to mount air attacks.
The united states called a meeting of foreign ministers in Havana that immediately put those territories under inter-american protectorate.
Germany had also been flirting with mexico since world war one, but that was curtailed
IN a short time, a network for inter-american defense planning began to take shape
The US government took several steps to improve its defense posture in the americas. Several countries received financial aid in exchange for cooperation, and military assistance
Latin american countries gave the united states the right to operate bases and observation stations in their territories
Nelson Rockefeller
Meanwhile, Standard oil heir and politician Nelson Rockefeller volunteered to set up ambitious cultural exchange program to improve people-to people relations
He sent US celebrities like will rogers on tour to south america and brought performers like brazils Carmen Miranda (Chiquita banana commercial), already well known in the United Stated, for return visits.
He also sponsored feature films including The Three Caballeros. By the mid-1940s, Disney had become a household name in much of latin america
Overall burst of goodwill, some economic aid, etc.
Hemispheric defense
Several sites were especially critical to hemispheric defense. Panama was regarded as most exposed because of the canal's ability to move ships and supplies between the two oceans.
The canal itself was highly vulnerable to sabotage. Moreover, merchant vessels carrying strategic supplies and even U.S. warships were vulnerable to attack while approaching or leaving the canal. So early defense planning focused on the canal and its surroundings.
A widening project on the canal brought prosperity to the Panamanians, and a friendly government after 1941 conceded lands for more defense bases. Scores of anti-aircraft sites sprang up around the canal.
US military observers also regarded brazils northeastern hump strategic because it extended into the south atlantic and lay only 1,840 miles west of the african coast.
With german general Erwin Rommel's rapid conquests across north africa in 1941, it appeared that the german air force might be able to ferry planes to south america
From there they could reach panama and even north america. To prevent that, Brazil leased a base in Natal to the United States for moving aircraft, troops, and supplies eastward to Africa and beyond.
The good neighbour policy
The good neighbour policy was introduced in the 1930s, during the presidency of franklin D Roosevelt. It was a response to a history of US military interventions and occupation in latin america, articularly during the early 20th century
It aimed to improve diplomatic relations between the US and lati america and promote stability in the region
The policy also had strategic value during world war II as a peaceful and cooperative latin america eas seen as vital to US security
Needed no conflicts within latin american borders- promote through economic exchange
Goodneighbour policy Key elements:
Non intervention: The policy signaled a commitment to non interference in the domestic affairs of latin american countries. The united states pledged not to use military force to impose its will on these nations
Respect for sovereignty: It emphasized respect for the sovereignett and self-determination of latin american countries, recognizing their right to make their own political and economic decisions
Economic cooperation: The U.S. also aimed to promote economic cooperation with Latin American nations. Trade agreements and cultural exchanges were encouraged
After the U.S declared war on the axis powers…
brazil attempted to lead latin america into solidarity with the allies
Mexico became a strong supporter of its northern neighbor. The reaction in other countries was mixed. No country, however, avoided all impacts from the war.
Throughout the americas, countries responded differently to the war. From the US point of view, the most important responses were those of Brazil and Mexico, which proved highly cooperative.
Panama’s response was deemed critical also because of possible German attacks on the canal or on ships that used it.
Leaders in the caribbean archipelago, running from cuba southeast to aruba, also coopeated to improve US security
Early in the war german submarines scouted the waters of the caribbean and the gulf of mexico, finding US coastal defense virtually nonexistent
Argentina was the major exception…
to general hemispheric cooperation with the allies during World War II. Just as the buenos aires government was about to declare its solidarity with great britain in 1943, a group of pro-german army officers, some of whom had trained in germany and italy in the 1930s, seized power and declared absolute neutrality
They continued to sell beef and cereal to england but, despite enormous pressure frm the US, refused to break their ties with germany
Good Neighbor policy- couldnt intervene directly
Juan Domingo Perón, a leader of the coup who would dominate Argentine politics for a generation, believed as late as 1944 that Hitler might fight the Allies to a draw and remain powerful in world affairs
Juan Domingo Perón,
Juan Domingo Perón, a leader of the coup who would dominate Argentine politics for a generation, believed as late as 1944 that Hitler might fight the Allies to a draw and remain powerful in world affairs
Peron also employed German scientists to start a nuclear research agency. Remarkably, Peron's actions during 1944 and 1945 did not prevent him form winning the presidential election in 1946
US opposition to him backfired and increased his popularity among a population that was inspired by his nationalist stance against the US and the U.S. State Department was obliged to mend fences with him.
Peace was signed after 1945, and the world…
moved into a new era, latin America seemed to bloom in several ways. For those countries that had supported the allies, a glow of pride in victory shone through
In most places democratic forced arose and restored constitutional government.
Latin american urban economies flourished with the industrial growth now burst forth as world class cities. Mexico city, Rio, Buenos aries, Lima, santiago, sao paulo, and caracas joined the ranks of world metropolises
Their government reached out to the masses of citizens with expanded suffrage, social programs, labor rights, and more inclusive nationalism.
The arts, literature, and university life all blossomed in the postwar environment.
The biggest political change in postwar LA
was the return of populism as the foremost expression of mass politics. The populists took up where their predecessors of the 1910s and 1920s left off, encouraged by huge urban populations, radio, mass circulation newspapers, and modern transportation.
Brazil experienced such a surge in populist leadership that the period from 1945 to 1964 was called the populist republic
Juan Domingo Peron and his wife Evita, the quintessential populists, captured the hearts and minds of most argentines after 1945
Elsewhere, too, charismatic, forceful, and dynamic figures rode waves of adulation into the presidential palaces of their nations.
These were optimistic times, when citizens believed that their political influence and chances for attaining middle-class status and standards of living were never better.
Classic populism
From the late 1930s until the late 1960s, the populist style of voter recruitment and leadership swept latin america
Elections proliferated and voter rolls flourished. For the first time ever, latin Americans had the opportunity to freely choose their next leaders. Radio, television, mass circulation newspapers, and huge outdoor rallies became common ways to win voter loyalty
Women's suffrage became the norm across the region, as one country after another granted women the right to vote. The leaders themselves became known all over the world for their flamboyant images and bold initiatives
It was an exciting time, when cities boomed and factories hummed, when women had access to new professions and children crowded into newly funded public schools, when the middle class moved into new homes and neighborhoods and the working class experienced their first shot at getting ahead.
In short, it seemed like the promises of modernization were finally going to be fulfilled.
Latin american politics seemed to finally escae from the grip of dictatorship and was coming of age
The populist era was optimistic yet
unsettling because no one knew how the entrenched power holders- the catholic church, the army, the landed elite, the banners, the foreign investors, and the traditional parties- would respond to these changes
For a time, the populists and the establishment managed to cooperate. Most populists, to be sure, welcomed support of all backers, and many power brokers believed that they could benefit by allying with popular leaders
These broad populist coalitions drew from all classes and walks of life, and their appeal reached into neighborhoods, small towns, cafes, and factories.
They were the first nonviolent mass movements in the region's history
As long as the populists did not threaten existing power holders…
they prospered and gave Latin America a more modern face.
By the mid-1950s, however, populist leaders were beginning to upset the older elites.
Confrontations became frequent. Sometimes the army reacted to mass mobilization, the church opposed liberalizing laws, and industrialists objected to political recruitment of their workers.
For their part, the populists could get along without elite supporters and…
appealed more openly to the masses. Political tensions rose. Eventually the horizon for populists clouded up and turned stormy.
In Argentina, Brazil, and Peru, military coups removed leading populists on the grounds that they endangered public order.
Populists were accused of subverting the military, attacking the establishment, breaking the law, overspending their budgets, and encouraging communism
Classic populism had its roots…
in the 1930s. No full-blown populist movements arose then, due to hard economic times. Yet, a new mix of economic and social factors began to favor this innovative style of leadership. Virtually all the classic populist figures of the 1950s and 1960s got their start in the 1930s
Because of the Depression Latin Americans were desperate and ready to follow leaders who would promise them a better life.
These leaders became the classic populists, who gained power and exercised it boldly willful rulers determined to guide their countries through the hard times at hand
Born in the 1880s and 1890s, the later populists were…
much younger when they came to power. Three of them—Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre from Peru, Lázaro Cárdenas from Mexico, and Juan Domingo Perón from Argentina—were born the same year, 1895.
They pushed voter recruitment and built more modern parties with which to mobilize their followers.
They learned to use the newly available medium of radio, and a few experimented with public relations techniques.
Their origins outside the national capitals meant that they had to learn the ways of the national elite.
This gave them an edge over traditional leaders because they could manipulate elite values and symbols better than persons socialized to wealth and power from birth.
Little interested in foreign travel, the later populists studied in their national universities or military academies and often got their start in politics as student leaders.
They spoke well, projected appealing images, balanced diverse coalitions expertly, maintained composure in crises, and accomplished much of what they set out to do.
