"The Great War beyond the seas: The impact of the conflict among Latin American intellectuals"

MARÍA INÉS TATO

Shrivenham

Simposio; Symposium Ideas, intellectuals and the Great War; 2015

Defence Studies Department, King?s College London at the Joint Services Command and Staff College

Until 1917, Latin American states remained neutral in regardsto the First World War. Nevertheless, this foreign policy contrasted with avery intense cultural mobilisation of civil society. In effect, from thebeginning of the conflict the public opinion in general - and the intellectualfield in particular - showed a strong commitment to one or another belligerent side.The interest in the conflict was the result of the historical, cultural,economic and demographic bonds that tied Latin America and Europe at leastsince the nineteenth century.  This paper intends to explore the cultural repercussions of the GreatWar on Latin America, through the analysis of its main intellectuals?perspectives on the conflagration. In spite of the fact that this subcontinent wasethnically and culturally complex and multiform, it is possible to discern somecommon intellectual stances towards the war. Among these, it is worthmentioning, in the first place, the widespread consensus around Pan Latinism,which contributed to the predominance of Aliadophilism among public opinion,and to the rejection of the Central Empires. In the second place, theincreasing presence of alternative transnational identities, like Pan Hispanism,Pan Hispano?Americanism, and Pan Americanism. Finally, the emergence of avigorous anti-imperialism, especially after the United States entry into thewar. The Great War fostered the circulation of these ideas, since it affected the representations of Latin Americannational communities and its ties with Europe, which were the basis of civilsociety?s activism around the conflict.