Review of Stephan Rinke, Latin America and the First World War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017)

SCARFI, JUAN PABLO

E.I.A.L.

Tel Aviv University

Lugar: Tel Aviv; Año: 2021 vol. 32 p. 130 - 132

0792-7061

In recent years, especially following the centennial of the Great War, a seriesof new historical studies about the impact of the First World War on LatinAmerica have contributed to reinterpreting and revising significantly its importancefor the region. Most of this recent scholarship, including recent worksby Olivier Compagnon, María Inés Tato, Ana Paula Pires, and Hernán Otero,among others, has focused on the role of the press and adopted in certain casesglobal, transnational, and comparative perspectives. Although the outbreak ofthe First World War did not have a direct effect on Latin American countries,reexamining how it was presented and discussed in the press and reinterpretingit as a global moment and from a comparative perspective, has prompted anumber of historians to illuminate and shed new light on the significant impact ithad on Latin American countries individually and on Latin America as a whole.This recent literature shows how the depiction and discussion of the Great Warin the press, including periodicals, images of the war, photos and illustrations,generated wide-ranging ideological, cultural, and social effects across the region.Stefan Rinke’s thoughtful and remarkable book, Latin America and the FirstWorld War (2017), is a direct product of this recent historiographical renewal.The book draws mainly on a wide range of primary sources from the press andpublished works of intellectuals, diplomats, and politicians, as well as socialand political activists. It presents itself as a global history of the First WorldWar. Therefore, it is worth assessing its contribution primarily in relation tothese two important dimensions and its inception within this new emerginghistoriography. Published as part of the Cambridge University Press series“Global and International History” and as a translation of the original Germanversion, Rinke’s book makes an important contribution to the understanding ofLatin American progressive and more active engagement in global affairs andits assimilation to modern international society.