Argentina during World War II

Argentina during World War II
A newspaper announcing Argentina's severing of diplomatic relations with the Axis powers on January 26, 1944.
Location	Argentina
Date	1939–1945
Events	Battle of the River Plate – December 13, 1939 Operation Bolivar begins – May 1940 Revolution of '43 – June 4, 1943 Hellmuth Incident – November 4, 1943 Severing of relations – January 26, 1944 Declaration of war – March 27, 1945 U-530 Incident – July 10, 1945

The history of Argentina during World War II is a complex period of time beginning in 1939, following the outbreak of war in Europe, and ending in 1945 with the surrender of Japan. German influence in Argentina was strong, mainly due to the presence of a large number of German immigrants, and Argentina's traditional rivalry with Great Britain furthered the belief that the Argentine government was sympathetic to the German cause. Because of the close ties between Germany and Argentina, the latter stayed neutral for most of World War II, despite internal disputes and pressure from the United States to join the Allies. However, Argentina eventually gave in to the Allies' pressure, broke relations with the Axis powers on January 26, 1944, and declared war on March 27, 1945.

Roberto María Ortiz was the president of Argentina at the beginning of the war, in 1939. The country was in a period of political conservatism and economic crisis known as the Infamous Decade. The Concordancia was accused of electoral fraud and corruption. The Radical Civic Union was divided between FORJA, a line supporting the deposed radical president Hipólito Yrigoyen, and the official leadership of Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, close to the Concordancia. The Socialist Party and the Progressist Democracy were conservative as well. The Communist Party was initially close to the trade unions but gave priority to advancing the interests of the Soviet Union.

The Argentine army was highly Germanophile; this influence had grown since 1904 and predated both world wars. It did not involve a rejection of democracy but rather an admiration of German military history. This admiration, combined with an intense Argentine nationalism, influenced the main stance of the army towards the war: to stay neutral. The arguments in favor ranged from Argentine military tradition (Argentina was neutral during World War I and the War of the Pacific), to the perception of the war as a conflict between foreign countries with no Argentine interests at stake, to Anglophobia, to rejection of foreign attempts to force Argentina into joining the war. Only a handful of military leaders actually supported Adolf Hitler. The war resulted in a small boost to the Argentine economy, as trade with Britain was reduced. Thus began a process of import substitution industrialization, which had some antecedents during the Great Depression. This industrialization began a process of internal migration as well, with people living in the countryside or in small villages moving to urban centers.