Not all nations' allegiances were clear-cut during the Second World War, and this was especially
true for many supposedly neutral nations, as we discussed in our video on the complicated position
of World War II-era Switzerland. Today, though, we're going to leave Europe for South America,
where we'll take a look at Argentina and its confusing stance in the Second World War.
Argentina was plagued with political tension in the lead-up to World War II.
The South American country had supplied the British with food during the First World War,
and the pair’s relationship was only strengthened with the signing of the
Roca-Runciman Treaty in May 1933. Among other things, the treaty stipulated that Argentina
would be guaranteed a certain amount of beef imports to Britain and that Argentina would
not increase import duties on British goods. Many Argentinians, notably the nationalists,
weren't happy about this, believing the treaty benefitted Britain more than Argentina.
But Argentina wasn't dealing with Britain alone.
During the interwar period, many Germans and Italians migrated to Argentina.
The Germans, especially, came to have significant economic sway. By 1939, around 100,000
Germans resided in the country. They controlled large portions of its industrial, construction,
electrical, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries, operated major banks and insurance
firms, and produced munitions. In short, Argentinian and German relations were strong,
and money, weapons, and other goods produced in Argentina were feeding a war-hungry Germany.
In September 1937, a presidential election was held in Argentina, and through a system
of electoral fraud, Roberto Ortiz of the Concordancia party came to power. Ortiz,
however, denied that he had anything to do with said fraud, and worked to return
democracy to the country. This irritated some more conservative factions within the Concordancia,
most notably the vice president, Ramón Castillo, whom we'll return to soon.
Two years later, on the 1st of September, Germany invaded Poland, marking the start of the Second
World War. On the 3rd, Britain declared war on Germany and informed Argentina that same day.
Ortiz responded on the 4th by declaring Argentina neutral. While Argentina and
Britain had strong relations, so did Argentina and
Germany. Neutrality was a logical stance to take, especially this early in the war.
On the 13th of December, however, Argentina’s stance would be tested.
On this day, there was a clash between the Royal Navy and Kriegsmarine in waters near Uruguay and
Argentina. A British squadron sighted the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee in
the estuary of River Plate, and a battle ensued, with some 100 casualties suffered by both sides.
Crippled from the battle, Graf Spee sought repairs in the port of Montevideo in Uruguay. While there,
Graf Spee's captain scuttled the vessel because he believed British
reinforcements were waiting to ambush him once he left the safety of the port.
His crew were subsequently interned by Uruguayan and Argentinian authorities.
This affair demonstrated to Ortiz how difficult it would be to maintain neutrality;
the war had come to his front yard whether he wanted it or not.
As such, he got Minister of Foreign Affairs José Maria Cantilo to come up with a
proposal for Argentina to join the Allies as a non-belligerent state. This meant that Argentina
would provide economic and diplomatic support to the Allies, but it would not fight a war for them.
Unfortunately for Ortiz, the proposal was leaked, and nationalist groups within
Argentina became enraged. Was joining the Allies really in Argentina's best interests? And if so,
why would Ortiz go behind the people's backs to propose such an alliance?
Following demands for his resignation, Ortiz issued a statement reaffirming
Argentina's neutrality, but the damage had already been done.
By mid-1940, diabetes was taking a significant toll on Ortiz's health;
he was gradually losing his eyesight, so Vice President Castillo stepped up as his temporary
replacement. While support for Argentina to join the Allies was growing at this time,
Castillo maintained a stance of neutrality. It remains unclear, however, exactly why he did so.
It could be that he was respecting Argentina's military tradition of neutrality, like in World
War I, or possibly that he did not want to stand against the military for fear of a coup.
Over the next two years, factions emerged in support of neutrality, in support of joining
the Allies, and even, albeit to a lesser degree, in support of joining the Axis.
The nationalistic political party FORJA stood in favour of neutrality to oppose
Britain and its economic dominance, for instance, while Acción Argentina,
a group affiliated with the Socialist Party and composed of intellectuals, artists, and
journalists, advocated for Argentina to join the Allies. As for pro-Axis groups, these were few,
or well concealed among the neutralists; however, one great example was the newspaper El Pampero,
which was financed by the German embassy and explicitly supported the Nazis.
Two major events also occurred within this two-year span.
In December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, goading the US into the war. Following
this, during the 1942 Rio Conference, the US tried to get every country in Latin America
to join the Allies, but Castillo's mind would not be changed, and this strained Argentinian
and American relations. Castillo did declare a state of emergency following the attack, however.
The second major event was the resignation of Ortiz on the 27th of June 1942,
with Castillo set to replace him for at least the next two
years. Less than three weeks after he resigned, Ortiz died from pneumonia.
With his term set to end in 1944, Castillo sought a replacement in Robustiano Patrón Costas;
however, the Argentinian military was concerned that Costas would break Argentina's neutrality.
As such, a group of military generals banded together to form a clandestine organisation
called the United Officers' Group or GOU. Their goal was to topple Castillo in a military coup,
which they did on the 4th of June 1943, making a man named Arturo Rawson the de facto president.
It seems there was dissension within the GOU, however, as Rawson quickly met with the
British embassy and said that he'd absolutely declare war on the Axis. A second coup took
place shortly after this, with a man named Pedro Pablo Ramírez taking Rawson's place.
True to the goals of the GOU, Ramírez made a splash by hitting the aforementioned
pro-Allied organisation Acción Argentina with the ban hammer.
At this time, the US turned up the heat on Argentina, trying just about anything to
get the nation to join the Allies and break all relations with the Axis. The Americans
boycotted and blacklisted Argentinian companies, seized their property and halted their loans,
paused American imports to Argentina, and even accused Argentina of being
involved in a coup in Bolivia as well as a plot to procure weapons from Germany.
Feeling the pressure, Ramírez met with the GOU and they agreed to break ties with the Axis but
not to declare war on them. This sparked yet another coup, with Minister of War Edelmiro
Julián Farrell booting Ramírez from his throne and becoming president on the 24th of February 1944.
When Farrell reaffirmed Argentina's position as neutral, America spat
the dummy, breaking relations with Argentina and declaring it a, quote,
"Nazi headquarters in the Western hemisphere." The British were understandably upset about
this turn of events, as well, as they wanted to continue enjoying their Argentinian beef.
Later in 1944, following Operation Overlord, it was clear that the Allies had the war in the bag,
and Argentina started to sweat. If the Allies won the war, what would the world think of Argentina?
Would it be judged for remaining neutral? What about for maintaining relations with the Axis?
Following negotiations with the US, Argentina placed restrictions on German organisations,
seized German goods, and declared war on Japan and,
in turn, Germany, which surrendered about a month after the declaration,
evidently shaking in its boots at the thought of confronting the South American superpower.
Despite Argentina's neutrality, thousands of Argentinians volunteered to serve in the war,
including 4,000 in the British armed forces alone.
More than 600 of these volunteers served in the RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force,
most notably in No. 164 (Argentine) Squadron, while an additional 500 served in the Royal Navy.
After the war, Vice President Juan Perón took over from Farrell and secretly allowed
Axis fugitives into Argentina via escape routes known as "ratlines." Among these
fugitives were some 300 Nazis, including war criminals Josef Mengele and Adolf Eichmann.
It wasn't until 1997 that these cases were properly investigated, however, leading to
arrests and then an apology by President Fernando de la Rúa on Argentina's behalf.
Rife with political tension and military coups,
Argentina was a bit of a mess during the Second World War,
though it did manage to maintain neutrality for most of the conflict, so points for that.
But what do you think? Should Argentina have declared war sooner? Was the US right to put
so much pressure on the Latin American nation? And lastly, do you know any cool stories about
Axis fugitives hiding out in Argentina? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.