Workers and the Left in the Latin American Southern Cone in the face of World War I: The irruption of the global into the local
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5007/1984-9222.2024.e102060Keywords:
World War I, Workers' movement, LeftAbstract
World War I came as a severe shock to workers in Latin America's urban centers. While the war brought enormous profits for a small elite, the great mass of the population faced serious problems in obtaining basic supplies. Especially since 1917, the number and size of demonstrations and strikes in cities such as Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro increased sharply. Inspired by the revolutions in Mexico and Russia, the left demanded a new beginning or structural transformation. Ultimately they were interested in equality and participation in the national community. The war and the supposed "suicide of feudal autocracies" (Ingenieros) it implied seemed to promise a better future.
This article asks how global events influenced social and street struggles in the large cities of the Southern Cone. What role did public controversies play in relation to positions regarding the war parties, as well as in relation to being for, or against, the war itself? How was the transnational dimension of the Russian Revolution reflected in the lefts in the context of the Great War?
The hypothesis of this study is that although these were fundamental structural reactions and problems specific to Latin American societies, the links with the world war were undeniable.
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