Historia & Guerra

Editorial note

Agustín Desiderato — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction to Dossier "Latin America and the Two World Wars: Circulations and Cultural Mediators"

María Inés Tato, Juan Luis Carrellán — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction to Dossier “América Latina y las dos guerras mundiales: circulaciones y mediadores culturales”.

Elvira Aldao de Díaz, an Argentine Reporter of the First World War

Vanesa Miseres — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the observations of the Argentine writer, Elvira Aldao de Díaz (1858-1950), on World War I during her stay in Paris. Using a perspective grounded in the cultural history of war and through a discursive analysis of her two texts on the conflict, Horas de guerra y horas de paz (1923) and París 1914-1919, impresiones (1926), my work analyzes Aldao’s vision of European society during the war and its effects on Argentina. With a style that combines personal impressions and interviews, the author assumes the position of an observer oscillating between tourist curiosity and journalistic investigation, approaching the profile of a war reporter. Her writings reflect the political and intellectual divisions in Argentina between the pro-Allies (aliadófilos) and pro-Germans (germanófilos), and they explore the cultural and political dimensions of the war with a particular focus on women’s lives. Aldao highlights the prominent role of women in the war, paying particular attention to the “war godmothers” (madrinas de guerra) and the donneuses d’eau. Her observations provide valuable insights into the social dynamics and gender divisions of the turn-of-the-century period. Horas de guerra y horas de paz and París 1914-1919, impresiones represent a significant contribution to war literature, especially from the perspective of foreign women documenting conflicts from the social and national margins.

The Rio-Deutsche and the structure of germanophile campaign in Brazil over First World War

Livia Claro Pires — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article aims to analyze the role of the German-Brazilian community in Rio de Janeiro in articulating the pro-German narrative throughout World War I. The then federal capital housed the oldest urban German-Brazilian community, formed in 1808. With high economic power, its members, known as Rio-Deutsche, were part of the cultural and political elites of the Republic. When the belligerence broke out, they made use of these networks of contacts to undertake initiatives to win over public opinion in favor of the Central Powers. Thus, it is proposed to identify and briefly examine the main representatives of the Rio-Deutsche in the political and cultural spheres, their interlocutors, and strategies to gain the sympathy of Brazilian society for the German campaign throughout the Great War, understood as a global war.

The Chilean newspaper La Nación on the breakdown of relations between the United States and Germany in 1917

Juan Luis Carrellán — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper analyzes the editorial stance of the Chilean newspaper La Nación, born in the midst of the European war (1917), regarding its position following the breakdown of relations between the United States and Germany in February of that year, a prelude to the United States’ entry into the First World War. A review of the editorials alongside government actions allows us to observe the extent to which these positions influenced the line followed by Chilean foreign policy.

The presence of the First World War in the Chilean cinema. Between popular interest, propaganda and censorship

Lucas Maubert — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article addresses the cultural impact of the First World War in Chile by analyzing its presence in the film market. Despite the neutrality adopted after the war outbreak in Europe, the war became omnipresent on the screens of Chilean theatres and cinemas, attracting a broad audience, both from Chileans and from foreign communities living in the country. However, in a context of strong national tensions and fragmentation of public opinion, the projections of films related to the European war provoked solid reactions and tensions, forcing the authorities to increase their control over this medium, which meant the censorship of several films.

“A hedge against revolution". Disney and the Good Neighbor Policy in Bolivia

Olivier Keller — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

During World War II, the United States launched an ambitious propaganda film program in Latin America through the Office of Inter-American Affairs (OIAA). Disney cartoons were at the center of this program and were screened with portable projectors throughout Latin America, including in countries considered peripheral, such as Bolivia. The study of the Bolivian case reveals that the United States pursued a hegemonic strategy in Latin America under the guise of the Good Neighbor Policy. By a subtle and politically accepted measure, the OIAA sought to influence both elites and the general population. But its audience was not passive; it actively solicited Disney films.

Organization, doctrine and armament of the Great National Army in the Coro Campaign (1874-1875)

Germán Guía Caripe — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This research aims to enrich Venezuelan military history by interpreting previously unexplored primary and secondary sources. It also seeks to contribute to understanding the creation and development of military institutions from the perspective of military thought, logistical support, military technology, and other specific elements that influenced the conception of war in the 19th century.

“An event that remained etched in my memory”: Traumas, Memories, and Forgetfulness in the Narratives of the Soldiers of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force

Rodrigo Musto Flores — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The present article aims to analyze an aspect of the participation of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) in World War II: the transmission of narratives in the face of the traumatic nature of these experiences. The main hypothesis of the analysis is that the narratives of FEB veterans about their experiences in World War II are marked by a profound unease and a desire to forget, reflecting the complexity of both collective and individual memory in relation to traumatic experiences. Although these narratives often include elements of heroism and patriotism, they also reveal a tension between the need for remembrance and the difficulty of expressing and communicating the pain and trauma of war.

Historia, fotografía y guerra. Un estudio sobre la Guerra de la Triple Alianza contra Paraguay

Sofía Monti — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Forced or dreamed return? The repatriation of Soviets from France between the end of the war and the beginning of the Cold War (1944-1947)

Amine Laggoune — Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000