La Argentine foreign policy from the inside

The role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during World War II. A look from the archives

Keywords: Archives, State organization, World War II, Argentina-Germany relations, Foreign policy

Abstract

In the study of Argentine foreign relations, the consultation of official documentation allows us to approach the public policies that delineate foreign policy. Considering that archival documentation is the natural sediment of the actions of an organization, it provides tools to approach the “State from the inside”: the histories and chronologies of state agencies, the trajectories of the people who guide them, their practices and knowledge, and the permeable margins between these agencies and civil society. This approach highlights public policies and allows us to rethink the supposed “effectiveness” of the state. This article proposes that an approach to the history of the Archive of the Argentine Foreign Ministry can contribute to historiographic work. To this end, it presents documentary groups on the relationship with Germany during World War II, emphasizing the areas that produced the documentation, its organization, chronology and archival history.

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Author Biographies

Laura Assali, Archivo del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto, Argentina
Laura Assali holds a BA in History from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and is an Archivist from the Higher Institute of Teacher and Technical Training Nº 8, La Plata. She is currently studying for a MA in History at the Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Since 2011 she has been working at the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship as head of documentary collections. She is a tutor at the National Institute of Public Administration and author of articles and presentations at conferences on the specialty.
Alba Lombardi, Archivo del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto, Argentina
Alba Lombardi holds a BA in History from the Universidad del Salvador and a degree in Archiving from the Higher Institute of Teacher and Technical Training Nº 8, La Plata. She is currently pursuing a MA in History at the Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Since 2007 she has been working at the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Culture. She worked as an archivist at the General Archive of the Nation (2020-2022), at CeDInCI (2011), and at the Documentation Center “University and Dictatorship” of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (2012-2015). In 2022, she served as the Secretary of the National Evaluation Committee of Iberarchivos. She also serves as a tutor at the National Institute of Public Administration and in the Diploma in Archiving and Document Management at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero. She is the author of articles and presentations at conferences on the specialty.
Published
2024-01-03
How to Cite
Assali, L., & Lombardi, A. (2024). La Argentine foreign policy from the inside. Historia & Guerra, (5), 29-49. https://doi.org/10.34096/hyg.n5.14056
Section
Dossier Las relaciones germano-argentinas en el marco de los conflictos bélicos