Argentina In World War II

Before the start of World War II in 1939, Argentina had maintained a long tradition of neutrality regarding European wars, which had been upheld and defended by all major political parties since the 19th century. One of the main reasons for this policy was related to Argentina's economic position as one of the world's leading exporters of foodstuffs and agricultural products, to Europe in general and to the United Kingdom in particular. Relations between Britain and Argentina had been strong since the mid-19 century, due to the large volume of trade between both countries, the major presence of British investments particularly in railroads and banking, as well as British immigration, and the policy of neutrality had ensured the food supply of Britain during World War I against the German U-boat campaign.Carlos Escudé
''Un enigma: la "irracionalidad" Argentina frente a la Segunda Guerra Mundial'', Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe, Vol. 6 Nº 2, jul-dic 1995, Universidad de Tel Aviv
/ref> At the same time, British influence over the Argentine economy was resented by nationalistic groups, while German and Italian influence in Argentina was strong and growing mainly due to increased interwar trade and investment, and the presence of numerous immigrants from both countries, which, together with the refusal to break relations with the Axis as the war progressed, furthered the belief that the Argentine government was sympathetic to the German cause. Because of strong divisions and internal disputes between members of the Argentine military, Argentina remained neutral for most of World War II, despite 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 26 January 1944,Galasso, pp. 194–196 and declared war on 27 March 1945.Galasso, pp. 248–251

Political and economic background leading to World War II

Before the Great Depression

In 1916, following the enactment of universal and secret male suffrage by conservative president Roque Saenz Peña, the voting franchise was expanded, and electoral transparency improved, leading to the first truly free presidential elections in the country. As a result of these electoral changes, Hipólito Yrigoyen, leader of the centrist Radical Civic Union, was elected President of Argentina. Under the successive administrations of presidents Hipólito Yrigoyen (1916–1922) and Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear (1922–1928), Argentina continued the trend of strong economic growth and democratic consolidation that had begun under previous administrations, matching countries such as Canada or Australia in per capita income, while the government enacted social and economic reforms and extended assistance to small farms and businesses. However, beginning in 1928, the second administration of Hipólito Yrigoyen would face a crippling economic crisis, precipitated by the Great Depression. In 1930, Yrigoyen was ousted from power by the military led by José Félix Uriburu, in what became the first military coup in modern Argentine history, marking the beginning of what would be later called the Infamous Decade in Argentina.

1930 military coup

Supported by nationalistic sectors of the military, Uriburu tried to implement major changes to Argentinean politics and government, banning political parties, suspending elections, and suspending the 1853 Constitution, with the aim to reorganizing Argentina along corporatist and fascist lines. However, Uriburu's policies would face widespread opposition from civil society and from conservative factions of the military, and only a year later, in 1931, he was forced to step down. Thus, in November 1931, the military government called for elections, but only after banning UCR candidates and organizing a system that was broadly recognized as fraudulent. It was under these conditions that General Agustín P. Justo was elected president.

Presidency of Agustín P. Justo

Elected on 8 November 1931, Agustín P. Justo was supported by a newly created conservative party known as '' Concordancia'', which was born as an alliance between the National Democratic Party, dissident sectors of the Radical Civic Union that had opposed Hipólito Yrigoyen, and the Independent Socialist Party. Still reeling from the aftermath of the Great Depression, the government of Agustín P. Justo at first undertook fiscally conservative economic policies, reducing public expenditure and restricting the circulation of currency in an attempt to strengthen the public coffers. However, as in other countries during this period, latter economic policy begun adopting some of the new Keynesian ideas, and more emphasis was placed on public works and infraestructure, creating the National Office of Public Highways and expanding the road network, creating the Junta Nacional de Granos ( National Grain Board) and the Junta Nacional de Carnes ( National Meat Board), followed soon after, in 1935, by the creation of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, under the advice of economist Otto Niemeyer.

In foreign policy, the most pressing issue of the Justo administration was the restoration of international trade, which had collapsed following the Great Depression.
As a byproduct of Black Tuesday and the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Great Britain, principal economic partner of Argentina in the 1920s and 1930s, had taken measures to protect the meat supply market in the Commonwealth. At the 1932 Imperial Conference negotiations in Ottawa, bowing to pressure, mainly from Australia and South Africa, Britain had decided to severely curtail imports of Argentine beef. The plan provoked an immediate outcry in Buenos Aires, and the Argentine government dispatched Vice-president Roca and a team of negotiators to London. As a result of these negotiations, on 1 May 1933, the bilateral treaty known as the '' Roca-Runciman Treaty'' was signed between Argentina and the United Kingdom, which guaranteed Argentina a beef export quota that was equivalent to the levels sold in 1932, in exchange for Argentina reducing tariffs on almost 350 British goods to 1930 rates and to refrain from imposing duties on coal, strengthening the commercial ties between Argentina and Britain and ensuring a trade surplus during the turmoil of the Great Depression, but drawing ire from nationalistic sectors and several opposition senators, including the denunciations of liberal Senator Lisandro de la Torre, who claimed that Britain received the most benefits from the treaty. Ratified by the Argentine Senate, the Roca-Runciman Treaty lasted three years and was renewed for another three years as the Eden-Malbrán Treaty of 1936. Argentina under Justo would also rejoin the League of Nations, and hold State Visits to presidents Getúlio Vargas of Brazil and Gabriel Terra of Uruguay, signing commercial treaties with those nations.
Justo's foreign minister, Carlos Saavedra Lamas would also serve an important role as a mediator in the Chaco War