AP World History POD #25 – American Supremacy Brazil & Argentina

Class Discussion Notes Bulliet – “Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, ”, pp

Pampas “Most of Argentina consists of pampas, flat, fertile land that is easy to till, much like the prairies of the midwestern United States and Canada. At the end of the nineteenth century railroads and refrigerator ships, which allowed the safe transportation of meat, changed not only the composition of Argentina’s exports, but even the land itself. European consumers preferred the soft flesh of Lincoln sheep and Hereford cattle, but these valuable animals were carefully bred and fed alfalfa and oats. To safeguard them, the pampas had to be divided, plowed, cultivated, and fenced with barbed wire. Once fenced, the land could be used to produce wheat as well as beef and mutton. Within a few years grasslands that had stretched to the horizon were transformed into farmland. Like the North American Midwest, the pampas became one of the world’s great producers of wheat and meat.” (Bulliet, p. 836)

Oligarquia  A small group of wealthy landowners  Raised cattle & sheep and produced wheat for export  Owned extravagant homes in Buenos Aires (a city built in the model of Paris), traveled to Europe with regularity, and enjoyed the luxuries of life  Were only interested in farming and therefore allowed British and American companies to build the infrastructure and commercial interests of the nation in exchange for agricultural exports

Brazil “Before the First World War, Brazil produced most of the world’s coffee and cacao, grown on vast estates, and natural rubber, gathered by Indians from rubber trees growing wild in the Amazon rain forest. Thus Brazil’s elite was made up of coffee and cacao planters and rubber exporters. Like their Argentinean counterparts, they spent lavishly, building palaces in Rio de Janeiro and an opera house deep in the Amazon. Also as in Argentina, they let British companies build railroads, harbors, and other infrastructure and imported most manufactured goods. At the same time this seemed to allow each country to do what it did best. If Britain did not grow coffee, why should Brazil build locomotives.” (Bulliet, p. 836)

Brazil & Argentina: Social Structure  A small but outspoken middle class  The majority of the people were very poor  Argentina had a large influx of Spanish and Italian immigrants who were living as landless farm laborers or workers in urban slaughterhouses  Brazil had a large group of sharecroppers and plantation workers, many of which were descendents of former slaves

Brazil & Argentina: Economic Crisis  Rubber exports collapsed starting in 1912, replaced by cheaper Southeast Asian rubber  World War I caused the steep decline of European imports as their factories turned to war production  The disruption of trade weakened the historical oligarquia  American companies began to replace British firms in the region

Argentina: Hipolito Irigoyen  Elected as president of Argentina by the urban middle class who had gained political rights with the secret ballot and universal male suffrage in 1916  Irogoyen brought a liberal reform program to Argentina  The middle class did not seize power in either country, but began to share it with the wealthy landowners as the expense of the landless peasants and urban workers

Great Depression: A Historical Analysis “The Depression hit Latin America as hard as it hit Europe and the United States; in many ways, it marks a more important turning point for the region than either of the world wars. As long- term customers cut back their orders, the value of agricultural and mineral exports fell by two-thirds between 1929 and Argentina and Brazil could no longer afford to import manufactured goods. An imploding economy also undermined their shaky political systems. Like European countries, Argentina and Brazil veered toward authoritarian regimes that promised to solve their economic problems.” (Bulliet, p. 837)

Brazil: Getulio Vargas  1930 – a state governor who staged a coup d’etat and proclaimed himself president of Brazil  Wrote a new constitution in which he expanded the franchise (right to vote) and limited the presidency to 1 term  1938 – prevented from re-election by his own constitution, he staged another coup  Raised import tariffs  Promoted national firms and state-owned enterprises

Estado Novo  “New State”  Named himself as supreme leader  Abolished political parties  Jailed opposition leaders  Turned Brazil into a fascist state  World War Two – contributed troops and ships to the Allied War effort

Legacy of Vargas  Established a successful model for other Latin American nations to follow as they broke from neocolonial dependency  During his rule, industrial production doubled and Brazil was on the path to modern industrialization  His reforms helped the urban working class, but failed to address the needs of the millions of landless peasants  Despite his economic achievements, Vargas harmed Brazil – his ignoring of the laws, rights and constitution infected Brazil and South America with the temptations of political violence

Argentina: General Jose Uriburu  Overthrew the popularly elected President Irigoyen  For 13 years the military generals and oligarchy ruled the nation  Failed to address the poverty of the workers or the frustration of the middle class  Kept Argentina officially neutral during World War II

Argentina: Juan Peron  1943 – led a military revolt of junior officers with the stated goal of: “Civilians will never understand the greatness of our ideal; we shall therefore have to eliminate them from the government and give them the only mission which corresponds to them: work and obedience.”  The military leaders of the revolt spent lavishly on themselves and the military once in power  Inspired by the Nazis, they established the goal of conquest of South America  With the war turning against the Nazis in Europe the popularity of Peron and the military began to fade

Argentina: Eva Duarte Peron  Wife of Juan Peron  Champion of the descamisados (“shirtless ones”)  Campaigned for social benefits and the cause of women and children  Helped her husband get elected president in 1946, he created a populist dictatorship in imitation of the Vargas regime of Brazil

Legacy of the Perons “Like Brazil, Argentina industrialized rapidly under state sponsorship. Peron spent lavishly on social welfare projects as well as on the military, depleting the capital that Argentina had earned during the ear. Though a skillful demagogue who played off the army against the navy and both against labor unions, Peron could not create a stable government. When Eva died in 1952, he lost his political skills (or perhaps they were hers), and soon thereafter was overthrown in yet another military coup.” (Bulliet, p. 839)