The Argentine Navy and the First World War, 1914-1928: Defence and Maritime Interests

By: Agustín Daniel Desiderato

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Synopsis: Combining the social and cultural history of war, global and maritime history, this book examines the Argentine Navy during the First World War and in its immediate aftermath. Drawing from a wide range of primary sources, including naval publications, correspondence, memoirs and official documents, the book contributes to the institutional history of the Argentine Navy by outlining the contours of the Force at the beginning of the twentieth century - detailing its organisation, resources and training - and its evolution over the decades. The author also explores the repercussions of the Great War on the Argentine Navy, focusing on the circulation of ideas, knowledge and debates, and their appropriation and re-signification by this armed institution. It reconstructs the scenario of the Allied naval blockade and German submarine warfare - the main pillars of the economic war waged by the belligerents - and emphasises the difficulties and challenges they posed for Argentine trade, navigation and neutrality, as well as for the naval modernisation projects that the country undertook. Reflecting on the impact of the First World War on the Navy of the Argentine Republic between 1914 and 1928, this book will be valuable reading for those researching maritime history, Argentine history and the socio-cultural history of warfare.