World War I (1914-1918)

While Argentina was not a WWI belligerent, it did play a significant role as an exporter of beef, grains, and wool to the warring European states. Even before the war, Argentina’s economic successes created a strong middle and urban working class. Many joined the militant leftist Union Civica Radical (UCR). During the war the UCR successfully unseated the conservative forces that dominated the Argentinean government, ushering in more than a decade of increased democratization.  The state was protected by a military under civilian control and funded by the economic benefits afforded to non-belligerents who did not participate in the destruction of WWI.  This prosperous era ended with the Great Depression in 1929.¹

Daniel Roberts