Colombia's Neutrality during 1914-1918: An Overlooked Dimension of World War I

Authors

  • Jane M. Rausch

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18441/ibam.14.2014.53.103-115

Keywords:

Primera Guerra Mundial, Revisionismo Histórica, Colombia, Siglo xx, World War I, Historical Revisionism, 20th Century

Abstract

Las naciones latinoamericanas fueron actores secundarios en el horrible conflicto de 1914-1918, conocido primero como "la Gran Guerra" y luego, como la Primera Guerra Mundial. Tal vez esa escasa participación explique por qué los historiadores han prestado poca atención a los acontecimientos relacionados con la guerra en América Latina, pero, sin embargo, es notable que el libro de Percy Alvin Martin, Latin America and the War, publicado por primera vez en 1915, siga siendo el texto estándar sobre el tema. Este ensayo busca remediar esta omisión examinando el papel de Colombia en la guerra y su impacto en el desarrollo del país. Los resultados apoyan la tesis de Martin, según la cual incluso los países neutrales en la Gan Guerra no fueron inmunes a sus consecuencias.

 

Abstract

 

 In the horrific conflict of 1914-1918 known first as "The Great War" and later as World War I, Latin American nations were peripheral players. Perhaps this lack of involvement explains why historians have paid scant attention to events in Latin America related to the war, but nevertheless, it is remarkable that Percy Alvin Martin’s account, Latin America and the War first published in 1915, remains the standard text on the topic. This essay partially redresses this omission by examining Colombia’s role in the war and its impact on the country’s development. These findings support Martin’s assertion that even those countries that were neutral in the Great War were not immune to its effects.

Author Biography

Jane M. Rausch

Jane Rausch specializes in Colombian history and the study of comparative frontier regins.  She earned a B.A. at DePauw University (1962) and an M.A. (1964) and Ph.D. (1969) at the University of Winsconsin-Madison.She taught Latin American history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1969 until her retirement in May 2010. She is the author or editor of nine books: four of them published both in English and Spanish deal with the history of the Llanos or eastern plains of Colombia as a tropical frontier spanning the years from 1530 to the present.  She has been a Fulbright scholar and since 1985 she has been a contributing editor for the HANDBOOK OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES.

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Published

2014-04-22

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