Carolina García Sanz

Neutralist crossroads: Spain and Argentina facing the Great War

Abstract In this article, we propose an initial comparative approach to the cultural and political impact of the First World War on Spain and Argentina, considering the common denominators and the singularities of both social experiences of the conflict. The relevance of the proposed comparison lies in several factors. In the first place, deep historical, cultural and demographic ties bound both nations. In second place, during the First World War, Spain and Argentina adopted a neutralist foreign policy, unaltered despite several diplomatic incidents with the warring nations, and of internal and external pressures. In both cases, civil society displayed a high level of political and cultural polarisation, and undertook an active mobilisation. Finally, there was a remarkable circulation of ideas and intellectuals through both margins of the Atlantic Ocean, which nourished the public controversies on the Great War. Nevertheless, beyond these similarities and confluences, there were also significant differences between Argentina and Spain, which exerted an influence on the countries position towards the conflict. The national cases analysed in this article demonstrate that diplomatic neutrality did not imply necessarily the indifference or passivity of civil society. Rediscovering neutrality within the war dynamics is one of the most stimulating paths for research.

British Blacklists in Spain during the First World War: The Spanish Case Study as a Belligerent Battlefield

This article deals with the implementation of British blacklists in Spain, leading to a case study not widely seen before in the international historiography of the First World War. It shows how British intervention in the southern and eastern Spanish markets set a de facto model for the operation of the embargo system. Under the strong stimulus of economic nationalism, the British actions regarding the commercial vetoes were tested against Spanish local interests during the short war (1914–15). The initiative was supposedly fuelled by a sense of revenge against pre-war Germany’s commercial progress as well as the desire to control a very appetizing market share, for the British and French alike. In a climate of inter-Allied commercial rivalry, this study focuses on the key role played by members of the consular service. It explains the spurious motivations that in many cases underlay the practical implementation of the blockade from below, and analyses how partisan procedures which lacked homogenized and...This article deals with the implementation of British blacklists in Spain, leading to a case study not widely seen before in the international historiography of the First World War. It shows how British intervention in the southern and eastern Spanish markets set a de facto model for the operation of the embargo system. Under the strong stimulus of economic nationalism, the British actions regarding the commercial vetoes were tested against Spanish local interests during the short war (1914–15). The initiative was supposedly fuelled by a sense of revenge against pre-war Germany’s commercial progress as well as the desire to control a very appetizing market share, for the British and French alike. In a climate of inter-Allied commercial rivalry, this study focuses on the key role played by members of the consular service. It explains the spurious motivations that in many cases underlay the practical implementation of the blockade from below, and analyses how partisan procedures which lacked homogenized and clarified criteria for collecting and applying commercial intelligence challenged British strategies and the inter-Allied united front in Spain until well into 1917.