Latin America as a region of the contradiction of the USA and Germany interests during the First World War

Abstract

In the article, the author considers the issues of the collision of interests of the United States of America and Germany in the Latin American region during the First World War. The confrontation had a diplomatic character and consisted in refusing to “penetrate” German capital and the physical presence of German troops in the countries of the Latin American region. According to the official American political ideology of pan-Americanism, there was a tacit agreement that the United States did not interfere in the affairs of Europe, and Europe, in turn, did not try to penetrate the American continent, leaving it in the sphere of the USA influence. With the beginning of the First World War, the German presence in the region increased. Moreover, the American government, on the contrary, proposed to close the American continent for citizens of European states. The main issue caused to controversy between the USA and Germany was the use of Latin American ports as temporary parking, as well as the strengthening of trade relations between the countries of South America and Germany. In the course of such actions by the American administration, Germany lost the Latin American market. The above events led to tweaking German agents, government of countries from this region against the United States. This was particularly evident in the Mexican issue, where the German government supported the opposition bloc, and then tried to persuade Mexico to declare war on the United States. The conduct of the Pan-American Conference strengthened the role of the United States in the countries of the region and led to the displacement of Germany from the region. While writing the article we come to the conclusion that the contradictions arose in the region became one of the most important reasons for the declaration of war against Germany by the USA government.