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Example research essay topic: Second World War World War Ii - 1,497 words

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The German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 was not an isolated event. Instead, it unleashed the biggest conflict in human history whose effects were felt all over the globe (Paz 50). To the European nations directly involved in the conflict the Second World War brought pain, misery, and death. However, as one moves further away from Europe the effects of the Second World War begin to change.

Almost 10, 000 miles away, in the southern cone of South America, the impact of World War II upon Argentina is not nearly as clear-cut or as grave. Argentina held on tightly to its statements of neutrality for as long as possible and, even after declaring war on the remaining Axis powers, Germany and Japan, on March 17, 1945, she did not take an active part in the war. Therefore, since Argentine troops never took part in the conflict, the effects of the Second World War upon Argentina were purely economic in nature (Paz 130). Yet, this fact in and of itself in no way diminishes the amount of historical inquiry or intrigue; a great debate rages over the question of whether the Second World War improved or worsened Argentina's economy. While it is true that World War II generated a significant amount of currency for Argentina, a careful analysis of the available sources shows that the Second World War worsened Argentina's economy. In fact, World War II slowed down Argentina's economy and created a false sense of security that, in the long run, wrecked the country's economy.

While there is ample evidence suggesting that World War II increased the opportunities for Argentine industrialization and economic expansion, the overall economy of Argentina suffered a setback during the Second World War. In his collection of Essays on the Economic History of Argentina, Alejandro Diaz argues that the Second World War slowed down Argentine economy. A member of the Yale Department of Economics, professor Diaz took part in a study concerning the problem of economic growth in certain Latin American countries. Encompassing field observations, quantitative analysis of a national economy, and comparative cross-sectional studies using data from numerous countries, professor Diaz' work is often cited and used as a starting point by other historians.

Professor Diaz acknowledges the fact that the war opened up new markets for Argentine manufactured goods and expanded the output of the meat producers due to increased demand for Argentine foodstuffs. However, he considers the whole picture by pointing out that the imports of capital goods became hard to obtain, forcing Argentina to manufacture its own capital goods at a very high cost. Furthermore, any increases in agricultural production, such as wheat and corn, were offset by a shortage of ships to transport these goods. Yet, the definitive proof of Argentine stagnation during the war years is found in the following numbers. During the 1933 - 39 period manufacturing output rose by 43 %; during the 1939 - 45 period it rose by only 23 %. Also, real GDP rose by 27 % from 1933 - 39, but it only rose by 13 % from 1939 - 45 (Diaz 103).

Furthermore, the percentage change in capital stock from 1939 to 1945 was only 2 %, a sharp contrast with the 1933 - 39 growth of 11 % (Diaz 116, Randall 3). In other words, Argentina barely experienced any economic growth at all during the Second World War. Professor Diaz' argument is further supported by University of London's R. A.

Humphreys. A former Director of the Latin American Studies, R. A. Humphreys has consulted over two dozen newspapers, among them Argentine La Prensa and La Nation, and numerous other documents in the Public Records Office while writing his book Latin America and the Second World War. On the subject of Argentine economic development during the war, this expert has the following to say: ... Argentina had lost almost the whole of her markets in continental Europe and was confronted with huge surpluses of wheat, maize, and linseed.

She suffered also from a scarcity of tonnage, rising freight rates, the soaring prices of British manufactures, uncertainty of deliveries and shortages of coal and other essential imports (Humphreys 151). With such problems facing the nation's economy it is surprising that Argentina experienced any growth during the war. Yet, the Argentine government succeeded in completing several commercial treaties which increased its trade with other Latin American nations, allowed for increased purchases by the British and an export surplus with the United States (Humphreys 152). The basic outcome of the war then came out to this: faced with severe surpluses in the beginning of the war the Argentine government did all it could to sell off its wheat, maize and other overstocked products. Once the Argentines succeeded in doing so, they ended up with a large amount of currency they could not re-invest into industrialization because of the extremely high price of machinery. It was this surplus of monetary funds that, when coupled with mismanagement and a lack of political stability, wrecked the Argentine economy.

When Peron's Group of United Officers took power in 1943 Peron had the advantage of the large profits brought on by the war. Instead of investing this money into a long term industrialization program, Peron used it to assure his political support. At no time did this become more obvious then in 1944 when Peron decided to institute the aguinaldo. This event is carefully described by H. S. Ferns, who utilized official publications, newspapers, and personal interviews to write his book Argentina.

Ferns relates that in Argentina many businesses are family owned which, in turn, introduces a certain amount of care and kindness. A shoe and textile factory in Alpargatas was a family owned business where the owner of the factory gave his employees a bonus of one week's pay every Christmas, which he called the aguinaldo. When Colonel Peron visited the Alpargatas factory and heard of this act of kindness, he declared a national aguinaldo - that everyone in Argentina would receive an extra month's pay before Christmas (Ferns 175). The source of this money was, of course, the funds obtained during the war. It is not difficult to imagine the effect such mismanagement's had on the economy. In 1955, after Peron's fall, noted economist Raul Prebisch surveyed the nation's economy.

His report began by stating that Argentina was undergoing "a crisis of unparalleled gravity" and went further to cite the government's failure of invest in heavy industry and infrastructure as primary reasons for this occurrence (Lewis, 272). Furthermore, in his analysis of the impact of European recovery on Inter-American trade, Amos E. Taylor, Chief of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Pan American Union, states that increased trade with the United States "resulted in a substantial accumulation of dollar balances by the countries to the south of us" (Taylor 12). Moreover, Taylor discloses that "due to the speeding up of production and transport in the Latin-American economy, there resulted various degrees of deterioration of plant and equipment as well of transportation facilities" (Taylor 12). In light of these facts, it becomes obvious that the Second World War only worsened Argentine economy by allowing its earnings to be locked into a currency that could later on be mismanaged in the volatile and unstable Argentine political arena. Peron's regime came to depend on the opportunistic earnings during the war and failed to plan ahead for the upcoming peace.

This argument is further supported by Amos E. Taylor who pointed out, in 1949, that "the Latin-American countries are already facing the consequences of a serious contraction in the overseas demand for products urgently needed during the war years in the largest quantity possible... " (Taylor 13). In this manner, World War II gave Argentine leaders a false sense of security that the temporary demand created by the war would last and that the accumulated dollars would assure an expanding, prosperous economy. Both of these premises proved to be false and the Argentine economy, instead of "taking off" into sustained growth and mass consumption, plummeted into recession and foreign debts (Wanna 135).

However, there are those who disagree with this analysis of the effects of the Second World War on the Argentine economy. Historians Marie-Ange Veganzones and Carlos Winograd concluded a study of Argentina in the 20 th century, based upon "extensive data and profound historical analysis. " Veganzones and Winograd cite the second period of the war, 1941 - 5, as reflecting the positive effects of the war upon Argentine economy. According to these historians, "terms of trade greatly improved [and] there was a large surplus in the balance of trade... " (Veganzones 12, 212). Professor of History at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Joseph S. Tulchin, whose hobby for the last twenty years has included gathering bits and pieces of historical data on Argentina, agrees with this viewpoint when he states that: British dependence on Argentine beef during the war reached 40 pe...


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Research essay sample on Second World War World War Ii

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