LA CATÁSTROFE Y LA NEUTRALIDAD: AMÉRICA LATINA, ECUADOR Y LA PRIMERA GUERRA MUNDIAL, 1914–1917

Abstract

This article analyses the First World War from the perspective of a global event in order to show how Latin American historiography can offer many resources to this line of research. The global reach of the war is showed by the fact that the countries of the periphery, unlike other European wars in the past, could not escape completely from the economic, political, social, legal and cultural effects of the Great War. This article uses the specific case of Latin America, and Ecuador in particular, to demonstrate that the war presented a great challenge to the countries of the region, in spite of their efforts to not participate directly in the confrontation. In this line, I analyze the specific case regarding the neutrality to which the countries appeal to, since this did not allow them to stay out of the reach of the economic war, and the war propaganda.