Tons of Diplomacy in a borderless sea: discussions about the naval powers of Argentina, Brazil and Chile in the early twentieth century

Abstract

The evolution of naval powers of Argentina, Brazil and Chile in the early twentieth century was a topic that crossed boundaries not only of countries, but also in sectors from the society of these three nations, involved in discussions about the subject: intellectuals, diplomats, military. Today, this theme crosses boundaries between areas of knowledge such as History of Science, Technique and Technology, Diplomatic History, History of Politics and Social Sciences, as well as studies of Foreign Policy. This article discusses the coincidence concerning the roadmap of the Pan American Conferences of the early twentieth century, which were U.S. initiatives, and the launch and implementation of naval re-equipment plans of these three countries, when much of its intelligentsia discussed these conferences under an anti-american bias.  It also analyzes how this discussion was related more to symbols of naval power than the actual power of these countries.