The Patriotic Mobilisation of the British Community in Chile during the World Wars: A Transnational Collaboration Network from South America

The First and Second World War nationalism hit British expatriate communities and their descendants in neutral corners of the world. Although they were assimilating into their local culture, they continued to cultivate their traditions in various Anglophile organisations, schools, and media. There is still an impression that the war effort directed from South America was the work of soldiers of fortune who ventured in isolation to a foreign war. Civil society organisations such as the Anglo-Chilean communities, spread out over 3,000 miles from northern to Southern Chile, mobilised an influential network of collaborative organisations to send their volunteers to the British Armed Forces and civil service. Networks between Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and agents in Britain provided support with humanitarian aid, the dissemination of political propaganda, and cultural diplomacy. This paper explores how the Anglo-South American community created and catalysed a transnational network of collaboration with Great Britain. This work explores how this effort was articulated, as well as distinguishing the differences and similarities between both World Wars.


Roberto Pérez-Castro is a PhD candidate at the Universidad San Sebastian, Santiago de Chile. He is currently a visiting researcher at the Centre for the History of War, Media and Society at the University of Kent.

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