After World War I, a wave of Germans emigrated to Latin America. Between 1919 and 1933 more than 140,000 people left for that continent.

This number was almost as high as the total of German emigration to Latin America between 1846 and 1918. Most of these migrants left Germany in the six years following the end of the war.

The reasons for this development were manifold. Most important were World War I and the social and economic crisis in Europe after the war. The dissatisfaction with the Peace Treaty of Versailles, the November Revolution, and the new system of republican government in Germany were additional factors. Hyperinflation, unemployment, lack of housing, and fear of the future dominated postwar German society. The importance of this latter factor can easily be measured by looking at the drastic decline in the numbers of emigrants after the situation in Germany stabilized somewhat in 1925.

An important factor in stimulating emigration to Latin America was the migratory policy of the United States. Until 1921, German immigrants were prohibited from com­ing to that country and after that date a quota continued to restrict their number. No such quota existed in Latin America. Nevertheless, immigration to Latin America was not sim­ply a diversion of people who would otherwise have gone to the United States.

Additional pull factors included Latin American and German emigration agencies that advertised the possibilities for the purchase of land and social mobility in that region in an aggressive and often misleading manner. The economic potential of countries such

as Argentina or Brazil was overestimated immediately after the war.

The constitution of the Weimar Republic allowed emigration in principle, yet the German state considered it a loss of potential. Legislative measures tried to regulate emi­gration to prevent the abuse of the migrants abroad that had frequently happened before the war. Hence, starting in 1924 private settlement enterprises and emigration agencies were placed under governmental control. In general, German policy was not to support emigration but to steer those who still wanted to leave into suitable countries where they would remain “useful” for the mother country by buying German products and preserv­ing their German culture and language. Although the state thus remained largely passive, German shipping lines took an active interest in promoting immigration to Latin Amer­ica for the sake of profit. In addition, a mushrooming number of private enterprises openly advertised the advantages of emigration.

Within Germany, emigration experts preferred Latin America to the United States as a destination for German emigrants. As World War I had proven beyond doubt, Ger­mans in the United States assimilated rapidly and—according to the biologistic dis­course of the time—became “cultural fertilizer” (Kulturdunger) contributing to the pos­itive development of that country. On the contrary, in Latin America German migrants usually settled in tight communities and remained loyal to their cultural heritage for many generations. In addition, contemporary German experts emphasized the fact that in the weak countries of Latin America, the German government had more freedom to support and to guide its emigrants than in the United States. Some even claimed that the German emigrants could become compensation for the German colonies lost as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. Thoughts like these inspired the foundation of the Gesellschaft fur wirtschaftliche Studien in Ubersee (Society for Economic Studies Over­seas) in 1927, a central institution for the coordination of emigration to Latin America.

The main destination of German emigrants to Latin America in this period remained Brazil, despite the fact that the country had joined the Allies in 1917. According to the Brazilian statistics, the German share of immigrants was above average, reaching a climax of 22.6 percent in 1924 (Statistik 1930, 266—267). According to an estimation of 1932, about 685,000 Germans and people of German descent lived in Brazil, which accounted for 1.9 percent of the Brazilian population (Grothe 1932, 45). The main reason for Brazil’s attractiveness was its land policy that offered convenient credit for the purchase of government land. In addition, immigrants received a number of benefits upon their ar­rival, such as free transportation to their destination and free meals and medical care for an initial period. From 1919 on, Brazilian agencies started an advertising campaign that achieved good results. Most Germans who came to Brazil settled in the southernmost fed­eral states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Parana, where they mingled with a relatively large population of German settlers from the prewar period. A new destination for Germans who came to Brazil after 1919 was the federal state of Sao Paulo with its booming capital. The state government subsidized trips from Germany to Brazil, and its fledgling industry offered jobs to numerous Germans. Yet there were many complaints by Germans who reported maltreatment, especially on the coffee plantations. These reports seemed to suggest that the German immigrants experienced a modern form of indentured servitude. In addition, the numerous revolutionary upheavals and economic crises af­fected the German immigrants in this period negatively. The number of people who wanted to return to Germany increased steadily in the later 1920s, but only a small per­centage could afford the passage or benefited from the offers of the various German aux­iliary associations in the big cities.

Argentina was almost as important as Brazil for German emigration after 1918. More than 48,000 people migrated to the Rio de la Plata in this period (Statistik 1930, 229; Bickelmann 1980, 143, 149). After 1926, Argentina was the preferred destination within Latin America. The decline of German emigration to Argentina in the late 1920s was below the Latin American average. Argentina had remained neutral during the war and positive economic development had a strong attractive effect. In addition, exaggerated news about the Argentinean Homestead Act of 1917 opening up government lands in the northern territories of Entre Rios and Santa Fe heightened expectations. Argentinean im­migration policy, though explicitly excluding anarchists and sick people from entering the country, granted benefits to immigrants, including temporary lodging and free trans­portation to the projected settlement. The capital city of Buenos Aires remained the most important destination for German migrants to Argentina. Yet it was in this metropolis that social problems among Germans reached new proportions, especially when the Ar­gentinean boom drew to a close by the end of the 1920s. In addition, there were several settlement projects in the subtropical northern territories of Chaco and Misiones. Al­though some of these colonies worked in close cooperation with agencies in Germany, such as the Gesellschaft ftir wirtschaftliche Studien in Ubersee, not all were successful. Problems increased in the wake of the Great Depression. The Argentinean government re­acted by restricting immigration, and thus in 1933 fewer than 1,000 Germans entered the country (Bickelmann 1980, 42—43).

The third traditional country of destination for German emigrants to Latin America was Chile. In comparison to Argentina and Brazil, however, it did not reach the same pro­portions as in the prewar period. For lack of statistical material, we do not know the exact number of Germans who emigrated to Chile during the whole period.

To a certain degree, Paraguay took the place of Chile in becoming the thirdmost im­portant destination for German emigration to the region. Although neither German nor Paraguayan statistics list exact numbers, an estimate for 1927 gives a number of 7,000

German Immigration to Brazil and Argentina (1919-1932)

Germans in the country as compared to some 4,500 in 1918 (Grothe 1932, 81).

In the rest of Latin America, only Mexico and Uruguay received some German set­tlers. In addition, given the low number of Germans in the prewar period, the number of Germans increased considerably in countries such as Guatemala and Nicaragua after the war. In Germany, some agencies even investigated the opportunities for major settlement projects in Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Yet, these projects were never realized. Apart from the countries discussed, there was no German mass emigration to Latin Amer­ica in this period. Yet capitals and major cities such as Mexico City, Lima, Caracas, and Bogota continued to attract German professionals, such as businessmen and teachers. Al­though quantitatively negligible, these German immigrants often made important con­tributions to the economy and culture of their host countries.

See also Argentina; Brazil; Chile; Mexico; World War I

References and Further Reading

Bernecker, Walther L., and Thomas Fischer. “Deutsche in Lateinamerika.” Deutsche im Ausland— Fremde in Deutschland: Migration in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Ed. Klaus J. Bade. Munchen: Beck, 1992, 197-214.

Bickelmann, Hartmut. Deutsche Uberseeauswanderung in der Weimarer Zeit. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1980. Blancpain, Jean Pierre. Ies Allemands au Chili, 1816—1945. Koln-Wien: Bohlau, 1974.

Grothe, Hugo. Die Deutschen in Ubersee: Eine Skizze ihres Werdens, ihrer Verbreitung und kulturellen Arbeit. Berlin: Zentralverlag, 1932.

Illi, Manfred. Die deutsche Auswanderung nach lateinamerika: Eine Iiteraturubersicht. Munchen: Fink, 1977.

Kellenbenz, Hermann, and Jurgen Schneider. “La emigracion alemana a America Latina desde 1821 hasta 1930.” Jahrbuch fur Geschichte von Staat, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft Iateinamerikas 13 (1976): 386-403.

Newton, Ronald C. German Buenos Aires, 1900—1933: Social Change and Cultural Crisis. Austin: University of Texas, 1977.

Rinke, Stefan. “Der letzte freie Kontinent”: Deutsche Lateinamerikapolitik im Zeichen transnationaler Beziehungen, 1918-1933. Stuttgart: Heinz, 1996.

Statistik des Deutschen Reiches, vol. 360, Die Bewegung der Bevolkerung in den Jahren 1925 bis 1927. Berlin. 1930.