It took several years and many events to push the colonists to a point where they wanted to fight for their independence. “The road leading up to the American Revolution didn’t happen overnight. 164 (Argentine) squadron, whose shield bore the sun from the Flag of Argentina and the motto, “Determined We Fly (Firmes Volamos)”.” #4 Over 600 Argentine volunteers served with both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force, mostly in No. Perón, the strong man of the Argentine government, foresaw that the Allies would dominate international politics for decades and concluded that although Argentina had successfully resisted the pressure to force it to join the war, remaining neutral until the end of the war would force the country into isolationism at best or bring about a military attack from the soon to be victorious powers.Īrgentina eventually gave in to the Allies’ pressure, broke relations with the Axis powers on January 26, 1944, and declared war on March 27, 1945.ĭuring World War II, 4,000 Argentines served with all three British armed services, even though Argentina was officially a neutral country during the war. The Red Army had captured Warsaw and was closing in on East Prussia, and Berlin itself was under attack. The demonstrations in support of Paris soon turned into protests against the government, leading to incidents with the police.īy early 1945, World War II was nearing its end. The Liberation of Paris in August 1944 gave new hopes to the pro-Allied factions in Argentina, who saw it as an omen of the possible fall of the Argentine government and called for new elections. German and Italian influence in Argentina was strong mainly due to the presence of numerous immigrants from both countries, and Argentina’s traditional rivalry with Great Britain furthered the belief that the Argentine government was sympathetic to the German cause.īecause of the close ties between Germany and Argentina, the latter stayed neutral for most of World War II, despite internal disputes and pressure from the United States to join the Allies. “The history of Argentina during World War II is a complex period of time beginning in 1939, following the outbreak of war in Europe, and ending in 1945 with the surrender of Japan. The British East India Company circumvented a Chinese ban on opium by sub-contracting opium transportation to ‘country traders’- a delightful euphemism for smugglers.” #3 Within 10 years, demand for the highly addictive drug had begun to spread and multiply. The idea of using a narcotic to redress the imbalance in trade was conceived by the first Governor General of British India, Warren Hastings, in 1780. The Chinese demanded payment in silver which began to put pressure on the British coffers. However, the Chinese were relatively self-sufficient and demand for European goods was almost non-existent. The operation was managed by the British East India Company, a trading company owned by English merchants and aristocrats, which operated under Royal charter.Įuropean demand for Chinese tea, silk and porcelain was soaring. They then smuggled hundreds of thousands of tonnes of the highly addictive drug into China during much of the 19th century. The British controlled massive fields of poppy farmed by forced Indian labour and built industrial scale opium factories. “During the 1800s the British Empire managed a massive drug cartel based in British India that was both state-sponsored and under Royal patronage. Switzerland served as a repository for Jewish capital smuggled out of Nazi Germany and the states threatened by it, and also for vast quantities of gold and other valuables plundered from Jews and others all over Europe.” #2 In recent months a vast amount of incriminating documentation has been unearthed that reveals the sinister side of Swiss “neutrality”. What began as an examination of the dormant bank accounts of Holocaust victims has gained momentum to include the whole gamut of Swiss financial dealings with the Nazis. “Switzerland’s reputation as a neutral safe-haven during World War 11 has been badly tarnished by recent revelations about its wartime transactions with Germany.
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