Phillip Dehne’s work examines the impact of World War I in South America through British efforts both to destroy German economic interests in the region and to seize them for their own war effort. The author contends rightly that a history of World War I in South America is long overdue in the context of the economic war waged by Britain against Germany through its blockade since it is a theater of the Great War that receives scant treatment. This blockade relied on both naval power and diplomacy with neutral powers to compel them to halt trade with Germany. In this context, Dehne focuses on British machinations in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay as these held many of the most important German companies. Dehne asserts that coverage of South America in the Great War showcases war in an age of globalization through examination of Britons in South America and the role the region played in British ideas of nationalism. As a result, Dehne believes that his work integrates the many histories of the war that approach it through one particular means, such as economic, with studies on imperialism, dependency of people on one another, and national identity.

This work comprises eight chapters beginning with rising competition between British and German economic interests in South America before the war and ending with British attempts to secure their trade in the region in the postwar world. Several of these chapters illustrate problems in Britain’s conduct of the economic war against Germany that are held in common with its efforts in Europe. The administration of the effort represented one such challenge, as Britain’s initial efforts in South America, as in Europe, suffered from poor leadership of the economic war in London. A more specific example involves the travails of the British in their efforts to compel neutral nations to cease trade with Germany. The Argentinean case was much like that of Sweden, in that British need for Argentinean food, like Swedish iron ore, crippled the effort to attain its war goals with the Argentines. In the case of Brazil, even when that country formally allied itself with Britain there was still intransigence among Brazilians reluctant to interfere with the operations of companies that were vital to the country’s economy. Dehne highlights a general failure of the British in attaining the goals for economic warfare in South America. Indeed, the British enjoyed haltingly more success with European neutrals until the 1917 entry of the United States into the conflict as an associated power. Interspersed with the coverage of the war is Dehne’s approach emphasizing globalization of the conflict, such as his examination of redefining what it means to be German through enemy trade laws in the hope that South Americans would gravitate toward the allied cause.

Dehne’s work is particularly strong as a means to showcase Britain’s economic war against Germany outside of European waters. He acknowledges both that the South American campaign probably meant little in terms of helping the Allies win the Great War and that the war was won in Europe. He does not attempt to attach more importance to South America than is its due since that was not the purpose of the work. Rather this book accomplishes its goal of showing the global nature of the war in a theater that historians too often discount.

Perhaps one weakness of this work is the general treatment of the United States in South America during World War I. While the focus of this work is on Great Britain, Dehne’s book highlights that one reason for the inability of the British to employ effective sanctions against German trade in South America was competition between the United States and Britain over who should lead allied efforts in the area. Greater coverage of machinations within the American government along with coverage of American corporate interests would complement that of British actions in South America. A greater examination of the United States also seems necessary, given that Dehne’s book concludes with the inability of the British to reverse the commercial decline in the region in the postwar world. A chief reason for this was the growing influence of the United States during World War I.

Regardless, this weakness is a relatively small one in light of Phillip Dehne’s contribution to World War I studies. The Great War and the economic effort against Germany that was a part of it were global in nature with worldwide ramifications. This work adds an emphasis to this through its coverage of a neglected theater of the conflict.