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Germans in Argentina
Topics: German-Argentines Immigration to Argentina
Though far less numerous than Italians and Spaniards, Germans in Argentina represent one of the larger ethnic groups that immigrated to the country during the years of economic boom and population growth, beginning in the 1870s. Additionally, this group merits extra attention because of its exceptionalism in immigration patterns, often being either merchants in Buenos Aires or farmers in isolated colonies in the Argentine interior. Germanys role in World War I and II raised a unique set of identity questions for Germans in Argentina and altered German immigration patterns in the 1920s and 30s. Moreover, the pre-World War II flows of exiled Jews and opponents to Nazism as well as the post-war German arrivals to Argentina, are an important addition to Argentine immigration history.
During the third period, after a pause during World War I, immigration to Argentina again resumed and German speakers came in their largest numbers. This can be attributed to increased immigration restrictions in the United States and Brazil as well as the deteriorating conditions in post-World War I Europe. The two largest years of German immigration to Argentina were 1923 and 1924, approximately 10,000 in each year. This period is of particular interest because while the older groups of German speakers began to feel a sense of cultural crisis due to the assimilation policies of the Argentine state, the new arrivals gave new life to German cultural institutions, such as the aforementioned newspaper, and created new ones. Between 1905 and 1933, the number of German schools rose from 59 to 176. Though found throughout Argentina, over 80% were located in Buenos Aires, Misiones, or Entre Rios in 1933. Further, attendance at German schools rose from 3,300 in 1905 to 12,900 in 1933. The studies inherently favour Buenos Aires, where half of all Germans lived, over the colonias because less institutions, particularly newspapers, developed.
Understanding the general framework of immigration to Argentina is important in understanding the relevance of a small group. The receiver states backlash against all immigrants beginning in the 1910s is equally relevant to the study of any single immigrant community. Further, a negative interpretation of Germany by Argentine society during World War I, by this time composed of Italian, Spanish, and French immigrants as well as an influential British mercantile elite, had a significant impact on ethnic Germans trying to maintain their ethnic identity.
Related websites
Asociacion Argentina de Descendientes de Alemanes del Volga
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Germans in Argentina
