Batllismo and the Yankees: The United States and Uruguay, 1903--1929

This dissertation surveys diplomatic relations between the United States and Uruguay between 1903 and 1929, when enigmatic reformer Jose Batlle y Ordonez dominated Uruguayan politics and, according to most historians, implemented the first welfare state in the Western Hemisphere. I argue that ideological affinity between Batllistas and Progressive reformers in the United States allowed for significant political, economic, and social interchange between the two states in the period under review. Indeed, Batlle incoprated many US experts and North American ideas in building his model country. This borrowing led to diplomatic amity between the two states, especially in light of the fact that Batlle sought to separate Uruguay from its neo-colonial relationship with Brazil and, much more importantly, Argentina and Britain. This amity resulted in Uruguayan support for the US cause in World War I and, even after Progressives and Batllistas lost power in the 1920s, some semblance of international friendship remained during that decade. I end the dissertation in October 1929, when Batlle died and the New York Stock Exchange crashed. These two events caused a conservative turn in Uruguay and ushered in a new phase in US-Uruguayan relations.