ABSTRACT
In Mexico the entrenched Diaz regime would last a decade into the twentieth century before a middle-class-led revolution would be required to try to achieve what would soon be peacefully accomplished in Argentina, or at least to catch up with Brazil in terms of extent of political competitiveness. In Argentina Roca returned to the presidency in 1898 and provided a significant degree of stability that lasted through his death at the beginning of World War I. World War I clearly focused the attention of both elites and government on the need to diversify industrial production so as not to be caught short in any future international crisis. Returning to the presidency of Argentina in 1898 from his position as highly respected ex-president, Julio Roca governed with the provincial elites that had banded together in the 1870s in the National Autonomist Party (PAN).
