ABSTRACT
Situated at the two extremes of Latin America and complete contrasts ethnically, Mexico and Argentina were from colonial days different in almost all respects. Mexico's proximity to the United States and Argentina's freedom from contact with, much less intervention from, the hemisphere's rising power guaranteed that their developmental trajectories would continue to diverge. Mexico developed economically under the politically stifling Diaz dictatorship, Argentina would undergo a moderate form of substantial modernization led by the politically astute General Julio Argentino Roca at the head of unified political elite modelling themselves upon the British. The inflexibility of the Mexican political system led to its conflagration in revolution and protracted civil war, but Argentina's adaptability resulted in a rapid transition to stable democracy at the time of World War I. Argentina's peaceful installation of a middle-class democracy at the time of World War I justifiably merited close attention.
