ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the recent history of Latin America from the Great Depression of the early 1930s. The Wall Street Crash reduced demand for Latin American products and caused a recession that ended the neocolonial order by forcing countries to reconsider their dependence on world economy. The Depression after 1929, rise of economic nationalism, and industrialization forced some states to assume new tasks and to find new sources of support in society to ensure stability. A climate of nationalism in Latin America developed before and during Second World War while US was strengthening its position as a global power. After the war, US focused on rebuilding Europe but, with the outbreak of the Cold War in late 1940s, Washington again deepened its involvement in Latin American politics. The notion of bureaucratic authoritarianism aimed to link economic modernization and authoritarian rule by suggesting that the military stepped in to overcome the crisis associated with the exhaustion of import-substitution industrialization (ISI).
