The First World War on the streets: Buenos Aires and New York

Abstract

The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 brought ethnic, cultural and political identities into conflict on the battlefields of Europe, but on the city streets of New York and Buenos Aires, despite the neutrality of the United States and Argentina, the effects of the war were as keenly felt. Through the examination of the parades, protests and displays that took place on the city streets of Buenos Aires and New York during 1914 to 1917, this paper places the « street-scene » as the vital means of assessing the effect of the war beyond the confining notions of combatant and neutral states. The expression, control and representation of identities within these metropolises demonstrates that whilst the actual fighting was elsewhere the war was still fought on the streets of Buenos Aires and New York.