Post-War Planning on the Periphery

Explores Anglo-American economic diplomacy in South America during the Second World War

Thomas Mills explores Anglo-American relations in the previously neglected region of South America during the Second World War to add a new dimension to our understanding of the two powers. He shows how these relations followed a very different pattern to the high-level discussions concerning the economic shape of the post-war world that were going on at the same time. In this way, he highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of the broader process of Anglo-American economic diplomacy.

Based on extensive archival research and a thorough knowledge of the secondary literature, this is a major addition to the study of Anglo-American relations in the 20th century.

Explores a number of topics relevant to the broader process of post-war economic diplomacy:

• The Lend-Lease Export White Paper and its effects on British exports to South America
• Economic warfare policies such as blacklisting and the Axis replacement programme
• Particular industries which had a strategic value as well as commercial importance, such as telecommunications
• Enterprises which took on an importance beyond their intrinsic worth, such as the central Brazilian railway