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A half century of unimpeded economic progress ended in Argentina with the spread of the Great Depression. As elsewhere, the collapse of the economy in 1929 led to severe unemployment and political extremism. The formation of the leftist Popular Front and the rightist National Front imperiled Argentine democracy as both sides sought to use the machinery of office to quash their opponents. In 1940, with World War II underway, a conservative politician, Ramón Castillo assumed the office of president. Pursuing a distinctly pro-Nazi foreign policy, Castillo followed the fascist example, suppressing democracy at home, outlawing political parties and silencing opposition newspapers. A succession of military coups did little to change Argentina's basic course until March 1945, when an allied victory over Germany seemed imminent.
photo: Hulton Archive
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Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, captured in Argentina, 1961
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