A Latin American Exceptionalism? School Textbooks and the Commemoration of War in Mexico, Argentina, and Peru

Postcolonial Latin America has been characterized by the relative absence of international wars and mass military mobilization.  Based on this pattern students of nationalism and political culture have argued that the commemoration of wars is of little importance to the mnemonic work of states in the region.  This paper challenges this claim.  A comparative content analysis of history textbooks (primary school-level) published in 20th century Mexico, Argentina, and Peru reveals that the commemoration of international wars was central to official accounts of national history in each of the three countries examined.  State-sponsored historical narratives represented especially lost wars with neighboring countries as crucial to understand contemporary political and socioeconomic developments.  Yet, the commemorations of those wars changed in their assignment of agency and responsibility.  During the early 20th century the “lack of civilization” among the masses was to blame, whereas during the mid-20th century the “lack of patriotism” among political and military elites was held responsible for military defeat.  The chapter further suggests that these shifts in official war representations are linked to changes in global models of commemoration and new alignments in domestic mnemonic battles between states and state-challenging forces.