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German Military Influence

In cosmopolitan Argentina, which had attempted very early to professionalize its officer corps, eclecticism at the beginning dominated the choice of foreign connections. The Military College, which was responsible for the formation of officers and was created by Sarmiento in 1869, had as its first directors an Austro-Hungarian colonel and a French cavalry commander. The French army was the model for the Argentine army until 1904, but the armament of the old army was German Krupp cannons and Mauser rifles after 1884. In 1900 the prestige of the Imperial General Staff carried the day.

By the turn of the century increasingly hostile relations with Chile — and what seemed the threat of imminent war — coupled with the government's continuing desire for a modern military establishment brought into focus the need for advanced professional training. In 1899 the first foreign military advisers — all of them German — arrived in Buenos Aires. The following year the Superior War College was opened as the army's staff school. The school's first director, Colonel Alfred Arent, was a retired Prussian army officer, as were almost half its instructors during the school's early years.

The two-year program at the Superior War College initially was designed for first lieutenants and captains, young officers who had completed their training at the Military College. Approximately half the school's first class of 41 students, however, was composed of majors and lieutenant colonels. Admission requirements included a minimum of two years' military service, the recommendation of one's commanding officer, and satisfactory performance on the entrance examination. The first year of the program emphasized theory and included courses in military history and geography, international law, French, German, the natural sciences and geodesy, and courses that were directly related to service as a general staff officer. The second year's emphasis was on practice, including the planning and execution of military exercises and field maneuvers.

The influence of the Prussian military system was by far the most dominant foreign influence in the development of the Argentine armed forces around the turn of the century. Beginning in the 1890s Germany became the almost exclusive supplier of the Argentine army's equipment and armaments. The Remington and the Gatling gun were both replaced by German weapons manufactured by such companies as Mauser and Maxim- Nordenfeldt. In the decades preceding World War I, when the German army was at the peak of its prestige, tenuous military relations between Argentina and other European countries, which included Belgium, France, and Italy, were slowly phased out.

In addition to receiving some 30 German military advisers, Argentina sent between 150 and 175 Argentine army officers to Germany for training before the outbreak of World War I. Between 1905 and 1914 these officers, including the top-ranking graduates of the Superior War College, received additional professional instruction at Germany military schools, acted as observers during field maneuvers, and occasionally served with German regiments. The same officers who had been trained abroad subsequently provided the core leadership for the Argentine armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s.

The Prussian military system also influenced the organizational structure of the Argentine armed forces. German advisers reportedly participated in drafting the 1901 organic law regulating conscription, known as the Ricchieri Law, which was named for the minister of war who sponsored it. In 1907 the Argentine armed forces officially adopted the German war doctrine, began to use the German ground troops' field manuals, and modified the general staff organization to resemble the German model more closely.

The participation of German military officers in the development of the Argentine armed forces declined after the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Despite the German military's relative loss of prestige after its defeat, the two countries' relationship was resumed in the postwar years and continued until 1940. Speculation existed that Germany's early influence in Argentine military development had contributed to the strong support for the Axis powers evidenced by many Argentine officers throughout World War II.