AHC: Strong cultural ties between the UK and the Southern Cone throughout the whole XX century

Watching British media such as BBC, there seems to be information about India, other parts of Asia, Africa (mainly English-speaking Africa) and the Middle East. There isn't much about Latin America, except when there are really serious problems in a given country (as it is happening now in Venezuela).

Meanwhile, in Argentina there isn't much information about the United Kindom, either, and in Uruguay even less (I don't know in Chile).

Given this, it's hard to remember that till 1929, or even till 1940, the Southern Cone of Latin America was firmly within the British sphere. Most exports went to the UK, and a great part of industrial imports came from there. The Bristish controlled railways, most banks and even compannies that provided public services such as electricity or communications.

Ties with Great Britain were mostly in the economic domain, but they translated in cultural influences (mainly from Britain towards the Souther Cone, none viceversa). Traces of these influences can be found till today: Argentina and Uruguay are probably the Latin American countries were rugby is more popular (though never as far as football, of course); in both countries, there are many educational institutions (private schools and foreign language learning institutes) were British English language (not American English) is taught (and where other parts of British culture are taught as well, such as British plays); both in Uruguay and Argentina, Cambridge English language assesssment exams are more or at least as popular as American ones, such as TOEFEL. There are other examples: there are estancias in Patagonia whose original founders were British, and still keep whole collections of the British Encyclopedia.

Without a major POD, econnomic ties between the Southern Cone and the UK were destined to diminish significantly after WWII, since Britain couldn't keep on buying such a great deal of these countries exports, nor could it continue providing cheap infustrial products, nor vast amount of funds in terms of foreign investments. Changing that would require significant modifications that would affect the whole world.

But, could cultural links have remained strong even when econnomic ties have weakened?
 
You would have needed more exchanges between the United Kingdom and the Southern Cone, trade and migration and the like. Without sustaining these connections, these ties would have faded. Compare, I suppose, the much more dramatic long-term disappearance of German influence in non-German central Europe.
 
Meh to be fair I always wondered what it would be like if the British were successfully in taking Rio de la Plata during Napoleonic War and making it apart of the British Empire. I mean the reason I ask that is because I wondered would relations be like with this alternate British-Spanish Argentina with other nations like Brazil and Chile?
 
You would have needed more exchanges between the United Kingdom and the Southern Cone, trade and migration and the like. Without sustaining these connections, these ties would have faded. Compare, I suppose, the much more dramatic long-term disappearance of German influence in non-German central Europe.
Yeah that actually possible to happen in this case.
 
Meh to be fair I always wondered what it would be like if the British were successfully in taking Rio de la Plata during Napoleonic War and making it apart of the British Empire. I mean the reason I ask that is because I wondered would relations be like with this alternate British-Spanish Argentina with other nations like Brazil and Chile?

There would certainly be stronger British connections, but I do not know if things will necessarily be changed that radically. Britain is likely to allow a Southern Cone colony self government just as it did its Australasian and British North American ones, and I would also be willing to bet that a Rio de la Plata already densely settled with Hispanic Catholics will stay densely settled with said.
 
There would certainly be stronger British connections, but I do not know if things will necessarily be changed that radically. Britain is likely to allow a Southern Cone colony self government just as it did its Australasian and British North American ones, and I would also be willing to bet that a Rio de la Plata already densely settled with Hispanic Catholics will stay densely settled with said.
Pretty much, but I do also think that unlike the rest of the British Empire, a British Argentina would be the most diverse since Argentina has a big Italian population, Welsh, and German population. So just like in OTL, even a British Argentina would end up being populated by more immigrants from Europe making it probably more diverse than anywhere else in the British Empire.

But you right it be pretty much like a dominion like Canada, New Zealand, and Australia was.
 
Would it be possible during the 20th century for Argentina to force English as the main language that would link the two nations and allow cultural links to be spread as well economic ones
 
Falklands didn't help.

Not sure... that is not a factor in the case of Anglo-Uruguayan relations, nor in the case of Anglo-Chilenean relations, and the results in terms of cultural links seem to be the same. In any case, the dispute is the reason why there are at least some news about Argentina on the British media, and viceversa.
 
You would have needed more exchanges between the United Kingdom and the Southern Cone, trade and migration and the like. Without sustaining these connections, these ties would have faded. Compare, I suppose, the much more dramatic long-term disappearance of German influence in non-German central Europe.

Yes, maybe a much larger migration during the XIX and early XX centuries might have implied stronger cultural ties in the present...
 
Would it be possible during the 20th century for Argentina to force English as the main language that would link the two nations and allow cultural links to be spread as well economic ones
Not unless the government wants to be overthrown. The most it can do is promote it as a second language.
 
Pretty much, but I do also think that unlike the rest of the British Empire, a British Argentina would be the most diverse since Argentina has a big Italian population, Welsh, and German population. So just like in OTL, even a British Argentina would end up being populated by more immigrants from Europe making it probably more diverse than anywhere else in the British Empire.

But you right it be pretty much like a dominion like Canada, New Zealand, and Australia was.

Britain has had largely non-Anglophone colonies before: Québec in North America and the Afrikaners in southern Africa both come to mind.
 
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