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International Wars and Conspiracy Theories

This chapter analyzes how master narratives of sinister foreign plans behind international wars have developed transnationally in Latin America. It reconstructs two cases of transnational diffusion of conspiracy theories, contrasting them with a case in which other master narratives prevailed. In the War of the Triple Alliance (1864–70) and the Chaco War (1932–35), conspiratorial interpretations of foreign designs gained momentum, reinforcing the image of victimization by external enemies. Such narratives downplayed the role of local political forces, as documented by historical research. Contrastingly, in the aftermath of the Pacific War (1879–83), conspiracy theories did not become the master narratives. The chapter discusses this variance in the transnational diffusion of conspiracy theories over Latin American wars.