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Although the First World War seems to be absent from Latin American historiography, the 1914–1918 period led to several changes at the south of Grande Rio and forms a useful prism through which to visualize the role of Latin America within the concert of nations during the twentieth century. Neutral until 1917, Latin American states were then confronted with the entry into war of the United States, which fully waged diplomatic and economic pressure in order to push part of the sub-continent to join the Allies. While the First World War did not change the peripheral condition of Latin America in geopolitical and economic terms, it was nonetheless a turning point for its cultural history.