page_title: Military history of South America
section_title: The naval arms race of the early 1900s
hierarchical_section_title: Military history of South America / South America and the Global Wars / The naval arms race of the early 1900s
caption_attribution_description: English: Minas Gerais sailing soon after her commissioning. Photo was taken too early to be of Sao Paulo, which is a common identification in sources.[1]
context_page_description: The military history of South America can be divided into two major periods - pre- and post-Columbian - divided by the entrance of European forces to the region. The sudden introduction of steel, gunpowder weapons and horses into the Americas would revolutionize warfare. Within the post-Columbian period, the events of the early 19th century, when almost all of South America was marked by wars of independence, also forms a natural historical juncture. Throughout its history, South America has had distinct military features: it has been geographically separated from many major military powers by large oceans; its unique terrain has imposed major logistical challenges, and privileged naval lines of communications.
context_section_description: The naval blockade imposed against Venezuela by the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy from December 1902 to February 1903, after President Cipriano Castro refused to pay foreign debts and damages suffered by European citizens in recent Venezuelan civil wars. 
  At the beginning of the 20th century, another naval arms race emerged in South America. During much of the previous century, the Brazilian imperial Armada had enjoyed a decisive naval advantage, but following the Brazilian revolution of 1889, the nation's navy fell into disrepair. By the turn of the 20th century, it was lagging behind those of Chile and Argentina. Soaring demand for coffee and rubber brought the Brazilian economy an influx of revenue, some of which was used to finance a 1904 Naval rearmament program. Before the bulk of the work could be completed, however, HMS Dreadnought was launched in 1906, leading Brazil to alter her order for two, far more expensive vessels of a similar design. Minas Geraes and São Paulo instantly changed the balance of naval power in the region, sparking a new arms race; Chile ordered the dreadnoughts Almirante Latorre and Almirante Cochrane from Britain, and Argentina commissioned two vessels from the United States—Rivadavia and Moreno. The cost was colossal—over a quarter of each country's annual national income was being spent on naval procurement during the period. These extraordinary monetary sums, combined with a collapse in Brazil's rubber boom and declining trade revenues during the First World War, eventually brought the naval arms race to a halt.
caption: Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes
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