Latin America

The Institute is known as a leading institution on labour, the labour movement, and leftist political parties. European collections have always been the main area of emphasis. Its important collections for research on Latin American history are less well known.
The IISH owes its significant Latin-American collections primarily to the insatiable collector's frenzy of Max Nettlau (1865-1944), a well-known Austrian historian and bibliographer on anarchism. A large share of the papers and periodicals come from his collection and form the core of the material predating 1940.

Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico

The material on the period preceding World War II focuses on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. The Brazilian collection's strongest area concerns the anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist stage of the workers movement (1900-1922). The same holds true for Argentina. This collection is also very strong up to the 1930s. The periodical collection for this period represents virtually every centre of labour activities.
See also: the microfilm collection of the Partido dos Trabalhadores

Movements for Solidarity

The Institute has received tremendous support from the Dutch movements for solidarity with Latin America in building its collection for the post-war period. The Netherlands has always been very interested in Latin American countries. One angle focuses on repression and dictatorial regimes, such as Chile under Pinochet (1973-1990), Argentina during the "dirty war" (1976-1983), and Guatemala and El Salvador in the 1980s and 1990s. The other perspective covers socialist experiments in Chile under Allende (1970-1973), Nicaragua during the Sandinista regime (1979-1990), and Cuba after the revolution in 1959. Many support groups kept abreast of the local situation by gathering brochures and periodicals and other information. Much of this material has been transferred to the Institute and is now available to researchers. A case in point is the vast collection on Nicaragua during the Sandinista regime and a special collection about Chile under Allende and Pinochet.

Microfilms

Of course, the Institute has always maintained its own collection as well and affords special support for the preservation of collections in South America that are important for social historical research. This support involves microfilming major archives and papers in South American collections in return for a copy of the film for the Institute. The method is being applied to (and has already made available in some cases) the archives of various unions in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, as well as very rare and fragile periodicals. These activities reinforce the collection both for the period around 1900 and more recently.

See also: September 11, 1973, Chile