The Presence of the Bat’a Shoe Company in Central America and the Caribbean in the Interwar Period (1920-1930)

This article addresses the presence of the famous Czechoslovak shoe company Bat’a in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean during the 1920s and 1930s. It is a topic that has not yet been properly researched by historians; therefore this work can shed some light on the activity of Czechoslovak companies in Latin America. The objective is to compare Bat’a’s influence in the countries of the respective region and study where it was successful and why and where it was not. This comparative and quantitative analysis is based mainly on the unpublished archive material of Czech and Mexican origin. These sources are supplemented by memoirs of several Bat’a’s officials present in the region and published in some local Czechoslovak newspapers.