Caribbean 1914
By Jamie Bisher
In 1914 the Caribbean was a steamy laboratory of imperialism and half-hearted experiments in independence and democracy. The presence of British, French, Danish and Dutch colonies prevented the Caribbean from becoming an all-American lake, as did the occasional appearance of warships from these European colonial powers as well Germany and Italy. However, US power was on the rise just as the Great War diverted European attention away from the Caribbean.
The US’ huge investment of resources and emotions in the Panama Canal compelled Washington to adopt a Caribbean strategy aimed at minimizing European influence and barring potential adversaries from establishing a naval base. Since the turn of the century and victory in the Spanish-American War, the United States had made Puerto Rico a colony, intervened regularly in the fractious affairs of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and manipulated Cuban politics to nourish a stable—if not exactly honest—democratic environment that would promote commerce. Fear and resentment of US power outweighed its actual military capabilities or its will to use them.
Between 1908 and 1912, the United States preferred to apply the policy that became known as “Dollar Diplomacy” rather than military force to keep the peace in the Caribbean. Thus President William Howard Taft and his secretary of state, Philander C. Knox, tried to promote Caribbean stability by supplanting European capital with American capital, and encouraged US business to use loans and investments to alleviate the indebtedness of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti. The policy intended to prevent the kind of financial crises that provoked European interventions, but became a contentious issue in domestic US politics. The American Democratic Party attacked Taft and his Republican Party as imperialists who aimed to supplant European colonialism with an American brand of commercial exploitation.
Democratic President Woodrow Wilson was determined to steer the US away from imperialistic interventions after his election in 1912. He proclaimed the end of Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy” in an October 17, 1913 speech in Mobile that inaugurated his “New Freedom” philosophy. Wilson condemned economic exploitation of Latin America by both US and European financiers and called for an egalitarian doctrine of diplomacy based on honor, morality and principles.
The US’ huge investment of resources and emotions in the Panama Canal compelled Washington to adopt a Caribbean strategy aimed at minimizing European influence and barring potential adversaries from establishing a naval base. Since the turn of the century and victory in the Spanish-American War, the United States had made Puerto Rico a colony, intervened regularly in the fractious affairs of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and manipulated Cuban politics to nourish a stable—if not exactly honest—democratic environment that would promote commerce. Fear and resentment of US power outweighed its actual military capabilities or its will to use them.
Between 1908 and 1912, the United States preferred to apply the policy that became known as “Dollar Diplomacy” rather than military force to keep the peace in the Caribbean. Thus President William Howard Taft and his secretary of state, Philander C. Knox, tried to promote Caribbean stability by supplanting European capital with American capital, and encouraged US business to use loans and investments to alleviate the indebtedness of Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti. The policy intended to prevent the kind of financial crises that provoked European interventions, but became a contentious issue in domestic US politics. The American Democratic Party attacked Taft and his Republican Party as imperialists who aimed to supplant European colonialism with an American brand of commercial exploitation.
Democratic President Woodrow Wilson was determined to steer the US away from imperialistic interventions after his election in 1912. He proclaimed the end of Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy” in an October 17, 1913 speech in Mobile that inaugurated his “New Freedom” philosophy. Wilson condemned economic exploitation of Latin America by both US and European financiers and called for an egalitarian doctrine of diplomacy based on honor, morality and principles.
Haiti
Haiti severely tested Wilson’s idealism. The unruly republic was a perennial problem, mired in a cycle of anarchy, intervention and partial recovery. As recently as early 1914, British, French and German marines stormed ashore in Port-au-Prince to protect expatriates and foreign businesses, and unsuccessfully insisted upon joint supervision of Haiti’s customs revenues. That same year American bluejackets landed no less than three times—in late January, late February and again in mid-October—to protect US nationals during prolonged riots.
A small German community in Haiti, estimated at just 200 souls in 1910, wielded a disproportionate amount of economic power. They controlled about 80 percent of international commerce, owned a railroad in the north, a tramline, main wharf and utilities in Port-au-Prince, and the critical utilities in Cap Haïtien to boot. Germany had sent warships to Haiti in 1897 and 1902 to settle commercial disputes. When the US discovered that Germany was looking at the deepwater port of Môle Saint-Nicolas for a coaling station, the Wilson administration began contingency planning for an occupation.
Santo Domingo
At the opposite end of Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic--often referred to as Santo Domingo in US reports--also suffered from financial and political troubles that made it an inviting target for foreign meddlers. The country had defaulted on its debts in 1904, and then accepted a US overseer in 1905 that monitored customs receipts and drew 55% of the revenues to pay foreign creditors, leaving the remainder to the Dominican Government. A new wave of political instability and revolutionary disorder hit Santo Domingo in 1912. Shortly after Woodrow Wilson took office, he delivered an ultimatum to the Dominican Republic: “Elect a president or the United States will impose one.” As Europe blundered into war, the Dominicans elected Ramón Báez Machado as provisional president on August 27, 1914. The peace would be short-lived however.
Cuba
Cuba fell under loose US control even though the island republic adopted a constitution and held elections in 1902. The Platt Amendment, drafted by US Secretary of War Elihu Root and approved by Congress in 1901, prohibited Cuba from alienating territory or control to a foreign power or incurring excessive indebtedness, gave the US the right to buy or lease naval bases, and permitted the US to intervene to restore order and preserve Cuban “independence.” Of course, bound by such strictures, Cuba was only nominally independent. Washington was liable to meddle in all aspects of political and commercial life, even making sure that contracts and lucrative concessions were steered into the hands of political cronies. Cuba could not pave Havana streets or build sewers without interference from the US Government. In 1906, Cuban authorities asked for US help to put down an insurrection, and the War Department executed a Cuban pacification plan that was based upon information gathered by military intelligence officers of MID’s predecessor, the 2nd Division of the War Department General Staff (WDGS). US soldiers patrolled the island until 1908 to maintain order, but the 2nd Division remained after occupation troops left and operated a branch office in Havana staffed by 2 officers and 6 clerks.
Copyright 2018, Jamie Bisher.