Occupation of the Dominican Republic

This occupation should not be confused with the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965-1966).

The United States occupation of the Dominican Republic occurred from 1916 to 1924. It was one of the many interventions in Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

undertaken by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

military forces. On May 13, 1916, Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

William B. Caperton

William Banks Caperton was an admiral of the United States Navy.-Biography:He was born on June 30, 1855 in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Caperton graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1875...

forced the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

's Secretary of War Desiderio Arias, who had seized power from Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra, to leave Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...

by threatening the city with naval bombardment.

Occupation

Three days after Arias left the country, United States Marines landed and took control of the country within two months, and in November the United States imposed a military government under Rear Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp

Harry Shepard Knapp

Harry Shepard Knapp was a Vice Admiral of the United States Navy, Military Governor of Santo Domingo, and Military Representative of the United States in Haiti.-Biography:...

. The marines restored order throughout most of the republic, with the exception of the eastern region; the country's budget was balanced, its debt was diminished, and economic growth resumed; infrastructure projects produced new roads that linked all the country's regions for the first time in its history; a professional military organization, the Dominican Constabulary Guard, replaced the partisan forces that had waged a seemingly endless struggle for power.

Most Dominicans, however, greatly resented the loss of their sovereignty to foreigners, few of whom spoke Spanish or displayed much real concern for the welfare of the republic. A guerrilla movement, known as the gavilleros, enjoyed considerable support from the population in the eastern provinces of El Seibo

El Seibo

El Seibo , alternatively spelt El Seybo, is a province of the Dominican Republic. Before 1992 it included what is now Hato Mayor province.-Municipalities and municipal districts:...

and San Pedro de Macorís

San Pedro de Macorís

San Pedro de Macorís is a municipality and the capital of the San Pedro de Macorís province in the Dominican Republic.-Demographics:...

. Having knowledge of the local terrain, they fought against the United States occupation from 1917 to 1921.
American naval forces maintained order during a period of chronic and threatened insurrection. In 1921, the gavilleros were crushed due to the superior air power, firepower and counterinsurgency methods of the United States military.

Withdrawal

After World War I, public opinion in the United States began to run against the occupation. Warren G. Harding, who succeeded Wilson in March 1921, had campaigned against the occupations of both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In June 1921, United States representatives presented a withdrawal proposal, known as the Harding Plan, which called for Dominican ratification of all acts of the military government, approval of a loan of US$2.5 million for public works and other expenses, the acceptance of United States officers for the constabulary—now known as the National Guard (Guardia Nacional)—and the holding of elections under United States supervision. Popular reaction to the plan was overwhelmingly negative. Moderate Dominican leaders, however, used the plan as the basis for further negotiations that resulted in an agreement between U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...

and Dominican Ambassador to the United States Francisco J. Peynado on June 30, 1922, allowing for the selection of a provisional president to rule until elections could be organized. Under the supervision of High Commissioner Sumner Welles, Juan Bautista Vicini Burgos assumed the provisional presidency on October 21, 1922. In the presidential election of March 15, 1924, Horacio Vásquez Lajara, an American ally who cooperated with the United States government, handily defeated Peynado. Vásquez's Alliance Party (Partido Alianza) also won a comfortable majority in both houses of Congress. With his inauguration on July 13, control of the republic returned to Dominican hands.

Aftermath

Despite the withdrawal, there were still great concerns regarding the collection and application of the country's custom revenues. To address this problem, representatives of the United States and the Dominican Republic governments met at a convention and signed a treaty, on December 27, 1924, which gave the United States control over the country's custom revenues. In 1941, the treaty was officially repealed and control over the country's custom revenues was again returned to Dominican Republic government. However this treaty created lasting resentment of the United States among the people of the Dominican Republic.

One major consquence that resulted from the occupation was the rise of Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo had received a commission as a second lieutenant in the US-created national guard in early 1919. Trujillo, a onetime thief, forger and pimp, received high marks from US military officers and eventually became the country's army chief of staff in 1928. Through the rigged election of 1930, Trujillo became the country's president. Though the US State Department saw Trujillo as a "a kind Frankenstein, brought to life by the US marines" and likely to spawn new insurrections, the US government warmed to him when his strong-arm tactics obviated the need for military intervention. Thanks to the beneficent US control of the country's customs, Trujillo could divert funds to his army for supression of domestic dissent. Political corruption, military muscle, torture, murder, nepotism, commercial monopolies and raids on the country's national treasury enabled Trujillo to quiet his opponents and amass a fortune of $800 million.

Occupation

Withdrawal

Aftermath

See also