Dominican Republic and World War 1

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IB HoA: Portfolio #1 The Dominican Republic and World War One The Dominican Republic (also known as Santo Domingo in the earlier years) has a rich history and is an important nation in understanding the United States’ involvement and diplomatic relationships within Latin America. It is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, within the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti. The Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation (after Cuba), and an estimated 10 million people. The nation lay mostly untouched and disregarded by the United States in the 19th century, following earlier foreign policy to stay removed from international affairs. Theodore Roosevelt’s rise to the presidency, his imperialistic desires, expansionism into Latin America, and his theory of “Big Stick Diplomacy” began the basis of United States’ control and influence within Latin America. The Dominican Republic was not a major player in World War I; however, its influence on international affairs is very notable. Before the actual outbreak of World War I, none of the republics in Latin America even considered collaboration amongst nations diplomatically in order to preserve neutrality in the event of a foreign war, or to reinforce and defend themselves against aggression or invasion. The Dominican Republic itself had every intention of remaining neutral as soon as the war began, but it did not account for the United States’ soon following intervention. When Theodore Roosevelt was elected president, the United States were able to gain administration rights of Dominican customs in exchange for taking on the high national debt of the republic in 1905. This was important because it shows the transition of Latin Americas financial and economic dependence shifting from Europe to the United States. In 1912, with the
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