Chapter 414 The struggle for dominance in South America
Although the "Treaty of Clayton-Bulwer" signed by the United Kingdom and the United States in 1850 stipulated that the two countries were not allowed to seek any expansion in Central America, but after gaining local regional advantages, the Americans intervened in the internal affairs of Central America.
and didn't stop.
The southern expansionists did not accept the treaty signed with Britain and continued to pursue the policy of "Manifest Destiny" and unlimited expansion.
Nicaraguan liberals suffered a defeat in the civil war in 1845. Relying on the active support of the Americans, they organized an expeditionary force on American soil and prepared to return to politics.
The adventurer William Walker was a mercenary known as the "Liberation Movement". He was hired by the Nicaraguan uprising to "liberate" this Central American country.
Walker and the "Liberation Movement" invaded and ruled Nicaragua in 1855. Instead of handing over power to the Nicaraguans who hired him, Walker established a personal dictatorship and prepared
Begin your conquest of Central America from Managua.
In the face of protests from Central American countries and the United Kingdom, the United States claimed that it was not responsible for this incident and that Walker acted without authorization regardless of the law. However, the support of the influential economic circles in the southern United States for the liberation movements is open and obvious.
Yes, it is open and obvious that leading figures in the United States and the press regard this support with sympathy.
All of Central America united against Walker in what was known as the "Liberation War" in history, and expelled him from the isthmus in 1857. However, the Liberation leader did not give up and invaded Central America for the second time in the same year.
This time, he had to leave again.
In 1860, he invaded for the third time, but this time he encountered the British navy dispatched to defend the territorial integrity of Central America. Walker was captured by the British. The British handed him over to the Central Americans and shot him.
During this period, the United States was intensifying its activities to prepare to occupy the island of Cuba. Starting from Jefferson, the United States had a strategic plan to annex Cuba. John Quincy Adams once tried his best to keep Cuba under weak Spanish rule so that it could become "a mature country" in the future.
"fruits" are transferred to the hands of the United States.
American geopolitical theorist and then-President of the U.S. Naval Academy, Navy Captain Mahan, emphasized the importance of U.S. domination of nearby islands and waters.
Before Mahan proposed the sea power theory, President Polk had paid $100,000 to purchase Cuba in 1848. From 1849 to 1850, Narciso Lopez, who was supported by the southern United States, tried to liberate Cuba from the Spanish.
, and then merged into the United States. In 1853, Liberal President Fillmore stepped down, the Democratic Party returned to power in the United States, and Franklin Pierce became president. When Pierce took office, he promised to "never deviate from the path of expansionism", and his government wanted to buy the island of Cuba.
In 1854, the United States offered $130 million and used a recent maritime incident to threaten Spain. Spain was determined not to sell out its most precious colony.
The southern United States exerted strong political pressure for an armed invasion of the island. "Dixie" plantation owners and merchants spread rumors that the British planned to seize Cuba, liberate the slaves, and establish an "Africanized republic," which would become a counterattack to the United States.
The Foundations of the Slavery Revolt.
As part of this pressure, three U.S. ministers plenipotentiary to European countries met in the Belgian city of Ostend and sent a memorandum to President Pierce recommending the use of force to conquer Cuba.
On the main island of Cuba, the Havana Club, which politically spoke for the sugar-producing oligarchs, agreed to expel the Spanish and annex the United States, and worked closely with the supporters of slavery in the southern United States.
However, the Cuban middle class is opposed to the pro-American elements. The politically minded activists among them are divided into two factions. One is the autonomous faction, which demands greater political autonomy for the island of Cuba and does not demand complete independence from the Spanish sovereign state. The other is the autonomous faction.
The patriots advocate the establishment of a "Cuba for Cubans" without any foreign rule.
In 1869, the patriotic movement gained enough strength and support to stage a large-scale armed uprising against Spain. At that time, internationally, Britain and France supported Spain's rule of the American colonies and used Cuba as the core line of defense to contain the expansion of the United States.
Therefore, the uprising movement ultimately failed, and the Americans did not wait for the right opportunity to occupy the Cuban colony.
The key to seizing Cuba lies in the support of Britain and France for the Kingdom of Spain. Under the current situation of coordination among Britain, France and Spain, in order to counterattack Britain's destruction of the International Conference of the Americas, the U.S. government has temporarily suppressed its ambition to attack Cuba and instead focused on expansion.
The spearhead is directly aimed at the Caribbean and northern South America.
On January 21, 1889, representatives of the eight Central American countries, led by the United States and including Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Mexico, signed a trade agreement and announced the formation of the American Customs Union, and the signatory countries opened up their territories.
In the economic field, other signatory countries will be given the same tariff reduction and exemption benefits.
The six Central American countries and Mexico are no match for the Americans in the industrial and economic fields. The superficially equal and reciprocal trade agreement actually gives American capital a perfect excuse to reasonably and legally control the economies and politics of the seven countries.
The six countries of Central America cover an area of about 500,000 square kilometers and have a population of about 4 million, most of whom are Indo-European mixed race people.
In the economic field, except for the cane sugar cultivation field with a long history, which is controlled by Western countries,
More than 70% of industries related to the national economy, such as cotton, tobacco, cocoa, sisal, cereal crop cultivation, animal husbandry and forestry, food processing, mineral resource mining and smelting, are in the hands of American capital.
The formation of the Inter-American Customs Union means that the Americans have completed the final step in taking complete control of Central America.
After the news of the agreement signed by the eight governments was officially released, the U.S. government immediately took a number of countermeasures.
One is to implement an armed blockade on Torti Island, where the Caribbean Squadron is stationed, on the grounds of maintaining the security of maritime trade routes in the Caribbean and clearing surrounding waters.
Secondly, regarding the issue of digging the isthmus in Central America, on the one hand, the U.S. government asked the British to give up their right to intervene in the construction of the canal. On the other hand, it secretly contacted Panamanian independence elements in an attempt to gain independence for the construction of the canal by instigating Panama to secede from the Republic of Colombia.
Control.
Third, regarding the territorial dispute between British Guiana and Venezuela, the U.S. government took the initiative to contact the Venezuelan government and promised to support Venezuela’s reasonable demands on territorial issues and provide strong backing for Venezuela to deal with the threat of force from the British Empire.
British Guiana and Venezuela have a long-standing territorial dispute.
In 1814, the British obtained the rule of Guyana from the Dutch and began to send colonial officials to manage it.
In 1831, Guyana officially became a British colony and was named British Guiana.
After 1850, the British gradually pushed the border between Venezuela and British Guiana westward.
advance, and then into territory historically belonging to Venezuela in the 1880s.
Venezuela was a small and weak country, and was no match for the British Empire in terms of force. Therefore, the British Guiana colonists always ignored Venezuela's protests.
Venezuela is rich in mineral resources and untapped oil resources, and is close to British Guiana, the British bridgehead in South America. The Americans have stepped in and brought their military and political influence into northern South America, which has the same significance as the previous economic expansion.
totally different.
Faced with the strong counterattack by the Americans, the British government ordered its diplomatic institutions to issue a drastic statement against the United States. It also ordered the army and navy stationed in British Guiana to increase their alert and be wary of the movements of Venezuela and the US navy.
The strategic focus of the local government is on Paraguay and the Republic of Brazil. Han Dynasty is separated from the United States by most of South America. Even if it learns of the hostile military actions of the US fleet against the Caribbean Squadron stationed on Torti Island, the local government cannot take effective measures.
Countermeasures.
Britain and the United States are the two major powers that dominate American affairs. Under the current realistic conditions, the Han government does not yet have the strength to directly confront the United States.
Therefore, faced with the struggle between Britain and the United States for dominance in the northern part of South America, the local government could only follow closely behind the British. On the one hand, it was quarreling with the Americans in the distance, and on the other hand, it gave orders to the Caribbean Squadron, ordering the fleet to
After handling the transfer of Chinese people and the arrangement of armed personnel on land, the confrontation with the U.S. Navy was ended, the Caribbean Sea was immediately evacuated, and the ship returned to the mainland for repairs.
After the local government gave in and voluntarily withdrew the Caribbean Squadron, the border line between the United States and the British forces was officially pushed forward from Central America and the Caribbean to Venezuela and Colombia in northern South America. The two countries dominated South America.
Competition has thus entered its most intense stage.
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