Daniel Orr's Blog, page 9

October 8, 1912 – First Balkan War: Montenegro declares war on the Ottoman Empire

On October 8, 1912, Montenegro,which had territorial ambitions on the sanjak (district) of Novi Prazar,declared war on the Ottoman Empire.  The rest of the Balkan League then issued ajoint ultimatum on the Ottoman government, which contained a demand that theOttomans withdraw their troops from the frontier regions.  When the Ottomans rejected the ultimatum, Serbia, Bulgaria,and Greecedeclared war on October 17, 1912.

In the war, the Ottomans fought from a disadvantageousposition.  Their forces in Rumelia wereoutnumbered by 3:1, they had to defend a long, hostile border on three sidesfrom their Balkan enemies who could strike at any point along the border, andsuccess in sending reinforcements to Rumelia relied on the Ottoman Navyachieving superiority in the Aegean Seaagainst the Greek fleet.

(Taken from First Balkan War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 3)

Balkan region showing location of Rumelia (in green).

Background At the start of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire was a spent force, a shadow of its former power of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that had struck fear in Europe.  The empire did continue to hold vast territories, but only tolerated by competing interests among the European powers who wanted to maintain a balance of power in Europe.  In particular, Britain and France supported and sometimes intervened on the side of the Ottomans in order to restrain expansionist ambitions of the emerging giant, the Russian Empire.

In Europe, the Ottomans hadlost large areas of the Balkans, and all of its possessions in central andcentral eastern Europe.  By 1910, Serbia, Bulgaria,Montenegro, and Greece hadgained their independence.  As a result,the Ottoman Empire’s last remaining possession in the European mainland wasRumelia (Map 4), a long strip of the Balkans extending from Eastern Thrace, to Macedonia, and into Albaniain the Adriatic Coast. And even Rumelia itself was coveted by the new Balkan states, as itcontained large ethnic populations of Serbians, Belgians, and Greeks, eachwanting to merge with their mother countries.

The Russian Empire, seeking to bring the Balkans into itssphere of influence, formed a military alliance with fellow Slavic Serbia, Bulgaria, and Montenegro.  In March 1912, a Russian initiative led to aSerbian-Bulgarian alliance called the Balkan League.  In May 1912, Greece joined the alliance when theBulgarian and Greek governments signed a similar agreement.  Later that year, Montenegrojoined as well, signing separate treaties with Bulgariaand Serbia.

The Balkan League was envisioned as an all-Slavic alliance,but Bulgaria saw the need tobring in Greece, inparticular the modern Greek Navy, which could exert control in the Aegean Seaand neutralize Ottoman power in the Mediterranean Sea,once fighting began.  The Balkan Leaguebelieved that it could achieve an easy victory over the Ottoman Empire, for the following reasons. First, the Ottomans currently were locked in a war with the ItalianEmpire in Tripolitania (part of present-day Libya), and were losing; andsecond, because of this war, the Ottoman political leadership was internallydivided and had suffered a number of coups.

Most of the major European powers, and especially Austria-Hungary, objected to the Balkan Leagueand regarded it as an initiative of the Russian Empire to allow the RussianNavy to have access to the Mediterranean Sea through the Adriatic Coast.  Landlocked Serbiaalso had ambitions on Bosnia and Herzegovinain order to gain a maritime outlet through the AdriaticCoast, but was frustrated when Austria-Hungary, which had occupiedOttoman-owned Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1878, formally annexed theregion in 1908.

The Ottomans soon discovered the invasion plan and preparedfor war as well.  By August 1912,increasing tensions in Rumelia indicated an imminent outbreak of hostilities.

October 7, 1991 – Croatian War of Independence: Yugoslav planes attack Zagreb

On October 7, 1991, Yugoslav Air Force planes attacked anumber of targets in the Croatian capital Zagreb,the most significant being the Banski dvori, the official residence of thePresident of Croatia. Inside the building at the time of the raid were CroatianPresident Franjo Tudman, Yugoslavian President Stjepan Mesic, and YugoslavianPrime minister Ante Markovic, all of whom were not injured in the attack. PresidentTudman laid the blame for the attacks on the Yugoslav military, but the latterdenied any involvement, instead accusing the Croatians of staging the attacksas a ruse. The following day, October 8, the three-month moratorium on Croatianindependence (Croatia had declared independence on June 7, 1991) lapsed, and Croatia cut all ties with Yugoslavia. During the interimperiod, increasing tensions had broken out into fighting in the Croatian War ofIndependence.

(Taken from Croatian War of Independence – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)

Ethnic Serbs in Croatia formed the majority population in Northern Dalmatia, Lika, and parts of Western Slavonia and Eastern Slavonia.

Background By the late 1980s, Yugoslavia was faced with a major political crisis, as separatist aspirations among its ethnic populations threatened to undermine the country’s integrity (see “Yugoslavia”, separate article).  Nationalism particularly was strong in Croatia and Slovenia, the two westernmost and wealthiest Yugoslav republics.  In January 1990, delegates from Slovenia and Croatia walked out from an assembly of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the country’s communist party, over disagreements with their Serbian counterparts regarding proposed reforms to the party and the central government.  Then in the first multi-party elections in Croatia held in April and May 1990, Franjo Tudjman became president after running a campaign that promised greater autonomy for Croatia and a reduced political union with Yugoslavia.

Ethnic Croatians, who comprised 78% of Croatia’s population, overwhelmingly supportedTudjman, because they were concerned that Yugoslavia’snational government gradually had fallen under the control of Serbia, Yugoslavia’s largest and mostpowerful republic, and led by hard-line President Slobodan Milosevic.  In May 1990, a new Croatian Parliament wasformed and subsequently prepared a new constitution.  The constitution was subsequently passed inDecember 1990.  Then in a referendum heldin May 1991 with Croatian Serbs refusing to participate, Croatians votedoverwhelmingly in support of independence. On June 25, 1991, Croatia,together with Slovenia,declared independence.

Croatian Serbs (ethnic Serbs who are native to Croatia) numbered nearly 600,000, or 12% of Croatia’stotal population, and formed the second largest ethnic group in therepublic.  As Croatiaincreasingly drifted toward political separation from Yugoslavia, the Croatian Serbsbecame alarmed at the thought that the new Croatian government would carry outpersecutions, even a genocidal pogrom against Serbs, just as the pro-Naziultra-nationalist Croatian Ustashe government had done to the Serbs, Jews, andGypsies during World War II.  As aresult, Croatian Serbs began to militarize, with the formation of militias aswell as the arrival of armed groups from Serbia.

Croatian Serbs formed a population majority in south-west Croatia(northern Dalmatian and Lika).  There, inFebruary 1990, they formed the Serb Democratic Party, which aimed for thepolitical and territorial integration of Serb-dominated lands in Croatia with Serbiaand Yugoslavia.  They declared that if Croatia wanted to secede from Yugoslavia, they, in turn, should be allowed toseparate from Croatia.  Serbs also interpreted the change in theirstatus in the new Croatian constitution as diminishing their civil rights.  In turn, the Croatian government opposed theCroatian Serb secession and was determined to keep the republic’s territorialintegrity.

In July 1990, a Croatian Serb Assembly was formed thatcalled for Serbian sovereignty and autonomy. In December, Croatian Serbs established the SAO Krajina (SAO is theacronym for Serbian Autonomous Oblast) as a separate government from Croatia in the regions of northern Dalmatia and Lika. Croatian Serbs formed a majority population in two other regions in Croatia, which they also transformed intoseparate political administrations called SAO Western Slavonia, and SAO EasternSlavonia (officially SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Syrmia).  (Map 17 showslocations in Croatiawhere ethnic Serbs formed a majority population.) In a referendum held inAugust 1990 in SAO Krajina, Croatian Serbs voted overwhelmingly (99.7%) forSerbian “sovereignty and autonomy”.  Thenafter a second referendum held in March 1991 where Croatian Serbs votedunanimously (99.8%) to merge SAO Krajina with Serbia, the Krajina governmentdeclared that “… SAO Krajina is a constitutive part of the unified stateterritory of the Republic of Serbia”.

October 6, 1973 – Yom Kippur War: Egypt and Syria launch offensives on Israel

On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched coordinated offensives against Israel-occupied Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, respectively, starting the Yom Kippur War. Over 200 Egyptian war planes took to the air into the Sinai, striking at Israel airbases, missile batteries, artillery positions, radar installations, and command centers. Then under cover of an artillery barrage, 32,000 Egyptian troops crossed the Suez Canal into the eastern bank of the Sinai.

Simultaneous with the Egyptian attack, Syria launched amassive offensive into the Golan Heights (which Israel had captured, togetherwith the Sinai Peninsula and West Bank, during the Six Day War), which was onlylight defended. The initial Syrian forces of three infantry divisions comprising28,000 troops, 800 tanks, and 600 artillery pieces, were joined the next day bytwo armoured divisions. The initial Israeli defense forces in the Golan Heights consisted only of brigade-size formations andsupporting units comprising 3,000 troops, 180 tanks, and 60 artillery pieces.

(Taken from Yom Kippur War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)

Background With its decisive victory in the Six-Day War (previous article) in June 1967, Israel gained control of the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank from Jordan.  The Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights were integral territories of Egypt and Syria, respectively, and both countries were determined to take them back.  In September 1967, Egypt and Syria, together with other Arab countries, issued the Khartoum Declaration of the “Three No’s”, that is, no peace, recognition, and negotiations with Israel, which meant that only armed force would be used to win back the lost lands.

Shortly after the Six-Day War ended, Israel offered to return the Sinai Peninsula andGolan Heights in exchange for a peace agreement, but the plan apparently wasnot received by Egypt and Syria.  In October 1967, Israel withdrew the offer.

In the ensuing years after the Six-Day War, Egyptcarried out numerous small attacks against Israeli military and governmenttargets in the Sinai.  In what is nowknown as the “War of Attrition”, Egyptwas determined to exact a heavy economic and human toll and force Israelto withdraw from the Sinai.  By way ofretaliation, Israeli forces also launched attacks into Egypt.  Armed incidents also took place across Israel’s borders with Syria,Jordan, and Lebanon.  Then, as the United States, which backed Israel,and the Soviet Union, which supported the Arab countries, increasingly becameinvolved, the two superpowers prevailed upon Israeland Egyptto agree to a ceasefire in August 1970.

In September 1970, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt’s hard-line president, passedaway.  Succeeding as Egypt’s head of state was Vice-President AnwarSadat, who began a dramatic shift in foreign policy toward Israel.  Whereas the former regime was staunchlyhostile to Israel,President Sadat wanted a diplomatic solution to the Egyptian-Israeliconflict.  In secret meetings with U.S. government officials and a United Nations(UN) representative, President Sadat offered a proposal that in exchange for Israel’s return of the Sinai to Egypt, the Egyptian government would sign apeace treaty with Israeland recognize the Jewish state.

However, the Israeli government of Prime Minister Golda Meirrefused to negotiate.  President Sadat,therefore, decided to use military force. He knew, however, that his armed forces were incapable of dislodging theIsraelis from the Sinai.  He decided thatan Egyptian military victory on the battlefield, however limited, would compel Israelto see the need for negotiations.  Egyptbegan preparations for war.  Largeamounts of modern weapons were purchased from the Soviet Union.  Egypt restructured its large, butineffective, armed forces into a competent fighting force.

In order to conceal its war plans, Egypt carried out a number ofruses.  The Egyptian Army constantlyconducted military exercises along the western bank of the Suez Canal, which soon were taken lightly by the Israelis.  Egypt’s persistent war rhetoriceventually was regarded by the Israelis as mere bluff.  Through press releases, Egypt underreported the truestrength of its armed forces.  The governmentalso announced maintenance and spare parts problems with its war equipment andthe lack of trained personnel to operate sophisticated military hardware.  Furthermore, when President Sadat expelled20,000 Soviet advisers from Egyptin July 1972, Israelbelieved that the Egyptian Army’s military capability was weakenedseriously.  In fact, thousands of Sovietpersonnel remained in Egyptand Soviet arms shipments continued to arrive. Egyptian military planners worked closely and secretly with their Syriancounterparts to devise a simultaneous two-front attack on Israel.  Consequently, Syria also secretly mobilized forwar.

Israel’sintelligence agencies learned many details of the invasion plan, even the dateof the attack itself, October 6.  Israel detected the movements of large numbersof Egyptian and Syrian troops, armor, and – in the Suez Canal– bridging equipment. On October 6, a few hours before Egyptand Syriaattacked, the Israeli government called for a mobilization of 120,000 soldiersand the entire Israeli Air Force. However, many top Israeli officials continued to believe that Egypt and Syria were incapable of starting awar and that the military movements were just another army exercise.  Israeli officials decided against carryingout a pre-emptive air strike (as Israel had done in the Six-Day War)to avoid being seen as the aggressor.  Egypt and Syria chose to attack on Yom Kippur(which fell on October 6 in 1973), the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, whenmost Israeli soldiers were on leave.

October 5, 1937 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers his “Quarantine Speech”

In October 1937, the United States was already moving away from neutrality, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his “Quarantine Speech”, calling for an international “quarantine” of the “epidemic of world lawlessness” against unnamed countries, but which ostensibly were Germany, Italy, and Japan.  Roosevelt proposed imposing economic measures against them, rather than using outright aggression.

(Taken from Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe)

United States in the interwar period In the period after World War I, the United States exerted strong influence on theeconomic recovery of Europe.  Using American loans, changes were introducedto the German economy, allowing the Weimargovernment to restructure its war reparations obligations to the Alliednations.  In turn, the latter repaidtheir war loans to U.S.creditors.  By the mid-1920s, prosperityhad returned to Western Europe.

In October 1929, the U.S.stock market crashed, ushering in the massive economic crisis called the GreatDepression, first in the United States and spreading later to many parts ofthe world.  The U.S. economy was hithard, with unemployment reaching 25%, hundreds of thousands of people becominghomeless, some 5,000 banks (50% of the total number) failing, and manyindustries badly hit, including construction, mining, agriculture, logging, andshipping.  The U.S. government reversed its foreignpolicy and turned inward-looking to confront its severe domestic problems.  The effects of the Great Depression would befelt throughout the 1930s, and the U.S. economy would not fullyrecover until the early 1940s.

In the mid-1930s, with mounting tensions in Europe caused byan increasingly belligerent Nazi Germany, the United States passed the Neutrality Act in August 1935, wherethe United States would notsell weapons to any party in a war, which reflected the U.S. movetoward isolationism and non-involvement in European affairs.  By 1937, U.S. President Franklin D. Rooseveltfelt increasingly drawn to the side of the western democracies, Britain andFrance, and with his lobbying efforts, U.S. Congress extended the NeutralityAct in May 1937, but which included the “cash and carry” provision, in that theUnited States would sell war materials to belligerents in a European war, oncondition that the buyers pay for the goods in cash and make arrangements andbear full responsibility for their shipment. Ostensibly, all countries could avail of this provision; however, inreality, only Britain and France, with their large powerful navies, couldpurchase U.S. weapons, whileGermany,yet in the early stages of building a navy, could not.  The Neutrality Act was further extended inNovember 1939.  However, in October 1937,the United States wasalready moving away from neutrality, with President Roosevelt, in his“Quarantine Speech”, calling for an international “quarantine” of the “epidemicof world lawlessness” against unnamed countries, but which ostensibly were Germany, Italy,and Japan.  Rooseveltproposed imposing economic measures against them, rather than directaggression.

After World War I, the United States adopted a pacifist foreign policy, demobilizingmost of its armed forces, cooperating with the League of Nations, and participating in disarmament conferences and signingdiplomatic treaties.  In the 1930s, itsneutralist and isolationist position made the United States unprepared foranother war, and in 1938, the defense budget amounted to only 1% of GDP.  But by 1940, U.S. involvement as a non-combatantin the ongoing European conflict was growing, and a perception grew that thecountry would eventually be drawn into war. As a result, defense spending rose dramatically to 13% of GDP, and manyaspects of the civilian economy were set to be converted to war readiness.

October 4, 1939 – World War II: The last Polish units surrender to German and Soviet forces

Facing both German and Soviet invasions, the remaining Polish units continued to engage in desperate fighting.  On September 20, 1939, at Tomaszow Lubelski, the Germans annihilated two Polish armies, the Krakow and Lublin Armies.  Two days later, September 22, Lwow was taken.  In Warsaw, on September 28, the Polish defenders who had withstood relentless German air and artillery attacks, and German ground assaults, finally capitulated after a 20-day siege, with 140,000 Polish soldiers captured.  The next day, the Modlin Fortress located north of the capital also fell after two weeks of fighting.  Isolated Polish pockets held off until as late as the first week of October 1939, which were overrun, ending the six-week war.

(Taken from German Invasion of Poland – Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe)

Background In March 1938, with the Anschluss (political union), Germany gained control of Austria.  Six months later, September 1938, with the Munich Agreement, Germany annexed the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia; then after another six months, in March 1939, the dissolution of Czechoslovakia was complete.  German leader Adolf Hitler had achieved these feats using only forceful diplomacy and threats of invasion.  He then turned his eyes on Poland, intent on using the same aggressive diplomatic tactics.

At the end of World War I, the Allies reconstituted Poland as a sovereign nation, incorporating intothe new state portions of the eastern German territories of Pomerania and Silesia, which containedmajority Polish populations.  In the1920s, the German Weimar Republicsought to restore to Germanyall its lost territories, but was restrained by certain stipulations of theTreaty of Versailles, which had been imposed on Germany after World War I.  Polish Pomerania was known worldwide as the“Polish Corridor”, as it allowed Polandaccess to international waters through the Baltic Sea.  The German city of Danzigin East Prussia, as well as nearby areas, alsowas detached from Germany,and renamed the “Free City of Danzig”, administered by the League of Nations,but whose port, customs, and public infrastructures were controlled by Poland.

In 1933, Hitler came to power and implemented Germany’smassive rearmament program, and later began to pursue his irredentist ambitionsin earnest.  Previously in January 1934,Nazi Germany and Poland hadsigned a ten-year non-aggression pact, where the German government recognizedthe territorial integrity of the Polish state, which included the Germanregions that had been ceded to Poland.  But by the late 1930s, the now militarilypowerful Germanywas actively pushing to redefine the German-Polish border.

In October 1938, Germanyproposed to Poland renewingtheir non-aggression treaty, but subject to two conditions: that Danzig berestored to Germany and thatGermany be allowed to buildroad and railway lines through the Polish Corridor to connect Germany proper and East Prussia.  Poland refused, and in April 1939,Hitler abolished the non-aggression pact. To Poland, Hitler wasusing the same aggressive tactics that he had used against Czechoslovakia, and that if it yielded to theGerman demands on Danzig and the Polish Corridor, ultimately the rest of Poland would be swallowed up by Germany.

Meanwhile, Britainand France, which hadpursued appeasement toward Hitler, had become wary after the German occupationof the rest of Czechoslovakia,which had a non-ethnic German majority population, which was in contrast towhat Hitler had said that he only wanted returned those German-populatedterritories.  Britainand France were nowdetermined to resist Germanydiplomatically and resolve the crisis through firm negotiations.  On March 31, 1939, Britainand Franceannounced that they would “guarantee Polish independence” in case of foreignaggression.  Since 1921, as per theFranco-Polish Military Alliance, France had pledged military assistance to Poland if thatlatter was attacked.

In fact, Hitler’s intentions on Poland was not only thereturn of lost German territories, but the elimination of the Polish state andannexation of Poland as part of Lebensraum (“living space”), German expansioninto Eastern Europe and Russia. Lebensraum called for the eradication of the native populations in theseconquered areas.  For Polandspecifically, on August 22, 1939 in the lead-up to the German invasion, Hitlerhad said that “the object of the war is … to kill without pity or mercy allmen, women, and children of Polish descent or language.  Only in this way can we obtain the livingspace we need.”  In April 1939, Hitlerinstructed the German military High Command to begin preparations for aninvasion of Poland,to be launched later in the summer.  ByMay 1939, the German military had drawn up the invasion plan.

In May 1939, Britainand France held high-leveltalks with the Soviet Union regarding forming a tripartite military allianceagainst Germany, especiallyin light of the possible German invasion of Poland.  These talks stalled, because Poland refused to allow Soviet forces into itsterritory in case Germanyattacked.  Unbeknown to Britain and France,the Soviet Union and Germanywere also conducting (secret) separate talks regarding bilateral political,military, and economic concerns, which on August 23, 1939, led to the signingof a non-aggression treaty.  This treaty,which was broadcast to the world and widely known as the Molotov RibbentropPact (named after Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German ForeignMinister Joachim von Ribbentrop), brought a radical shift to the European powerbalance, as Germany was now free to invade Poland without fear of Sovietreprisal.  The pact also included asecret protocol where Poland,Finland, Estonia, Latvia,Lithuania, and Romania weredivided into German and Soviet spheres of influence.

One day earlier, August 22, with the non-aggression treatyvirtually assured, Hitler set the invasion date of Poland for August 26, 1939.  On August 25, Hitler told the Britishambassador that Britain mustagree to the German demands on Poland,as the non-aggression pact freed Germany from facing a two-front warwith major powers.  But on that same day,Britain and Poland signed a mutual defense pact, whichcontained a secret clause where the British promised military assistance if Poland was attacked by Germany.  This agreement, as well as British overturesthat Britain and Poland were willing to restart the stalled talkswith Germany,forced Hitler to abort the invasion set for the next day.

The Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces) stood down, except forsome units that did not receive the new stop order and crossed into Poland,skirmishing with the Poles.  These Germanunits soon withdrew back across the border, but the Polish High Command,informed through intelligence reports of massive German build-up at the border,was unaware that the border skirmishes were part of an aborted German invasion.

German negotiations with Britainand Francecontinued, but they failed to make progress. Poland had refused tonegotiate on the basis of ceding territory, and its determination wasstrengthened by the military guarantees of the Western Powers, particularly inthat if the Germans invaded, the British and French would attack from the west,and Germanywould be confronted with a two-front war.

On August 29, 1939, Germanysent Poland a set ofproposals for negotiations, which included two points: that Danzig be returnedto Germany and that aplebiscite be held in the Polish Corridor to determine whether the territoryshould remain with Poland orbe returned to Germany.  In the latter, Poles who were born or hadsettled in the Corridor since 1919 could not vote, while Germans born there butnot living there could vote.  Germanydemanded that negotiations were subject to a Polish official with signingpowers arriving by the following day, August 30.

Britaindeemed that the German proposal was an ultimatum to Poland, and tried but failed toconvince the Polish government to negotiate. On August 30, the German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop presented theBritish ambassador with a 16-point proposal for negotiations, but refused thelatter’s request that a copy be sent to the Polish government, as no Polishrepresentative had arrived by the set date. The next day, August 31, the Polish Ambassador Jozef Lipski conferredwith Ribbentrop, but as Lipski had no signing powers, the talks did notproceed.  Later that day, Hitlerannounced that the German-Polish talks had ended because of Poland’srefusal to negotiate.  He then orderedthe German High Command to proceed with the invasion of Poland for thenext day, September 1, 1939.

October 3, 1912 – United States Occupation of Nicaragua, 1912-1933: U.S. Marines shell Nicaraguan rebel forts at the Battle of Coyotepe Hill

On October 3, 1912, U.S. Marines opened fire with two artillery pieces on the Nicaraguan rebel forts at Coyotepe and Barranca. The forts were strategically located on a hill overlooking the Masaya railroad line nearly halfway between the capital Managua and Granada. The following day, October 4, four U.S. Marine battalions stormed the forts, capturing them that same day. Some 850 U.S. Marines were involved in the battle, assisted by 100 American sailors. The rebels numbered 350 fighters inside the two forts equipped with four artillery pieces. Casualties were: U.S. Marines – 4 killed ; Rebels – 32 killed, 10 wounded.

Nicaragua in Central America

The United Stateshad sent troops to Nicaraguain 1912 to intervene on the side of President Adolfo Diaz against aninsurrection by the former Minister of War General Luis Mena. The Americanmilitary presence in that country would last over two decades until 1933.

(Taken from United States Occupation of Nicaragua, 1912-1933 – Wars of the 20th Century – 26 Wars and Conflicts in the Americas and the Caribbean)

Background In many instances, Nicaragua’s political troubles prompted American intervention, such as those that occurred in 1847, 1894, 1896, 1898, and 1899, when U.S. forces were landed in that Central American country.  These occupations were brief, with American troops withdrawing once order had been restored, although U.S. Navy ships kept a permanent watch throughout the Central American coastline.  The officially stated reasons given by the United States for intervening in Nicaragua was to protect American lives and American commercial interests in Central America.  In some cases, however, the Americans wanted to give a decided advantage to one side of Nicaragua’s political conflict.

In 1912, the United Statesagain intervened in Nicaragua,starting an occupation of the country that would last for over two decades andwould leave a deep impact on the local population.  The origin of the 1912 American occupationtraces back to the early 1900s when Nicaragua,then led by the Liberals, offered the construction of the NicaraguaCanal to Germanyand Japan.  The NicaraguaCanal was planned to be a shippingwaterway that connects the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean through the Caribbean Sea.

The Liberals wanted less American involvement in Nicaragua’sinternal affairs and therefore offered the waterway’s construction to othercountries.  Furthermore, the United States had decided to forgo its originalplan to build the Nicaragua Canal in favor of completing the partly-finished Panama Canal (which had been abandoned by a Frenchconstruction firm).

For the United States,however, the idea of another foreign power in the Western Hemisphere wasanathema, as the U.S.government believed it had the exclusive rights to the region.  The American policy of exclusivity in theWestern Hemisphere was known as the Monroe Doctrine, set forth in 1823 byformer U.S.president James Monroe.  Furthermore, theUnited States believed that Nicaragua had ambitions in Central America and therefore viewed that country as a potential source ofa wider conflict.  U.S.-Nicaraguanrelations deteriorated when two American saboteurs were executed by theNicaraguan government.  Consequently, theUnited States broke offdiplomatic relations with Nicaragua.

In October 1909, Nicaraguan Conservatives, backed by someLiberals, carried out a rebellion against the government.  The United States threw its supportbehind the rebels.  Then when therebellion spread, the United Statessent warships to Nicaraguaand subsequently, in December 1909, landed troops in Corinto and Bluefields(Map 38).  More American forces arrivedin May 1910.

In August 1910, Nicaragua’s ruling governmentcollapsed, replaced by a U.S.-friendly administration consisting ofConservatives and Liberals.  The United States bought out Nicaragua’s large foreign debt thathad accumulated during the long period of instability.  Consequently, Nicaraguaowed the United Statesthe amount of that debt, while the Americans’ stake was raised in that troubledcountry.

Then in 1912, Nicaragua’s ruling coalition brokedown, sparking a civil war between the government and another alliance ofLiberals and Conservatives.  As therebels gained ground and began to threaten Managua,Nicaragua’s capital, the United Stateslanded troops in Corinto, Bluefields, and San Juan del Sur.  At its peak, the U.S.troop deployment in Nicaraguatotaled over 2,300 soldiers.  Within amonth of the deployment, in October 1912, the American troops, supported byNicaraguan government forces, had defeated the rebels.

The United Statestightened its control of Nicaraguain August 1914 when both countries signed an agreement whereby the Americansgained exclusive rights to construct the Nicaragua Canal,as well as to establish military bases to protect it.  The U.S.-Nicaragua treaty mostly served as adeterrent against other foreign involvement in Nicaragua,since by this time, the Americans already were operating the Panama Canal nearby.

October 2, 1937 – Parsley Massacre: Dominican President Rafael Trujillo orders the mass killing of Haitians

On October 2, 1937, President Rafael Trujillo met with Dominican residents of Dajabon and promised to act on their complaints against Haitians who were committing “thefts of cattle, provisions, fruits…”  President Trujillo also disclosed to the Dajabon assembly that government forces had killed 300 Haitians days earlier.

The northwestern Dominican region around Dajabon was the scene of the Parsley Massacre.

From October 3-8, 1937, the Dominican Army massacredHaitians in and around the region of Dajabon. The victims were killed in their homes inside plantation camps or weregathered together and brought to secluded locations for execution.  The soldiers generally did not fire theirrifles at the Haitians, since the bullets could be used to implicate theDominican Army and even President Trujillo. Instead, the perpetrators used machetes, clubs, and knives, in order tosuggest that the killings were carried out by civilians.  In some cases, Dominican civilians who helpedHaitians escape were also killed. Dominicans also sometimes were misidentified as Haitians and killed.

To identify Haitians, a piece of “perejil” (parsley) wasshown to a potential victim who was ordered to name it.  As Haitians spoke French Creole and were unableto say “perejil” like the Spanish-speaking Dominicans did, the person wasdeemed a Haitian and taken away for execution. The Parsley Massacre is so named because of the “perejil” shibboleth.

(Taken from Parsley Massacre – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 3)

Background In1930, Rafael Trujillo became President of the Dominican Republic, a country that occupies two-thirds and theeastern section of Hispaniola Island in the Caribbean Sea.  President Trujillo actively pursued a racistpolicy known as “Antihaitianismo” or “Antihaitianism”, directed against Haiti, the Dominican Republic’s western neighbor in Hispaniola.

Antihaitianism emphasized racial differences between the twonationalities, that Dominicans are descendants of former Spanish colonizers andtherefore are white (in fact, the vast majority of Dominicans are mulattodescendants of Spanish and black African unions), and that Haitians are black,being descendants of former African slaves. Antihaitianism also espoused the incompatibility of the social, cultural,and linguistic aspects of the two nationalities, that is, since the Dominican Republic was a former colony of Spain, thecountry therefore exhibits strong Spanish influences.  Conversely, Haitiwas a former colony of Franceand therefore manifests strong French influences.  Also because of a history of conflict,Antihaitianism also was viewed by Dominicans as the need for vigilance todefend their country against a possible invasion by Haitians who were perceivedas wanting to take control of the whole island.

Antihaitianism has its origin in 1805 when Haiti invaded and took control of Santo Domingo (present-day Dominican Republic), then a Spanishcolony, and subsequently carried out repressive policies and atrocities,including a number of massacres in the Cibao region. A year earlier, Haiti had gained its independence from France.  In 1822, Haitiand Santo Domingo signed a unificationagreement, whereby the Haitian government gained authority of westernHispaniola, thereby bringing the whole island under Haiti’s control.

Relations soon deteriorated, however, when the Haitiangovernment attempted to transform Dominican society.  The Spanish language was curtailed as weretraditional Dominican customs.  TheCatholic Church was suppressed, church properties were seized, and the foreignclergy was expelled from the island. Land reform was imposed, which ran against traditional Dominican farmingpractices and which targeted wealthy landowners.  When these landowners were forced out of theisland, their lands were taken over by Haitian officials.

In 1844, Dominicans rebelled and drove away the Haitians,ending 22 years of occupation. Dominicans then declared independence as the Dominican Republic.  In the following years, Haiti carriedout many unsuccessful attempts to re-conquer its eastern neighbor.  An undefined border between them also addedto their acrimonious historical relationship. In 1936, tensions eased somewhat, and President Trujillo and HaitianPresident Stenio Vincent signed a border treaty that fixed the territoriallimits of the two countries.

However, the Dominican Republic’s border regions were frontiers too remote to Santo Domingo and onlypoorly accessed from other populated areas of the country.  Budgetary constraints also restricted the Dominicangovernment’s ability to secure the country’s border.    As a result, President Trujillo wasinfuriated that his political enemies could easily escape to Haiti fromwhere he believed they made plans against him. The porous border also deprived the Dominican Republic of tariff duties from farm produce and othergoods that entered from Haiti.

President Trujillo’s greatest concern, however, was thelarge number of Haitians who entered the Dominican Republic in search ofwork.  Through immigration over theyears, Haitian settlements had established and “haitianized” some Dominicanborder areas.  Most of the Haitians wereemployed as laborers in Dominican sugar plantations.  President Trujillo initiated repressivepolicies aimed at ending the immigration and re-establishing Dominican controlof the border areas.  In July 1937, theDominican government expelled 8,000 Haitians. Adding to President Trujillo’s anti-Haitian sentiment was that the Dominican Republic’seconomy was being hard hit by the ongoing Great Depression, in which sugar, thecountry’s main source of revenue, had dropped to 1/20 of its price in the worldmarket.

October 1, 1991 – Croatian War of Independence: The Yugoslav Army begins the siege of Dubrovnik

On October 1, 1991, Yugoslav Army forces advanced from Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, andSerb-controlled Croatiatoward the western region of southern Dalmatia with the city of Dubrovnik as their mainobjective.  The capture of the towns ofPrevlaka, Konavle, and Cavtat allowed the Yugoslavs to encircle Dubrovnik.  Artillery batteries placed on the surroundingheights, together with Yugoslav Navy ships on the coastal waters, opened fireon the city, starting a seven-month siege. Yugoslav planes also conducted air strikes on Dubrovnik. International diplomatic pressures and widespread foreign media coverageof the siege eventually deterred the Yugoslav Army from carrying out a groundassault on the city.

(Taken from Croatian War of Independence – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)

Background By the late 1980s, Yugoslavia was faced with a major political crisis, as separatist aspirations among its ethnic populations threatened to undermine the country’s integrity (see “Yugoslavia”, separate article).  Nationalism particularly was strong in Croatia and Slovenia, the two westernmost and wealthiest Yugoslav republics.  In January 1990, delegates from Slovenia and Croatia walked out from an assembly of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the country’s communist party, over disagreements with their Serbian counterparts regarding proposed reforms to the party and the central government.  Then in the first multi-party elections in Croatia held in April and May 1990, Franjo Tudjman became president after running a campaign that promised greater autonomy for Croatia and a reduced political union with Yugoslavia.

Ethnic Serbs in Croatia formed the majority population in Northern Dalmatia, Lika, and parts of Western Slavonia and Eastern Slavonia.

Ethnic Croatians, who comprised 78% of Croatia’s population, overwhelmingly supportedTudjman, because they were concerned that Yugoslavia’snational government gradually had fallen under the control of Serbia, Yugoslavia’s largest and mostpowerful republic, and led by hard-line President Slobodan Milosevic.  In May 1990, a new Croatian Parliament wasformed and subsequently prepared a new constitution.  The constitution was subsequently passed inDecember 1990.  Then in a referendum heldin May 1991 with Croatian Serbs refusing to participate, Croatians votedoverwhelmingly in support of independence. On June 25, 1991, Croatia,together with Slovenia,declared independence.

Croatian Serbs (ethnic Serbs who are native to Croatia) numbered nearly 600,000, or 12% of Croatia’s totalpopulation, and formed the second largest ethnic group in the republic.  As Croatiaincreasingly drifted toward political separation from Yugoslavia, theCroatian Serbs became alarmed at the thought that the new Croatian governmentwould carry out persecutions, even a genocidal pogrom against Serbs, just asthe pro-Nazi ultra-nationalist Croatian Ustashe government had done to theSerbs, Jews, and Gypsies during World War II. As a result, Croatian Serbs began to militarize, with the formation ofmilitias as well as the arrival of armed groups from Serbia.

Croatian Serbs formed a population majority in south-west Croatia(northern Dalmatian and Lika).  There, inFebruary 1990, they formed the Serb Democratic Party, which aimed for thepolitical and territorial integration of Serb-dominated lands in Croatia with Serbiaand Yugoslavia. They declared that if Croatia wanted to secede from Yugoslavia, they, in turn, should be allowed toseparate from Croatia.  Serbs also interpreted the change in theirstatus in the new Croatian constitution as diminishing their civil rights.  In turn, the Croatian government opposed theCroatian Serb secession and was determined to keep the republic’s territorialintegrity.

In July 1990, a Croatian Serb Assembly was formed thatcalled for Serbian sovereignty and autonomy. In December, Croatian Serbs established the SAO Krajina (SAO is theacronym for Serbian Autonomous Oblast) as a separate government from Croatia in the regions of northern Dalmatia and Lika. Croatian Serbs formed a majority population in two other regions in Croatia, which they also transformed intoseparate political administrations called SAO Western Slavonia, and SAO EasternSlavonia (officially SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Syrmia).  (Map 17 showslocations in Croatiawhere ethnic Serbs formed a majority population.) In a referendum held inAugust 1990 in SAO Krajina, Croatian Serbs voted overwhelmingly (99.7%) forSerbian “sovereignty and autonomy”.  Thenafter a second referendum held in March 1991 where Croatian Serbs voted unanimously(99.8%) to merge SAO Krajina with Serbia, the Krajina governmentdeclared that “… SAO Krajina is a constitutive part of the unified stateterritory of the Republic of Serbia”.

September 30, 1938 – Britain, France, Italy, and Germany sign the Munich Agreement, ceding the Sudetenland to Germany

In a frantic move to avert war, the Prime Ministers of Britain and France,Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier, respectively, together withMussolini, met with Hitler, and on September 30, 1938, the four men signed theMunich Pact, where the Sudetenland was formally ceded to Germany.

Background Inlate March 1938, while Germany was yet in the process of annexing Austria,another conflict, the “Sudetenland Crisis” occurred, where ethnic Germans, whoformed the majority population in the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia,demanded autonomy and the right to join the Nazi Party.  Hitler supported these demands, citing theSudeten Germans’ right to self-determination. The Czechoslovak government refused, and in May 1938, mobilized for war.In response, Hitler secretly asked the German High Command to prepare for war,to be launched in October 1938.  Britain and France,anxious to avoid war at all costs by not antagonizing Hitler (a policy calledappeasement), pressed Czechoslovakiato yield, with the British even stating that the Sudeten Germans’ demand forautonomy was reasonable.  In earlySeptember 1938, the Czechoslovak government agreed to the demands.  Then when civilian unrest broke out in theSudetenland which the Czechoslovakian police quelled, in mid-September 1938, afurious Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland be ceded to Germany inorder to stop the supposed slaughter of Sudeten Germans.  Under great pressure from Britain and France,on September 21, 1938, the Czechoslovak government relented, and agreed to cedethe Sudetenland.  But the next day, Hitler made new demands,which Czechoslovakiarejected and again mobilized for war.  Ina frantic move to avert war, the Prime Ministers of Britainand France, NevilleChamberlain and Edouard Daladier, respectively, together with Mussolini, metwith Hitler, and on September 29, 1938, the four men signed the Munich Pact,where the Sudetenland was formally ceded to Germany.  Two days later, Czechoslovakiaaccepted the fait accompli, knowing it would not be supported by Britain and Francein a war with Germany.  In succeeding months, Czechoslovakia disintegrated as a sovereignstate: the Slovak region separated, aligning with Germanyas a puppet state; other regions were annexed by Hungaryand Poland; and in March1939, the rest of the Czech portion of the country was occupied by Germany.

(Taken from Hitler and the Nazis in Power – Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe)

In October 1929, the severe economic crisis known as the Great Depression began in the United States, and then spread out and affected many countries around the world.  Germany, whose economy was dependent on the United States for reparations payments and corporate investments, was badly hit, and millions of workers lost their jobs, many banks closed down, and industrial production and foreign trade dropped considerably.

The Weimargovernment weakened politically, as many Germans turned to radical ideologies,particularly Hitler’s ultra-right wing nationalist Nazi Party, as well as theGerman Communist Party.  In the 1930federal elections, the Nazi Party made spectacular gains and became a majorpolitical party with a platform of improving the economy, restoring politicalstability, and raising Germany’sinternational standing by dealing with the “unjust” Versailles treaty.  Then in two elections held in 1932, the Nazisbecame the dominant party in the Reichstag (German parliament), albeit withoutgaining a majority.  Hitler long soughtthe post of German Chancellor, which was the head of government, but he wasrebuffed by the elderly President Paul von Hindenburg , who distrustedHitler.  At this time, Hitler’s ambitionswere not fully known, and following a political compromise by rival parties, inJanuary 1933, President Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, with fewNazis initially holding seats in the new Cabinet.  The Chancellorship itself had little power,and the real authority was held by the President (the head of state).

On the night of February 27, 1933, fire broke out at theReichstag, which led to the arrest and execution of a Dutch arsonist, acommunist, who was found inside the building. The next day, Hitler announced that the fire was the signal for Germancommunists to launch a nationwide revolution. On February 28, 1933, the German parliament passed the “Reichstag FireDecree” which repealed civil liberties, including the right of assembly andfreedom of the press.  Also rescinded wasthe writ of habeas corpus, allowing authorities to arrest any person withoutthe need to press charges or a court order. In the next few weeks, the police and Nazi SA paramilitary carried out asuppression campaign against communists (and other political enemies) across Germany,executing communist leaders, jailing tens of thousands of their members, andeffectively ending the German Communist Party. Then in March 1933, with the communists suppressed and other partiesintimidated, Hitler forced the Reichstag to pass the Enabling Act, whichallowed the government (i.e. Hitler) to enact laws, even those that violatedthe constitution, without the approval of parliament or the president.  With nearly absolute power, the Nazis gainedcontrol of all aspects of the state.  InJuly 1933, with the banning of political parties and coercion into closure ofthe others, the Nazi Party became the sole legal party, and Germany becamede facto a one-party state.

At this time, Hitler grew increasingly alarmed at themilitary power of the SA, particularly distrusting the political ambitions ofits leader, Ernst Rohm.  On June 30-July2, 1934, on Hitler’s orders, the loyalist Nazi SS (Schutzstaffel; English:Protection Squadron) and Gestapo (Secret Police) purged the SA, killing hundredsof its leaders including Rohm, and jailing thousands of its members, violentlybringing the SA organization (which had some three million members) to itsknees.  The purge benefited Hitler in twoways: First, he became the undisputed leader of the Nazi apparatus, and Secondand equally important, his standing greatly increased with the upper class,business and industrial elite, and German military; the latter, numbering only100,000 troops because of the Versailles treaty restrictions, also feltthreatened by the enormous size of the SA.

In early August 1934, with the death of PresidentHindenburg, Hitler gained absolute power, as his Cabinet passed a law thatabolished the presidency, and its powers were merged with those of thechancellor.  Hitler thus became bothGerman head of state and head of government, with the dual roles of Fuhrer(leader) and Chancellor.  As head ofstate, he also was Supreme Commander of the armed forces, making him absoluteruler and dictator of Germany.

In domestic matters, the Nazi government made great gains,improving the economy and industrial production, reducing unemployment,embarking on ambitious infrastructure projects, and restoring political andsocial order.  As a result, the Nazisbecame extremely popular, and party membership grew enormously.  This success was brought about from soundpolicies as well as through threat and intimidation, e.g. labor unions and jobactions were suppressed.

Hitler also began to impose Nazi racial policies, which sawethnic Germans as the “master race” comprising “super-humans” (Ubermensch),while certain races such as Slavs, Jews, and Roma (gypsies) were considered“sub-humans” (Untermenschen); also lumped with the latter were non-ethnic-basedgroups, i.e. communists, liberals, and other political enemies, homosexuals, Freemasons,Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.  Nazilebensraum (“living space”) expansionism into Eastern Europe and Russia calledfor eliminating the Slavic and other populations there and replacing them withGerman farm settlers to help realize Hitler’s dream of a 1,000-year GermanEmpire.

In Germanyitself, starting in April 1933 until the passing of the Nuremberg Laws inSeptember 1935 and beyond, Nazi racial policy was directed against the localJews, stripping them of civil rights, banning them from employment andeducation, revoking their citizenship, excluding them from political and sociallife, disallowing inter-marriages with Germans, and essentially declaring themundesirables in Germany.  As a result, tens of thousands of Jews left Germany.  Hitler blamed the Jews (and communists) forthe civilian and workers’ unrest and revolution near the end of World War I,ostensibly that had led to Germany’sdefeat, and for the many social and economic problems currently afflicting thenation.  Following anti-Nazi boycotts inthe United States, Britain, and other countries, Hitler retaliatedwith a call to boycott Jewish businesses in Germany, which degenerated intoviolent riots by SA mobs that attacked and killed, and jailed hundreds of Jews,looted and destroyed Jewish properties, and seized Jewish assets.  The most notorious of these attacks occurredin November 1938 in “Kristallnacht” (Crystal Night), where in response to theassassination of a German diplomat by a Polish Jew in Paris, the Nazi SA andcivilian mobs in Germany went on a violent rampage, killing hundreds of Jews,jailing tens of thousands of others, and looting and destroying Jewish homes,schools, synagogues, hospitals, and other buildings.  Some 1,000 synagogues were burned, and 7,000businesses destroyed. 

In foreign affairs, Hitler, like most Germans, denounced theVersaillestreaty, and wanted it rescinded.  In1933, Hitler withdrew Germanyfrom the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva,and in October of that year, from the League of Nations, in both casesdenouncing why Germanywas not allowed to re-arm to the level of the other major powers.

September 29, 1932 – Chaco War: Paraguayan forces recapture Fortin Boqueron

On September 29, 1932, Paraguayan forces recaptured Fortin Boqueron and other small garrisons nearby from the Bolivian Army. In December 1932, Bolivia sent many troops and weapons to the North Chaco for a full-scale offensive aimed at taking the whole region and then advancing right up to Asuncion, Paraguay’s capital.  From January to March 1933, Bolivian offensives overran several Paraguayan fortifications.  Then in a major battle at Fortin Nanawa, which was the Paraguayan Army’s headquarters in the North Chaco, the Bolivians were stopped.

Background of theChaco War During the 1930s, Paraguayand Bolivia went to war forpossession of the North Chaco, a dry,forbidding expanse of scrub and forest that lay between the two countrie).  The North Chaco forms a part of the largerGran Chaco Plains, a vast region that extends into northern Argentina, western Paraguay,eastern Bolivia, and a smallsection in western Brazil.

During the colonial era, the Gran Chaco Plains wasadministered by the Spanish government as a separate territory.  In the early 1800s, the Gran Chaco Plainsbecame disputed territory when the South American countries surrounding it gainedtheir independences.  The delineation ofthe borders around the Gran Chaco Plains was not pursued actively, however,because of the region’s harsh climate and the mistaken belief that it containedfew natural resources.

Through conquest from wars later in the 1800s, many areas ofthe Gran Chaco Plains were annexed by the victorious countries.  Eventually, what remained undecided was theNorth Chaco, the region straddling Paraguayand Bolivia and located westof the Paraguay River and north of the Pilcomayo River.

War Fightingbroke out in June 1932 with the Paraguayan forces soon taking the initiative.But by March 1935, their offensive had sputtered. Thereafter, the ParaguayanArmy realized that while it had achieved its military objectives in the NorthChaco, it could not go any further into Bolivia without incurring heavylosses.

While some politicians on both sides demanded for thecontinuation of the war, the governments of Paraguayand Boliviawere alarmed that the huge human and economic tolls were bringing theircountries to ruin.  War casualties hadreached 100,000 dead, with nearly 60% of that figure suffered by Bolivia.  On June 10, 1935, in a truce mediated by theArgentinean government, Paraguayand Boliviaagreed to end the war.

Aftermath The territorial issue of the North Chaco was brought before an arbitration panel consisting of members from South American countries.  In its decision, the arbitration panel awarded 75% of the North Chaco to Paraguay, and the rest (25%) to Bolivia.  The panel’s decision also stipulated that Paraguay must grant Bolivia access to the Paraguay River, as well as to specified ports and rail facilities inside Paraguay. (Excerpts taken from Chaco War – Wars of the 20th Century: Volume 1.)