The United States Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934 by Hans R. Schmidt

Schmidt correctly sees the United States foreign policy as divided. Therefore the State Department worked closely with domestic business interests, particularly the pro-intervention National City Bank of New York, which controlled the Haitian national bank and the national railroad. United States investment in Haiti was small, but was nevertheless important as United States officials felt that economic penetration would serve as an instrument for political control. Into this strategic concern dovetailed an economic factor. The author views the landing of marines in 1915 as a continuation of the general pattern of United States expansionism which began in the 19th century and more specifically as a strategic move, designed to prevent Germany from using Haitian instability to gain a foothold threatening to United States control of the Caribbean. It is based on extensive research, including United States government documents available only recently. Valuable for the researcher, not recommended for a casual reader.This thoughtful book is the first which attempts a comprehensive analysis of one of the military occupations which the United States carried out in the Caribbean between 18.

Even worse, the book almost completely lacks a Haitian perspective on events, reducing an entire nation to passive spectators, pliant puppets or recalcitrant rebels without a voice. Unfortunately, Schmidt's prose ranges from pedestrian to leaden, and without a clear narrative or thematic through line he bogs down in repetitive discussions of American financial interests and an endless barrage of racial slurs. Though Schmidt emphasizes Wilson's liberal idealism (with democracy and 'free trade' going hand in glove), he doesn't shy away from depicting the violent racism of American occupiers, brutal atrocities ranging from massacres to impressment into chain gangs (exploding the 'we built roads' defense of imperialism), and the everyday slights, indignities and tensions that accompany any occupation. Schmidt exhaustively chronicles the attitudes and actions of American servicemen, politicians and financial officials during the nineteen years of occupation, showing a bizarre melange of conflicting motives: Woodrow Wilson's commitment to spreading democracy and imposing 'law and order,' protection from European nations (namely France and Germany) along with dreams of economic exploitation. This history of America's brutal occupation of Haiti manages to be both exhaustive and incomplete.

The United States Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934 by Hans R. Schmidt