Military Intervention Under Wilson

Military Intervention under Wilson

  • Wilson's focus on democracy and anti-colonialism was inconsistent regarding the Caribbean and Central America.
  • Increased use of U.S. military forces compared to Roosevelt and Taft:
    • Interventions in Nicaragua, Haiti (1915), and the Dominican Republic (1916) for regional stability and to protect the Panama Canal.

Mexico and Internal Conflict

  • Faced with a revolution and civil war in Mexico, Wilson refused to recognize General Huerta's dictatorship (seized power in 1913).
  • Wilson supported arms supply to revolutionaries against Huerta.

Tampico Incident

  • U.S. sailors arrested in Tampico by Mexican authorities, later released.
  • Huerta did not apologize, leading Wilson to order the occupation of Veracruz.
  • Conflict averted by mediation from Argentina, Brazil, and Chile (first joint mediation in Americas).

Pancho Villa and U.S. Expeditionary Force

  • Huerta overthrown in late 1914; Venustiano Carranza establishes a new democratic government.
  • Pancho Villa conducts raids in U.S. border states, leading Wilson to send General Pershing to pursue him in March 1916.
  • Pershing's expedition fails to capture Villa; Carranza protests U.S. military presence.
  • Troops withdrawn in January 1917 due to World War I considerations.