Editing Dominican Republic (section)

===20th century (1900–1930)===
[[File:Alejandro Woss y Gil.jpg|thumb|right|President [[Alejandro Woss y Gil]] taking office in 1903]]
From 1902 on, short-lived governments were again the norm, with their power usurped by caudillos in parts of the country. Furthermore, the national government was bankrupt and, unable to pay its debts to European creditors, faced the threat of military intervention by France, [[German Empire|Germany]], and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]].<ref name=cs9>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/9.htm |title=Dominican Republic&nbsp;– Renewed conflict, 1899–1916 |access-date=October 19, 2008 |work=Country Studies |publisher=[[Library of Congress]]; Federal Research Division |archive-date=July 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090706222617/http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/9.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> United States President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] sought to prevent European intervention, largely to protect the routes to the future [[Panama Canal]]. He made a small military intervention to ward off European powers, to proclaim his famous [[Roosevelt Corollary]] to the [[Monroe Doctrine]], and also to obtain his 1905 Dominican agreement for U.S. administration of Dominican customs, which was the chief source of income for the Dominican government. A 1906 agreement provided for the arrangement to last 50 years. The United States agreed to use part of the customs proceeds to reduce the immense foreign debt of the Dominican Republic and assumed responsibility for said debt.<ref name=Encarta/><ref name=cs9/>

After six years in power, President [[Ramón Cáceres]] (who had himself assassinated Heureaux)<ref name=countrystudies/> was assassinated in 1911. The result was several years of great political instability and [[Dominican Civil War (1911–1912)|civil war]]. U.S. mediation by the [[William Howard Taft]] and [[Woodrow Wilson]] administrations achieved only a short respite each time. A political deadlock in 1914 was broken after an ultimatum by Wilson telling the Dominicans to choose a president or see the U.S. impose one. A provisional president was chosen, and later the same year relatively free elections put former president (1899–1902) [[Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra]] back in power. With his former [[Secretary of War]] [[Desiderio Arias]] maneuvering to depose him and despite a U.S. offer of military aid against Arias, Jimenes resigned on May 7, 1916.<ref name="congress">{{cite web| title=Dominican Republic: Occupation by the United States, 1916–1924| work=Country Studies| publisher=[[Library of Congress]]; Federal Research Division| url=http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/10.htm| access-date=May 29, 2007| archive-date=December 13, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213215941/http://countrystudies.us/dominican-republic/10.htm| url-status=live}}</ref> Wilson thus ordered the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic.
[[File:Ocupacion-1916.jpg|thumb|The [[United States Marine Corps]] landing on Dominican soil in 1916]]
[[File:FortalezaPOP.jpg|thumb|[[Fortaleza San Felipe|Fort San Felipe]] was captured on June 1, 1916, by 133 U.S. Marines after a battle against 500 Dominican rebels, resulting in several U.S. casualties.{{sfn|Musicant|1990|p=249}}]]
[[File:USMC Fortaleza Ozama from river 1922 restored.jpg|thumb|The flag of the [[United States]] waving over [[Fortaleza Ozama|Ozama Fortress]] during the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic, {{Circa|1922}}]]
U.S. Marines landed on May 16, 1916, and seized the capital and other ports, while General Arias fell back to his inland Santiago stronghold.{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=49}} A significant weaponry disparity between the U.S. Marines and Arias's forces led to the latter's defeat.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rhodes|first1=Edward|title=Presence, Prevention, and Persuasion: A Historical Analysis of Military Force and Political Influence|date=2004|publisher=Lexington Books|page=163}}</ref> The clashes with the U.S. Marines marked the first time the Dominicans had ever encountered a machine gun.{{sfn|Musicant|1990|p=252}} A peace delegation from Santiago surrendered the city on July 5, coinciding with General Arias' surrender to the Dominican governor. The military government established by the U.S. under the Navy and Marine Corps on November 29, led by Vice Admiral [[Harry Shepard Knapp]], was widely repudiated by the Dominicans, but organized resistance ceased.{{sfn|Scheina|2003b|p=52}}

The occupation regime kept most Dominican laws and institutions and largely pacified the general population. The occupying government also revived the Dominican economy, reduced the nation's debt, built a road network that at last interconnected all regions of the country, and created a professional National Guard to replace the warring partisan units.<ref name="congress"/> Additionally, with grass-roots support from local communities and assistance from both Dominican and US officials, the Dominican education system expanded significantly during US occupation. Between 1918 and 1920, more than three hundred schools were established nationwide.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rodríguez |first1=Alexa |title=A Narrative from the Margins: Community and Agency during the US Occupation of the Dominican Republic, 1916-1924 |journal=History of Education Quarterly |date=2022 |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=179–197 |doi=10.1017/heq.2022.38|s2cid=254350899 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The system of forced labour used by the [[United States occupation of Haiti|Marines in Haiti]] was largely absent in the Dominican Republic.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1978|p=17}}

The U.S. government's rule ended in October 1922, and elections were held in March 1924.<ref name="congress"/> The victor was former president (1902–03) [[Horacio Vásquez]]. He was inaugurated on July 13, 1924, and the last U.S. forces left in September.{{sfn|Musicant|1990|p=284}} In 1930, General [[Rafael Trujillo]], who was trained by the U.S. Marines during the occupation,<ref name=nyt/> seized power following a military revolt against the government of Vásquez.

Trujillo consolidated his power after [[Hurricane San Zenón]] devastated Santo Domingo in September 1930, killing 8,000 people. A few of the former caudillos initially opposed the new dictator. General Cipriano Bencosme led an uprising but was defeated and killed in November 1930 during a confrontation with the army near Puerto Plata. General Desiderio Arias was also unsuccessful, dying in combat near [[Mao, Dominican Republic|Mao]] in June of the following year.{{sfn|Gleijeses|1978|p=22}}