Encountering Nicaragua United States Marines Occupying Nicaragua, 1927-1933 Christian Laupsa MA Thesis in History Department of Archeology, Conservation, and History UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Spring 2011 ii Encountering Nicaragua United States Marines Occupying Nicaragua, 1927-1933 Christian Laupsa MA Thesis in History Department of Archeology, Conservation, and History University of Oslo Spring 2011 iii iv Contents Contents ............................................................................................................................................... v Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................... viii 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Topic .................................................................................................................................................... 1 Research Questions ............................................................................................................................. 3 Delimitations ....................................................................................................................................... 3 The United States Marine Corps: a very brief history ......................................................................... 4 Historiography ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Michael J. Schroeder ....................................................................................................................... 6 Richard Grossman ........................................................................................................................... 6 Richard Millett ................................................................................................................................. 7 Michel Gobat ................................................................................................................................... 8 Other literature ............................................................................................................................... 8 Primary sources ................................................................................................................................... 9 Concepts ............................................................................................................................................ 12 Occupation .................................................................................................................................... 12 Marine perceptions ....................................................................................................................... 13 Americanization ............................................................................................................................. 13 Structure of the thesis ....................................................................................................................... 14 2. Historical Background .................................................................................................................... 16 Nicaragua: a divided nation ............................................................................................................... 16 Political and economic divisions .................................................................................................... 16 Racial divisions ............................................................................................................................... 17 Geographic divisions ..................................................................................................................... 18 U.S.-Nicaraguan Relations ca. 1900-1927 ......................................................................................... 19 “Panama policy” ............................................................................................................................ 20 v The U.S. interventions in 1909 and 1912 ...................................................................................... 21 Chamorro’s coup d’etat, Civil war and U.S. intervention .............................................................. 23 The Stimson Mission...................................................................................................................... 25 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 26 3. “A sorry country and a sorry people” ............................................................................................ 27 The Marines ....................................................................................................................................... 27 The making of a Marine ................................................................................................................. 28 Colonial infantry ............................................................................................................................ 29 The Natives ........................................................................................................................................ 31 The people and their politics ......................................................................................................... 31 Hygiene and morals ....................................................................................................................... 36 The Marines Occupy Nicaragua ......................................................................................................... 37 Establishment of law and order .................................................................................................... 37 Establishing and leading the GN .................................................................................................... 42 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 44 4. The Encounter with Caudillismo .................................................................................................... 45 Marine Strategies .............................................................................................................................. 47 Nicaraguan caudillismo ................................................................................................................. 47 The Marines trying to understand caudillismo ............................................................................. 49 Overcoming Caudillismo .................................................................................................................... 54 “Supervising” municipal elections ................................................................................................. 55 Increasing government efficiency ................................................................................................. 61 Guardia Nacional: the sole military and police force ........................................................................ 63 Undermining of the Nicaraguan authorities: GN vs. Guardia Hacienda ....................................... 64 Rural police agents ........................................................................................................................ 66 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 69 5. In Search of Principles ................................................................................................................... 70 vi “North-Americanization”................................................................................................................... 70 Building trust in the government .................................................................................................. 70 Let us create the GN in our image ................................................................................................. 73 Barriers to North-Americanization .................................................................................................... 76 Cultural differences in understanding Nicaragua .......................................................................... 76 Race and language ......................................................................................................................... 81 Changing command ....................................................................................................................... 84 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 87 6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 89 The Marines ....................................................................................................................................... 89 The Problem ...................................................................................................................................... 89 The Solution ......................................................................................................................................