Gunboat Diplomacy Quotes
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910
Without much fanfare, the United States was beginning to deploy naval power internationally.
This is an astounding statement by a general officer and service commander. Many attempts were made to smear Butler and some conservatives do so to this day, however he was the only man in US history who has been awarded the Medal of Honor twice and his loyalty and patriotism is hard to question. However, Butler was a very outspoken officer and after he retired, he was a constant embarrassment and thorn in the sides of administrations of both parties.
Every major Western power and Japan were looking to control parts of China for their own mercantile advantage. The Emperor, her adopted son, had stated that under no circumstances would the Chinese fight, but Cixi issued this decree, in effect, overruling the Emperor—a remarkable occurrence.
That was an ironic statement. Shortly thereafter we invaded Mexico, occupied the country, pressured it into “selling us much of what is now the Southwest of the United States, and finally left.
Thompson sailed into Phnom Phen in a gunboat. With armed “bodyguards” he forced his way into the palace, manhandled the king’s secretary who tried to prevent him from seeing King Norodom, and presented the treaty to the king who signed it. Cambodia had sought French “protection” from the two great powers adjacent, Vietnam and Thailand—see {601401}. In addition to the pressure of the two large neighbors, Norodum’s government was extremely weak and the French were ready to back a rival Sisowath. One of the ironies of this egregious example of gunboat diplomacy is that one of the first things the French did under the clause was to abolish Cambodian slavery. There were a few good things that occurred with most colonialism. The argument has always been was the good worth the bad that inevitably came with an undemocratic form of government.
Advising of diplomatic negotiations in the Dominican Republic:
The slave trade had been banned in the rest of East Africa but was legal in Zanzibar. The British Navy had great difficulty interdicting slave ships who would claim they were participating in the legal slave trade. The British decided that Zanzibar should ban slavery, but the Sultan and his advisors did not wish to give up their own personal involvement. Kirk was sent to deal with the Sultan, who under threat of naval embargo, signed the Frere Treaty. The slave market was thus closed.
The Germans had been looking for an excuse to send military troops into China to establish German zones of control in China. The Germans were not alone in having areas of control and influence in China. England, France, Italy, Holland, Japan and the United States all were vying to control trade on parts of China. The Germans, under Wilhelm, were just a little more heavy handed and gross than the other powers.
He was referring to the fact that the American military is the best in the world, but we cannot and should not use it to try and resolve all problems.
Despite a policy of non-intervention in the affairs of other countries, America has frequently found a reason to make an exception to the policy and send troops to a foreign nation to shape the government in a direction to our liking. After WWII America also used covert operations to change regimes or destabilize governments perceived not in America’s interests. Sending troops to Western Hemisphere nations was continued as well but much less frequently than earlier.
