Overseas Interventions of The United States - Before The Cold War

Before The Cold War

The First and Second Barbary Wars of the early 19th century were the first wars waged by the United States outside its boundaries after the War of Independence. Directed against the Barbary States of North Africa, it was fought to end piracy against American-flagged ships in the Mediterranean.

The founding of Liberia was privately sponsored by American groups, primarily the American Colonization Society, but the country enjoyed the support and unofficial cooperation of the United States government.

Matthew Perry negotiated a treaty opening Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. The U.S. advanced the Open Door Policy that guaranteed equal economic access to China and support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity. The USA has also acquired small islands in the Pacific, mostly to be used as coaling stations.

The early decades of the 20th century saw a number of interventions in Latin America by the U.S. government often justified under the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. President William Howard Taft viewed "Dollar Diplomacy" as a way for American corporations to benefit while assisting in the national security goal of preventing European powers from filling any possible financial or power vacuum.

• 1901:The Platt Amendment, amended a treaty between the US and Cuba after the Spanish-American war virtually made Cuba a U.S. protectorate. The amendment outlined conditions for the U.S. to intervene in Cuban affairs and permitted the United States to lease or buy lands for the purpose of the establishing naval bases, including Guantánamo Bay.
• 1903: U.S. backed independence of Panama from Colombia in order to build the Panama Canal; Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty
• 1905: U.S. occupation of the (former Spanish colony) Dominican Republic
• 1904: When European governments began to use force to pressure Latin American countries to repay their debts Theodore Roosevelt announced his "Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States would intervene in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable.
• 1906-1909 U.S. governed Cuba under Governor Charles Magoon.
• 1909: U.S.-backed rebels in Nicaragua depose President José Santos Zelaya.
• 1914 to 1917: Mexico conflict and Pancho Villa Expedition, U.S. troops entering northern portion of Mexico.
• 1915 to 1934: United States occupation of Haiti
• 1923 to 1928 (Nicaragua) Marines occupied main cities, Their purpose was to provide stabilization to the government. There was a period of a few months between 1925 and 1926 when the Marines left but were back for the same reason.
• United States intervention in Chile

The US intervened in Europe during World War I. The US intervened in Europe and Japan, as well as the territories occupied by the Axis powers, during World War II.