Lone Star Republic
- Thread starter Kaiser Chris
- Start date
I'm hoping that Texas grows in geopolitical (or at least regional) power & influence enough to gain a modest overseas "empire." Texas might be able to pull off a modest overseas empire with enough population growth, economic might & savvy political maneuvering.
Maybe, Spain (or Britain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, etc.) will sell off or trade some of her overseas territories instead of losing them by conquest. Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, various other islands in the Caribbean, and even British Guiana or Dutch Guiana in South America would be nice to have under the Texan flag. It'd be great if the Caribbean is not just "America's Lake" but Texas's also. It'd be great if Texas was the beneficiary of some territorial deals. Texas might be seen as an acceptable third party power to rule territories instead of a more traditional European superpower like Britain or France; similar to Australia ruling Papua New Guinea or New Zealand ruling various southern Pacific islands.
In a previous post I said I'd love for Texas to have some of the worlds best & most beautiful landscapes under it's flag (Fiji, the Seychelles, Caribbean islands, Madagascar, South Pacific islands...) I'd love a map with Texan territories around the world.
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Well one obstacle to being seen as an acceptable third power is the fact Texas has been a French ally since its Revolution. True Texas has never fought alongside France outside the Western hemisphere, but many would still see Texan influence as begetting French influence I expect. Britain supported Juarez to counter the French influence in Texas and the Yucatan.
Still French support would also help them in expanding for the same reason.
That said I don't see them getting Madagascar.
Bear in mind Texas is only now entering the official "Wild West Era" ITTL. Texas will not be able to wholly commit to expansion with troubles in its internal frontiers.
Hmm, one thing to bear in mind for Texas post war is that congress will be shifting as the Mormon Rebellion peace settlement terms will expire:
So around 1865 or 1866 Deseret will return as full fledged player in congress and the former rebels will be voters again as a cherry to that shakeup.
I'm not sure what it will mean for Texas, but it will be a change from the order of the previous decade.
So around 1865 or 1866 Deseret will return as full fledged player in congress and the former rebels will be voters again as a cherry to that shakeup.
I'm not sure what it will mean for Texas, but it will be a change from the order of the previous decade.
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What about Vermont and Hawaii? Those states were both their own countries longer than Texas was.
To be completely honest I hadn't quite though about Vermont and Hawaii. Maybe they are allowed to fly their flags at the same height as well but I don't know for sure.
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If Haiti's history is altered, I wonder if Haitian monarchism will remain a thing? The last of the three efforts to establish a monarchy was in the mid 19th century.
If the Hispanolan theories turn out to be correct, I could see Texas pulling a Hawaii on Haiti. With them basically installing a friendly government which shortly afterwards asks for the same deal that the Dominicans got.
I seriously doubt that. Haitian nationalism was very tied to resisting colonialism. Their wars with the Dominican Republic were in part to secure their flank against any invasions. And their revolution was horribly bloody, I can't really see them accepting a colonial overlord at this point, even one offering fairly good terms. Haiti will not welcome invaders especially not one that was recently a slave power and compensated the slave owners. And unlike the annexations in the Southwest the hardliners will have no remnant to flee too.
What's more I don't think the Texans will want to try. They likely got invited to the DR and got hit with how hard the war was. Haiti would be worse and I think they would question if it would be worth it to even try while also dealing with the Wild West, the Patriot insurgency in Coahuila, and likely other colonial desires.
Diplomacy will also have to be considered. The USA was humiliated by the treaty of Havana when France flagrantly violated the Monroe Doctrine to annex Veracruz. Texas was a party to that, and I doubt the USA liked Austin grabbing Santo Domingo either. The USA I think will feel a need to draw a line for Texas, and Texas annexing a sovereign nation is just such a line. The Black States and the Radical Republicans would also cry foul at Texas annexing Haiti, putting additional pressure on the US government.
The British might even back up the Americans as they have no love for France's allies nor desire for Port au Prince to become French friendly port.
So no, I think ruling Haiti or trying to bring it into the fold would just be seen as more trouble than its worth. Even if Texas could pull it off, I think they would see the prize as not worth the price. More likely I think once Texas gets a genuine enough excuse to invade Haiti they do, and in short order the current regime is overthrown and the rebels make peace wit Texas to get the Texans out. The deal amounting to the new regime recognizing the Texan annexation of the DR, and maybe a few minor border concessions, and in exchange the Texans leave Haiti to its own devices.
Hmm, maybe afterwards Haiti starts to align with Britain or the USA for protection? Germany got affluent in the country OTL, maybe the Haitian government cozies up to German business interests for protection?
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Chapter 106 Hispaniola Hardships
Chapter 106 Hispaniola Hardships
"Everything I have done, I have done in the spirit of the Revolution."- Emperor Faustin Soulouque I 1852
"If my father could not reclaim what was rightfully his, what makes the Spaniards think they can do better?"- Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte III 1863
"This war is being fought for a righteous cause, it is a just conflict which the Republic of Texas has chosen to partake in so that stability and order may be brought to this here island. The people of the Dominican fought for their god-given right of independence, and they in turn were betrayed by their leaders who violated the social contract on a daily basis. We chose to fight for the people of this island because no one else will."- Lieutenant General Alberty Sidney Johnston 1876
In the year of our lord 1492, an event would take place on the island of Hispaniola that would change the history of the greater world forever. On December 5th, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus would land on the island and founded the colony of Santo Domingo, creating the first permanent European colony within the Americas and the city that would serve as a bastion and starting point for the great Spanish Empire. For the next three centuries Santo Domingo, would serve as a grand administrative center for the region, laying down the will and law of the Spanish crown on her colonies. Inspired by the successful revolution of the neighboring Haitians, and the near-complete revolutions of nearby nations such as Mexico and Columbia, the Spanish lands of Hispaniola would declare their independence in 1821, joining the greater world as the latest child of the Age of Revolutions. Sadly this was not to last as neighboring Haiti, under the rule of the harsh tyrant Jean-Pierre Boyer, invaded the infant nation in 1822 under the guise of a populist revolution that would unite the island in the name of liberty and prosperity. While President Boyer would end the practice of slavery within the Dominican territories, it would be his only major benign contribution as Boyer would implement a strict rule over the Dominican, tying the peasant farmers of the land to virtual slavery under the Code Rural. This, along with numerous other factors such as persecution of the Catholic Church, abuse of the populace by a vapidly corrupt army, heavy taxation and forced growing of cash crops, and the legal treatment of the Dominican people as second-class citizens, was enough for the Spanish-speaking Hispanoilans. Having seen through the lies of unification, the Dominican Republic would once more be reborn in 1844 in a nationwide revolt by the Dominican people against the corrupt and near-collapsing Haitian government. What would come to follow would be a series of events that leave a lasting legacy on Latin America to this very day.
Over the following two years the Dominican peoples fought a long and bloody war of attrition against the Haitian Army for independence. Utilizing the same tactics that the Haitians used against the French in their war of independence, the Dominicans used a combination of shock and awe attacks as well as consistent guerrilla warfare to continuously harass the Haitian Armies and force them into retreat across the informal borders. Over the course of the next decade, Haiti would invade numerous times in an attempt to keep their hold over the island secure. Starting first under President Boyer, and then being continued by his successor President, then self-proclaimed Emperor Faustin Soulouque, the Haitians would send divisions of men ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 in marches towards the Dominican capitol of Santo Domingo. Despite outnumbering the Dominicans substantially and wielding substantially higher weaponry, the Haitian Army was defeated in a significant majority of its engagements due to corrupt and ineffective leadership, supply mismanagement, poor state of training for the average Haitian soldier, and the contrasting zeal and aggressive fury that was installed in soldiers of the Dominican Army. A naval campaign by the Dominicans was also extremely decisive in securing their independence due to the usage of a small fleet of eleven schooners and frigates (most of which were sold or leased by the Texan Navy), destroyed the Haitian Navy and merchant marine while launching dozens of raids on Haitian ports, nearly destroying Haiti's ability to engage in international trade, (an already precarious position due to the contemporary refusal of most of Western Europe and the Americas to recognize Haiti's independence). With their armies suffering numerous defeats on the battlefield and no visible gains to show for their expeditions, the Haitian people grew tired and angry at the current state of affairs and overthrew Faustin in a popular coup in 1856 led by General Fabre Geffard which saw Emperor Faustin killed during the seizure of Port-Au-Prince. The new administration, with intense diplomatic pressure by the United States, France, and Great Britain; entered into negotiations with the Dominican Republic and recognized their independence fully. After twelve years of bloody warfare the Dominican people could finally claim sovereignty and self-rule, able to chart out their own destiny. Unfortunately for the Dominican people, independence would not be a kind era for them as a bad situation started to become worse, far worse.
A Dominican defense against Haitian assault
While the Haitians had never been able to gain any substantial victories during the Dominican War of independence, the Haitian Army was able to cripple the Dominican Republic in its infancy thanks to widestanding policy among the Haitian Army to seize all valuable crops and economic commodities for themselves during their retreat and destroy any land that they had occupied. The implementation of total war by Haiti would make sure that the Dominican economy, one that was heavily reliant on cash crops, would enter into a deep depression due to most of the arable land being unusable for the near future and the land that was being forced to switch to sustenance agriculture. With hard currency reserves being nonexistent for the nation, the Dominican Republic could not rely on foreign imports to curb the loss of resources, thus mass famine ensued. The already fragile domestic situation, which could have been fixable overtime, became a nightmare due to the fragile and highly corrupt nature of contemporary Dominican politics. While the political leadership of the Revolution had been highly unified under the influence of La Trinitaria, the Dominican secret society that had organized resistance against Haitian rule and incited the revolution. Unfortunately for the founders of La Trinataria and the founding fathers of the Revolution, Juan Pablo Duarte, Francisco del Rosario Sanchez, and Matias Ramon Mella; their direct influence and leadership only extended to members of the Trinataria with the conservative political and economic establishment of the Dominican firmly opposed to the ideals of the Triumvirate. With the three Founding Fathers unable to maintain clear leadership over the common people in the Revolution, the mantle of a unifying figure for the war was undertaken by Pedro Santana, the head of the Dominican Revolutionary Armies. During the war Santana had gained massive popularity and developed a slight cult of personality over his near-perfect war record against the Haitians, many Dominicans seeing Santana as the reason for their independence. Unfortunately for the Dominicans, Santana had hardly their best interests at heart as he saw the Revolution merely as a personal path to power. In the crafting of the constitution, Santana forced the Dominican legislature to make him a virtual dictator in all but name under the pretense of "emergency powers" that would end once the war was finished. These were nothing but lies however as upon the signing of peace with Haiti, Santana launched a coup and suspended peacetime elections in the name of national security. With his sole control over the Army, Santana was able to secure control of the government with little opposition and either killed his political enemies, or drove them into exile, the greatest casualty being the death of Juan Pablo Duarte, founding father of the Dominican Republic. For the next five years Santana would turn the Dominican Republic into an authoritarian state that was little better than the rule of Haiti. Most of Santana's political policies were focused on keeping his dictatorial policies and silencing his enemies, neglecting the overall state of the Dominican economy while most of the treasury was spent on keeping the army equipped and funding the conservative establishment to stay loyal to Santana. By the year 1861 the Dominican Republic had become a near failed state that was on the verge of collapse. Fearing the possibility of a rebellion against his rule, Santana sought foreign intervention with the main goal of having a European power annex the nation so that it could assume fiscal responsibility and help to enforce Santana's rule. With the United States and Texas focused on their respective wars, and the South American powers largely apathetic to the state of the Caribbean, the time was now for annexation. President Santana saw his best bet was for re-annexation back into the Kingdom of Spain, the very same country the Dominican had first fought against for independence only four decades prior.
Pedro Santana, "El Tirano" to modern Santo Dominicans.
On March 18th, 1861, the Dominican Republic was formally annexed by the Kingdom of Spain and turned into a colony with Pedro Santana declared to be Captain-General. The sudden news prompted several uprisings within the now colony, the Dominican people angered that they had lost the independence that they had fought and bled for years against the Haitians without their consent. Unfortunately, the Dominican Army would ultimately prevail thanks to their near-unanimous loyalty to Santana which allowed the pro-annexation faction to have the military advantage, one that was further augmented by the arrival of Spanish regulars. The news of the annexation prompted immense diplomatic anger from the United States, with the U.S State Department sending scathing diplomatic condemnations against the Kingdom of Spain, Congress later hiking tariffs on Spanish goods to 40% and Abraham Lincoln threatening to break off diplomatic relations with Spain. Unfortunately, Lincoln's hand was tied thanks to the ongoing Civil War, Secretary Seward advising Lincoln not to take any extraordinary action or else Spain might formally intervene on the side of the Confederacy. European condemnation was mute at the time as the continent was still dealing with the ramifications of the Crimean War and most attention was being placed in Central Europe with the nearing completion of German Unification. With an extremely lucky window of opportunity, Spain had reclaimed one of its former colonies and the Spanish Empire looked to potentially be on the rise again. At least, that is what could have happened had the Spanish not shot themselves in the foot with their poor management of their new colony. Whatever case that might have been made for the Spanish acting as a just hand that would restore order to the chaotic colony was torn apart within the first months when the crown issued several edicts that made the Spanish Army the de facto political body of the colony, giving the Army supreme authority in all matters of civil law within the country and for them to take action against the civilian populace without any possibility of legal retribution. The most harming actions of the Army were the bagajes edicts which allowed the Spanish to confiscate work animals and crops without compensation, depriving the already impoverished planter class of what little means they had to support themselves. The economy became state-controlled with heavy tariffs for all non-Spanish products and the colonial government issuing a monopoly over tobacco production as a state industry, alienating the conservative fiscal establishment that could have acted as allies to the Spanish. Socially the Spanish also incited a heavy amount of hatred in their short time of governance with the re-legalization of slavery, which while not forcing Black citizens of the Dominican colony to become slaves again, allowed slaves to be imported and worked in the tobacco fields, an act that enraged the Negro and Mulatto population of the colony. Only two years of governance and the Spanish had alienated most of the island's population, while inciting the general hatred of the New World nations in the field of diplomacy. Two years of tyranny would result in a general uprising of the colony in 1863, beginning the Dominican Restoration War.
The Restoration War began on August 13th, 1863 when rebels under the leadership of Santiago Rodriguez launched an uprising from the city of Dajabon. Within the following days the entire country erupted in a widescale revolution with only the city of Santo Domingo being in firm Spanish hands, the situation itself being tenuous with continuous riots against Spanish rule for weeks that resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 Dominicans. By the end of the year the near entirety of the country was in rebel forces with the Spanish garrison forced into isolation at Santo Domingo. Spanish Loyalists from the Dominican population either defected or deserted in a supermajority during the first months of the war with the remaining minority either escaping to Santo Domingo or being executed by rebel bands. Numerous trials (which essentially were pre-determined kangaroo courts in a sense) would take place until the end of 1863 with dozens of loyalist officials executed, the most famous of which being Pedro Santana himself. The Spanish were fighting a losing war that rapidly fell out of their control thanks to the inherent hostility of the country's populace towards their presence. Fighting had gone so badly for the Spanish that by the end of the year, out of the regular army's composition of 24,000 on the island, 9,000 soldiers, over 1/3rd of the Spanish forces present, had died in battle. It was quite clear to the Spanish garrison that the war had been already lost if they could not receive reinforcements from Cuba or Spain. Multiple pleas were directed towards Madrid, begging the Crown for either reinforcements or a strategic withdrawal to Havana. During this time the Spanish government was in deadlock as Queen Isabella was largely in favor of continuing the fight, while most of Progressive and Moderate factions were in favor of withdrawing before the losses became too great. This deadlock would end in early 1864 as Isabella was forced into action by the United States.
Dominican patriots rising up against Spanish rule
At the end of the American Civil War, the Union under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln had been powerless to react as Texas, the Yucatan, and the French Empire had violated the Monroe Doctrine and had divided and conquered Mexican territory in the Treaty of Havana. Virtually overnight as Union forces were finishing the liberation of Dixie, Texas had once again expanded and seemed to be of near equal to the United States. Worse of all was the blatant aggression of France which saw Veracruz turned into a colony under the jurisdiction of the Empire. Once again had France defied the American wishes of non-intervention and by the end they had further turned Southern North America into their special sphere of influence, entrenching the presence of the Old World and the new. Unfortunately for Lincoln, he could not take a great amount of action against the French as doing so would antagonize Texas and Quebec (the latter siding with the French over cultural solidarity) and could start a potential slippery slope that would create hostility between Europe and America, killing any chance of much needed trade and capitol from Europe to finance the Reconstruction. While Lincoln could not force any revisions to Havana, he knew that immediate action had to be taken to remind the Europeans of the existence of the Monroe Doctrine so that a precedent would not continue to exist for Europe to do as they please. In the Restoration War Lincoln saw his opportunity.
On February 12th, 1864, Lincoln would begin the first of his actions against Spain with the signing of the Spanish Embargo Act, which declared a complete trade embargo with the Kingdom of Spain and its colonies. Such a radical move was meant to apply economic pressure to the Spanish in that they would lose one of its largest potential traders in the New World (though at the time this was merely symbolic with the breakdown of trade with the United States thanks to the Civil War and the economic devastation of the American South). While the Act was largely voted against by Democrats, the Republican Party, which controlled both houses, was mostly onboard thanks to the unanimous support of the Radical Republicans. For the Radicals, the Embargo was a godly and just punishment towards the Spanish for their continued usage of slavery, making Spain in effect a moral enemy of the United States. In addition to the Embargo, Lincoln would order Major General Joseph Hooker to gather an army of 60,000 to Miami, sending a message that the United States would be ready and willing to invade Cuba. The last and most decisive, though controversial at the time, act of Abraham Lincoln was to declare a blockade of the Dominican colony on April 12th, sending a fleet of 51 warships, including 13 ironclads, to be implemented in the Southern Caribbean surrounding Santo Domingo. When the blockade was formed an immense war scare was placed upon both the Old and New world as many thought that war was imminent between the United States and Spain. For the next month a tense standoff took place in the harbor of Santo Domingo with the American fleet warding off all traffic into and out of the city, in effect forcing the Spanish garrison into a total siege. The reactions on the homefront varied greatly as the Democratic party rallied against Lincoln as an aggressor who sought to continue war so soon after peace. While many moderates saw Lincoln as going above his station, the Radicals were behind the President as they saw him as the first president to truly act in defense of the Monroe Doctrine. Yellow Journalism would whip the population into a fever as major papers such as the New York Times would write anti-Spanish articles describing in length the atrocities committed by the Spanish against the Dominicans. The newly-enfranchised Black population was also firmly behind Lincoln as they gladly welcomed any potential war as one of abolition that would get rid of the last vestiges of slavery in the Americas and liberate their brethren in Cuba. On the diplomatic front most of the nations within the Americas were decidedly pro-United States. In Europe, Spain would be able to find any possible support with the Second War of German Unification consuming the entire continents attention. To the average European, the fate of Austria was far greater than some backwards Spanish colony in the Americas. The only two nations that were in position to aid the Spanish, the United Kingdom and French Empire, were unwilling to intervene as the former was afraid of entering into war with a mobilized America, while the latter sent diplomatic indications that they would actively side with the United States if the crisis continued, most likely to increase French influence in a liberated Dominican Republic. With the world seemingly against her and war with the United States unlikely to emerge in a victory, Queen Isabella decided to throw in the towel and announced an end to Colonial rule of the Dominican on May 26th. With negotiations over the next few months taking place in Quebec City, Spain would eventually agree to a complete withdrawal and recognition of Dominican sovereignty in the Treaty of Quebec City which was signed on September 5th, thus ending the Dominican Restoration War.
The American Blockade of Santo Domingo (Left). A political cartoon printed in the summer of 1864 showing the United States, represented by Uncle Sam in a Union uniform, standing up against Imperial aggression for the little man (Latin America) (Right). An alternate version of the cartoon includes a depicted cowboy standing with the Europeans, clearly symbolizing Texas.
For Spain, the Restoration War was an absolute failure that saw millions of Spanish pesos being wasted in a costly three-year occupation that dramatically lowered Spanish prestige throughout the world. With the clear sign that the United States would defend any further aggression within the Americas, Spain was forced to give up its dreams on recreating the Empire and over the next few years would start a gradual process of diplomacy that would see Spain formally recognize all of its former colonies. For now Spain would be forced to turn all of its efforts into retaining whatever authority they had left in their colonies of Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Spanish Sahara. Queen Isabella's authority and popularity dropped immensely in the aftermath of the failed war with the Progressives, Liberals, and Moderates turning against her. While the Restoration War is often overlooked by a majority of Spain's citizens today, it had a major effect in being a prime cause for the downfall of Queen Isabella and the Bourbons, the creation of a decade-long animosity between the United States and Spain which led to the Spanish-American War, and providing major fuel for popular support of King Carlos VII in the Carlist Ascension.
Queen Isabella is considered to be one of the worst Spanish monarchs within the modern Spanish Empire, a failure at home and abroad
As for the Dominicans, while they once more had independence from foreign rule, the Restoration War had done little to alleviate the economic and social issues plaguing the nation, and like before it teetered on the brink of collapse. After a series of chaotic and temporary coalition governments, Buenaventura Baez, a previous president of the republic who served as a forced puppet of Santana, returned from exile in Spain (ironically Baez had been a key advocate of Spanish rule) and was elected as President in 1866. Baez's administration produced mixed results for the people of the republic as while he did substantially curb the power of the Army in order to prevent another Santana, and generally respected the civil liberties of his people, Baez failed to produce a solution to the failing economy with his treasury relying on the mass printing of paper currency in order to pay off foreign debts, only leading to hyperinflation and the treatment of the Dominican Peso as near worthless. Agricultural policies were also mixed as Baez tried to force a mandatory ratio of 2:1 of sustenance crops to cash crops (tobacco), while only allowing tobacco to be exported in exchange for hard currency. While a famine was avoided, the tobacco economy experienced immense turmoil due to European investors being warded off by the country's instability, a situation which along with the American Civil War and Paraguayan War led to a global decline in the tobacco trade until 1880. In the eyes of Baez, no solution to save the country was possible and the republic was a dying corpse that was barely staying alive at this current point. Baez knew it was only a matter of time before he was overthrown by a discontent populace, and that he needed to act fast in order to secure his position and save his country. The solution for Baez was to undergo a process that the Dominicans had spent so many years fighting against, annexation. However, Baez knew that the Spanish could not possibly returned and that any other offer to a European power would see mass revolt before the deal was sent. The United States was a possibility, but the Anglo-Saxon culture that was dominant within America was too alien to the Catholic, Hispanic culture of the Dominican. Baez also feared that due to current developments with the Black States, that the Negro and Mulatto citizens would usurp the Creoles into a dominant position of power. For Baez, the only realistic nation that could save his people was the Republic of Texas. Texas was a stable nation with a battle-hardened military, they were majority Catholic and had a prosperous Hispanic population base, Spanish was treated as a first among equals in language, and they were only a few hundred kilometers away in governance. For years Baez's offers were met with rejection, until he found a willing partner in President Edmund J. Davis.
Buenaverta Baez, last President of the Dominican Republic
"Everything I have done, I have done in the spirit of the Revolution."- Emperor Faustin Soulouque I 1852
"If my father could not reclaim what was rightfully his, what makes the Spaniards think they can do better?"- Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte III 1863
"This war is being fought for a righteous cause, it is a just conflict which the Republic of Texas has chosen to partake in so that stability and order may be brought to this here island. The people of the Dominican fought for their god-given right of independence, and they in turn were betrayed by their leaders who violated the social contract on a daily basis. We chose to fight for the people of this island because no one else will."- Lieutenant General Alberty Sidney Johnston 1876
In the year of our lord 1492, an event would take place on the island of Hispaniola that would change the history of the greater world forever. On December 5th, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus would land on the island and founded the colony of Santo Domingo, creating the first permanent European colony within the Americas and the city that would serve as a bastion and starting point for the great Spanish Empire. For the next three centuries Santo Domingo, would serve as a grand administrative center for the region, laying down the will and law of the Spanish crown on her colonies. Inspired by the successful revolution of the neighboring Haitians, and the near-complete revolutions of nearby nations such as Mexico and Columbia, the Spanish lands of Hispaniola would declare their independence in 1821, joining the greater world as the latest child of the Age of Revolutions. Sadly this was not to last as neighboring Haiti, under the rule of the harsh tyrant Jean-Pierre Boyer, invaded the infant nation in 1822 under the guise of a populist revolution that would unite the island in the name of liberty and prosperity. While President Boyer would end the practice of slavery within the Dominican territories, it would be his only major benign contribution as Boyer would implement a strict rule over the Dominican, tying the peasant farmers of the land to virtual slavery under the Code Rural. This, along with numerous other factors such as persecution of the Catholic Church, abuse of the populace by a vapidly corrupt army, heavy taxation and forced growing of cash crops, and the legal treatment of the Dominican people as second-class citizens, was enough for the Spanish-speaking Hispanoilans. Having seen through the lies of unification, the Dominican Republic would once more be reborn in 1844 in a nationwide revolt by the Dominican people against the corrupt and near-collapsing Haitian government. What would come to follow would be a series of events that leave a lasting legacy on Latin America to this very day.
Over the following two years the Dominican peoples fought a long and bloody war of attrition against the Haitian Army for independence. Utilizing the same tactics that the Haitians used against the French in their war of independence, the Dominicans used a combination of shock and awe attacks as well as consistent guerrilla warfare to continuously harass the Haitian Armies and force them into retreat across the informal borders. Over the course of the next decade, Haiti would invade numerous times in an attempt to keep their hold over the island secure. Starting first under President Boyer, and then being continued by his successor President, then self-proclaimed Emperor Faustin Soulouque, the Haitians would send divisions of men ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 in marches towards the Dominican capitol of Santo Domingo. Despite outnumbering the Dominicans substantially and wielding substantially higher weaponry, the Haitian Army was defeated in a significant majority of its engagements due to corrupt and ineffective leadership, supply mismanagement, poor state of training for the average Haitian soldier, and the contrasting zeal and aggressive fury that was installed in soldiers of the Dominican Army. A naval campaign by the Dominicans was also extremely decisive in securing their independence due to the usage of a small fleet of eleven schooners and frigates (most of which were sold or leased by the Texan Navy), destroyed the Haitian Navy and merchant marine while launching dozens of raids on Haitian ports, nearly destroying Haiti's ability to engage in international trade, (an already precarious position due to the contemporary refusal of most of Western Europe and the Americas to recognize Haiti's independence). With their armies suffering numerous defeats on the battlefield and no visible gains to show for their expeditions, the Haitian people grew tired and angry at the current state of affairs and overthrew Faustin in a popular coup in 1856 led by General Fabre Geffard which saw Emperor Faustin killed during the seizure of Port-Au-Prince. The new administration, with intense diplomatic pressure by the United States, France, and Great Britain; entered into negotiations with the Dominican Republic and recognized their independence fully. After twelve years of bloody warfare the Dominican people could finally claim sovereignty and self-rule, able to chart out their own destiny. Unfortunately for the Dominican people, independence would not be a kind era for them as a bad situation started to become worse, far worse.
A Dominican defense against Haitian assault
While the Haitians had never been able to gain any substantial victories during the Dominican War of independence, the Haitian Army was able to cripple the Dominican Republic in its infancy thanks to widestanding policy among the Haitian Army to seize all valuable crops and economic commodities for themselves during their retreat and destroy any land that they had occupied. The implementation of total war by Haiti would make sure that the Dominican economy, one that was heavily reliant on cash crops, would enter into a deep depression due to most of the arable land being unusable for the near future and the land that was being forced to switch to sustenance agriculture. With hard currency reserves being nonexistent for the nation, the Dominican Republic could not rely on foreign imports to curb the loss of resources, thus mass famine ensued. The already fragile domestic situation, which could have been fixable overtime, became a nightmare due to the fragile and highly corrupt nature of contemporary Dominican politics. While the political leadership of the Revolution had been highly unified under the influence of La Trinitaria, the Dominican secret society that had organized resistance against Haitian rule and incited the revolution. Unfortunately for the founders of La Trinataria and the founding fathers of the Revolution, Juan Pablo Duarte, Francisco del Rosario Sanchez, and Matias Ramon Mella; their direct influence and leadership only extended to members of the Trinataria with the conservative political and economic establishment of the Dominican firmly opposed to the ideals of the Triumvirate. With the three Founding Fathers unable to maintain clear leadership over the common people in the Revolution, the mantle of a unifying figure for the war was undertaken by Pedro Santana, the head of the Dominican Revolutionary Armies. During the war Santana had gained massive popularity and developed a slight cult of personality over his near-perfect war record against the Haitians, many Dominicans seeing Santana as the reason for their independence. Unfortunately for the Dominicans, Santana had hardly their best interests at heart as he saw the Revolution merely as a personal path to power. In the crafting of the constitution, Santana forced the Dominican legislature to make him a virtual dictator in all but name under the pretense of "emergency powers" that would end once the war was finished. These were nothing but lies however as upon the signing of peace with Haiti, Santana launched a coup and suspended peacetime elections in the name of national security. With his sole control over the Army, Santana was able to secure control of the government with little opposition and either killed his political enemies, or drove them into exile, the greatest casualty being the death of Juan Pablo Duarte, founding father of the Dominican Republic. For the next five years Santana would turn the Dominican Republic into an authoritarian state that was little better than the rule of Haiti. Most of Santana's political policies were focused on keeping his dictatorial policies and silencing his enemies, neglecting the overall state of the Dominican economy while most of the treasury was spent on keeping the army equipped and funding the conservative establishment to stay loyal to Santana. By the year 1861 the Dominican Republic had become a near failed state that was on the verge of collapse. Fearing the possibility of a rebellion against his rule, Santana sought foreign intervention with the main goal of having a European power annex the nation so that it could assume fiscal responsibility and help to enforce Santana's rule. With the United States and Texas focused on their respective wars, and the South American powers largely apathetic to the state of the Caribbean, the time was now for annexation. President Santana saw his best bet was for re-annexation back into the Kingdom of Spain, the very same country the Dominican had first fought against for independence only four decades prior.
Pedro Santana, "El Tirano" to modern Santo Dominicans.
On March 18th, 1861, the Dominican Republic was formally annexed by the Kingdom of Spain and turned into a colony with Pedro Santana declared to be Captain-General. The sudden news prompted several uprisings within the now colony, the Dominican people angered that they had lost the independence that they had fought and bled for years against the Haitians without their consent. Unfortunately, the Dominican Army would ultimately prevail thanks to their near-unanimous loyalty to Santana which allowed the pro-annexation faction to have the military advantage, one that was further augmented by the arrival of Spanish regulars. The news of the annexation prompted immense diplomatic anger from the United States, with the U.S State Department sending scathing diplomatic condemnations against the Kingdom of Spain, Congress later hiking tariffs on Spanish goods to 40% and Abraham Lincoln threatening to break off diplomatic relations with Spain. Unfortunately, Lincoln's hand was tied thanks to the ongoing Civil War, Secretary Seward advising Lincoln not to take any extraordinary action or else Spain might formally intervene on the side of the Confederacy. European condemnation was mute at the time as the continent was still dealing with the ramifications of the Crimean War and most attention was being placed in Central Europe with the nearing completion of German Unification. With an extremely lucky window of opportunity, Spain had reclaimed one of its former colonies and the Spanish Empire looked to potentially be on the rise again. At least, that is what could have happened had the Spanish not shot themselves in the foot with their poor management of their new colony. Whatever case that might have been made for the Spanish acting as a just hand that would restore order to the chaotic colony was torn apart within the first months when the crown issued several edicts that made the Spanish Army the de facto political body of the colony, giving the Army supreme authority in all matters of civil law within the country and for them to take action against the civilian populace without any possibility of legal retribution. The most harming actions of the Army were the bagajes edicts which allowed the Spanish to confiscate work animals and crops without compensation, depriving the already impoverished planter class of what little means they had to support themselves. The economy became state-controlled with heavy tariffs for all non-Spanish products and the colonial government issuing a monopoly over tobacco production as a state industry, alienating the conservative fiscal establishment that could have acted as allies to the Spanish. Socially the Spanish also incited a heavy amount of hatred in their short time of governance with the re-legalization of slavery, which while not forcing Black citizens of the Dominican colony to become slaves again, allowed slaves to be imported and worked in the tobacco fields, an act that enraged the Negro and Mulatto population of the colony. Only two years of governance and the Spanish had alienated most of the island's population, while inciting the general hatred of the New World nations in the field of diplomacy. Two years of tyranny would result in a general uprising of the colony in 1863, beginning the Dominican Restoration War.
The Restoration War began on August 13th, 1863 when rebels under the leadership of Santiago Rodriguez launched an uprising from the city of Dajabon. Within the following days the entire country erupted in a widescale revolution with only the city of Santo Domingo being in firm Spanish hands, the situation itself being tenuous with continuous riots against Spanish rule for weeks that resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 Dominicans. By the end of the year the near entirety of the country was in rebel forces with the Spanish garrison forced into isolation at Santo Domingo. Spanish Loyalists from the Dominican population either defected or deserted in a supermajority during the first months of the war with the remaining minority either escaping to Santo Domingo or being executed by rebel bands. Numerous trials (which essentially were pre-determined kangaroo courts in a sense) would take place until the end of 1863 with dozens of loyalist officials executed, the most famous of which being Pedro Santana himself. The Spanish were fighting a losing war that rapidly fell out of their control thanks to the inherent hostility of the country's populace towards their presence. Fighting had gone so badly for the Spanish that by the end of the year, out of the regular army's composition of 24,000 on the island, 9,000 soldiers, over 1/3rd of the Spanish forces present, had died in battle. It was quite clear to the Spanish garrison that the war had been already lost if they could not receive reinforcements from Cuba or Spain. Multiple pleas were directed towards Madrid, begging the Crown for either reinforcements or a strategic withdrawal to Havana. During this time the Spanish government was in deadlock as Queen Isabella was largely in favor of continuing the fight, while most of Progressive and Moderate factions were in favor of withdrawing before the losses became too great. This deadlock would end in early 1864 as Isabella was forced into action by the United States.
Dominican patriots rising up against Spanish rule
At the end of the American Civil War, the Union under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln had been powerless to react as Texas, the Yucatan, and the French Empire had violated the Monroe Doctrine and had divided and conquered Mexican territory in the Treaty of Havana. Virtually overnight as Union forces were finishing the liberation of Dixie, Texas had once again expanded and seemed to be of near equal to the United States. Worse of all was the blatant aggression of France which saw Veracruz turned into a colony under the jurisdiction of the Empire. Once again had France defied the American wishes of non-intervention and by the end they had further turned Southern North America into their special sphere of influence, entrenching the presence of the Old World and the new. Unfortunately for Lincoln, he could not take a great amount of action against the French as doing so would antagonize Texas and Quebec (the latter siding with the French over cultural solidarity) and could start a potential slippery slope that would create hostility between Europe and America, killing any chance of much needed trade and capitol from Europe to finance the Reconstruction. While Lincoln could not force any revisions to Havana, he knew that immediate action had to be taken to remind the Europeans of the existence of the Monroe Doctrine so that a precedent would not continue to exist for Europe to do as they please. In the Restoration War Lincoln saw his opportunity.
On February 12th, 1864, Lincoln would begin the first of his actions against Spain with the signing of the Spanish Embargo Act, which declared a complete trade embargo with the Kingdom of Spain and its colonies. Such a radical move was meant to apply economic pressure to the Spanish in that they would lose one of its largest potential traders in the New World (though at the time this was merely symbolic with the breakdown of trade with the United States thanks to the Civil War and the economic devastation of the American South). While the Act was largely voted against by Democrats, the Republican Party, which controlled both houses, was mostly onboard thanks to the unanimous support of the Radical Republicans. For the Radicals, the Embargo was a godly and just punishment towards the Spanish for their continued usage of slavery, making Spain in effect a moral enemy of the United States. In addition to the Embargo, Lincoln would order Major General Joseph Hooker to gather an army of 60,000 to Miami, sending a message that the United States would be ready and willing to invade Cuba. The last and most decisive, though controversial at the time, act of Abraham Lincoln was to declare a blockade of the Dominican colony on April 12th, sending a fleet of 51 warships, including 13 ironclads, to be implemented in the Southern Caribbean surrounding Santo Domingo. When the blockade was formed an immense war scare was placed upon both the Old and New world as many thought that war was imminent between the United States and Spain. For the next month a tense standoff took place in the harbor of Santo Domingo with the American fleet warding off all traffic into and out of the city, in effect forcing the Spanish garrison into a total siege. The reactions on the homefront varied greatly as the Democratic party rallied against Lincoln as an aggressor who sought to continue war so soon after peace. While many moderates saw Lincoln as going above his station, the Radicals were behind the President as they saw him as the first president to truly act in defense of the Monroe Doctrine. Yellow Journalism would whip the population into a fever as major papers such as the New York Times would write anti-Spanish articles describing in length the atrocities committed by the Spanish against the Dominicans. The newly-enfranchised Black population was also firmly behind Lincoln as they gladly welcomed any potential war as one of abolition that would get rid of the last vestiges of slavery in the Americas and liberate their brethren in Cuba. On the diplomatic front most of the nations within the Americas were decidedly pro-United States. In Europe, Spain would be able to find any possible support with the Second War of German Unification consuming the entire continents attention. To the average European, the fate of Austria was far greater than some backwards Spanish colony in the Americas. The only two nations that were in position to aid the Spanish, the United Kingdom and French Empire, were unwilling to intervene as the former was afraid of entering into war with a mobilized America, while the latter sent diplomatic indications that they would actively side with the United States if the crisis continued, most likely to increase French influence in a liberated Dominican Republic. With the world seemingly against her and war with the United States unlikely to emerge in a victory, Queen Isabella decided to throw in the towel and announced an end to Colonial rule of the Dominican on May 26th. With negotiations over the next few months taking place in Quebec City, Spain would eventually agree to a complete withdrawal and recognition of Dominican sovereignty in the Treaty of Quebec City which was signed on September 5th, thus ending the Dominican Restoration War.
The American Blockade of Santo Domingo (Left). A political cartoon printed in the summer of 1864 showing the United States, represented by Uncle Sam in a Union uniform, standing up against Imperial aggression for the little man (Latin America) (Right). An alternate version of the cartoon includes a depicted cowboy standing with the Europeans, clearly symbolizing Texas.
For Spain, the Restoration War was an absolute failure that saw millions of Spanish pesos being wasted in a costly three-year occupation that dramatically lowered Spanish prestige throughout the world. With the clear sign that the United States would defend any further aggression within the Americas, Spain was forced to give up its dreams on recreating the Empire and over the next few years would start a gradual process of diplomacy that would see Spain formally recognize all of its former colonies. For now Spain would be forced to turn all of its efforts into retaining whatever authority they had left in their colonies of Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Spanish Sahara. Queen Isabella's authority and popularity dropped immensely in the aftermath of the failed war with the Progressives, Liberals, and Moderates turning against her. While the Restoration War is often overlooked by a majority of Spain's citizens today, it had a major effect in being a prime cause for the downfall of Queen Isabella and the Bourbons, the creation of a decade-long animosity between the United States and Spain which led to the Spanish-American War, and providing major fuel for popular support of King Carlos VII in the Carlist Ascension.
Queen Isabella is considered to be one of the worst Spanish monarchs within the modern Spanish Empire, a failure at home and abroad
As for the Dominicans, while they once more had independence from foreign rule, the Restoration War had done little to alleviate the economic and social issues plaguing the nation, and like before it teetered on the brink of collapse. After a series of chaotic and temporary coalition governments, Buenaventura Baez, a previous president of the republic who served as a forced puppet of Santana, returned from exile in Spain (ironically Baez had been a key advocate of Spanish rule) and was elected as President in 1866. Baez's administration produced mixed results for the people of the republic as while he did substantially curb the power of the Army in order to prevent another Santana, and generally respected the civil liberties of his people, Baez failed to produce a solution to the failing economy with his treasury relying on the mass printing of paper currency in order to pay off foreign debts, only leading to hyperinflation and the treatment of the Dominican Peso as near worthless. Agricultural policies were also mixed as Baez tried to force a mandatory ratio of 2:1 of sustenance crops to cash crops (tobacco), while only allowing tobacco to be exported in exchange for hard currency. While a famine was avoided, the tobacco economy experienced immense turmoil due to European investors being warded off by the country's instability, a situation which along with the American Civil War and Paraguayan War led to a global decline in the tobacco trade until 1880. In the eyes of Baez, no solution to save the country was possible and the republic was a dying corpse that was barely staying alive at this current point. Baez knew it was only a matter of time before he was overthrown by a discontent populace, and that he needed to act fast in order to secure his position and save his country. The solution for Baez was to undergo a process that the Dominicans had spent so many years fighting against, annexation. However, Baez knew that the Spanish could not possibly returned and that any other offer to a European power would see mass revolt before the deal was sent. The United States was a possibility, but the Anglo-Saxon culture that was dominant within America was too alien to the Catholic, Hispanic culture of the Dominican. Baez also feared that due to current developments with the Black States, that the Negro and Mulatto citizens would usurp the Creoles into a dominant position of power. For Baez, the only realistic nation that could save his people was the Republic of Texas. Texas was a stable nation with a battle-hardened military, they were majority Catholic and had a prosperous Hispanic population base, Spanish was treated as a first among equals in language, and they were only a few hundred kilometers away in governance. For years Baez's offers were met with rejection, until he found a willing partner in President Edmund J. Davis.
Buenaverta Baez, last President of the Dominican Republic
So the Dominican Republic will transition to becoming the Texan Commonwealth of Dominica. Can't say I'm surprised at this point, but....
Anywho, I enjoyed the update.
....General Johnston implying there is a war on in 1876 tells me that it is going to take some time for Texas to win the hearts and minds of the people.
Anywho, I enjoyed the update.
Might it have an effect on race relations? Grant saw the dr and haiti as safety valve for the african american population
By first among equals I meant more along the lines of the non-English languages with Spanish being the universal secondary language throughout the Republic. English is still supreme in all legal and business matters, but if you're a Spanish-only speaker you could survive and thrive within Texas. If the Dominican joins than most of the population doesn't have to learn English unless there's a huge surge of internal migration.
Considering how radically different Reconstruction is going to be with a surviving Lincoln, the Southern Exodus, and the emergence of Black States, the United States doesn't need to annex a single inch of Hispaniola in order to improve race relations. Besides even if we're going by Grant's theories, we already have the Bahamas and Liberia for Black supermajority states that Blacks can safely migrate to and live without fear of persecution.
The sad times in the Dominican Republic, every conqueror and ruler save Baez seems to have no real interest in bettering the country, and Baez was left with nothing to work with. Not that Haiti is faring well either. Hmm, Faustin got overthrown early ITTL?
ITTL The Spanish squandered their chance even more. They earned the enmity of everyone in the situation and gained nothing. For Spain's colonies you might want to consider Equatorial Guinea, then known as "Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea". I don't think it was very developed by the Spanish had some presence had larger claims than they exercised OTL. America may find it a tempting target down the line striking from Liberia.
The inclusion of Texas in the Colonizer crowd in the cartoon does not bode well for Texas-USA relations. The Treaty of Quebec was a triumph for the USA after the humilation of the Civil War and the Treaty of Havana, many Americans would see Texan annexation as overturning that victory. I dubt it would lead to war but there will be animosity and likely the USA guaranteeing Haiti' independence to check "Texan Imperialism". Johnston's quote may be in response to criticism of the war from abroad.
Has president Davis been mentioned before? Hmm, will be replace Seguin in '68?
ITTL The Spanish squandered their chance even more. They earned the enmity of everyone in the situation and gained nothing. For Spain's colonies you might want to consider Equatorial Guinea, then known as "Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea". I don't think it was very developed by the Spanish had some presence had larger claims than they exercised OTL. America may find it a tempting target down the line striking from Liberia.
The inclusion of Texas in the Colonizer crowd in the cartoon does not bode well for Texas-USA relations. The Treaty of Quebec was a triumph for the USA after the humilation of the Civil War and the Treaty of Havana, many Americans would see Texan annexation as overturning that victory. I dubt it would lead to war but there will be animosity and likely the USA guaranteeing Haiti' independence to check "Texan Imperialism". Johnston's quote may be in response to criticism of the war from abroad.
Has president Davis been mentioned before? Hmm, will be replace Seguin in '68?
We will have to wait and see what his legacy becomes.
I believe next stop is the USA with the rise of the Black States.
President Davis is apparently quite the aggressive administrator:
And now he will be the one to bring Texas into Hispaniola. He may be the president discussed by Kaiser as the controversial leader that will bring the next party system in Texas. He seems to be very proactive internally an abroad as president. I wonder if he will be the first Post Independence president, born after the Revolution.
And now he will be the one to bring Texas into Hispaniola. He may be the president discussed by Kaiser as the controversial leader that will bring the next party system in Texas. He seems to be very proactive internally an abroad as president. I wonder if he will be the first Post Independence president, born after the Revolution.