1930 – 1939
1930s
- 1905 – March 31, 1941The United States takes over Dominican customs to repay foreign creditors
After the Roosevelt Corollary of December 1904, a US-appointed receiver collects the Dominican customs from 1905, with a 1907 treaty and a 1924 convention extending it. It ends on 31 March 1941 under the Trujillo-Hull convention.
- July 28, 1915 – 1934United States Marines land in Haiti, beginning a 19-year occupation
On 28 July 1915 the US lands at Port-au-Prince on Woodrow Wilson's order and takes over Haiti's customs, banks and treasury. Forty percent of Haitian income goes to repay American and French lenders until 1934.
- 1930Rafael Trujillo seizes power in the Dominican Republic
In 1930 an uprising against President Horacio Vásquez, begun in Santiago in February, brings Rafael Trujillo to power; sources differ on the exact dates. He rules the country until his assassination in 1961.
- September 4, 1933The Sergeants' Revolt brings Fulgencio Batista to power in Cuba
After Gerardo Machado was forced out in August 1933, Batista and other sergeants take over the army on 4 September 1933. Batista then dominates Cuban politics for about 25 years, often through puppet presidents.
- May 29, 1934The United States and Cuba sign a treaty abrogating the Platt Amendment
The Treaty of Relations signed on 29 May 1934 abrogates the 1903 treaty and most of the Platt Amendment, ending the US right of intervention. One source gives 9 June as the date it took effect.
- 1935The Rylands fragment of John, a very early New Testament papyrus, is published
In 1935 C. H. Roberts publishes in Manchester a small papyrus fragment of John 18, bought in Egypt in 1920. Dated probably to the 2nd century (c. 125 or later, debated), it is among the earliest New Testament manuscripts.
- October 2, 1937 – October 8, 1937Trujillo's army massacres Haitians along the Dominican border
From 2 to 8 October 1937, on Trujillo’s orders, the Dominican army kills Haitians in the border region. Estimates range from about 14,000 to 40,000 dead, and scholars generally settle on roughly 20,000.
- January 31, 1938Trujillo agrees to pay Haiti $525,000 for the 1937 massacre
The agreement signed in Washington on 31 January 1938 gives Haiti $525,000, about $30 a victim, against a US and Haitian demand for $750,000. The Dominican government accepts no responsibility for the deaths.