Dominican Republic
The eastern part of Hispaniola and the Dominican Republic: the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo after 1795, the Haitian occupation, independence in 1844 and the state's history through 1961.
Category: States, Places
- July 22, 1795Treaty of Basel: Spain cedes Santo Domingo to France
On 22 July 1795 Spain makes peace with the French Republic and gives up the eastern part of Hispaniola in exchange for the Spanish territory France had occupied. The handover is delayed for years.
- 1801Toussaint Louverture takes Spanish Santo Domingo and unites the island
In 1801 Toussaint Louverture's army occupies Spanish Santo Domingo, ceded to France at Basel in 1795, freeing its slaves and making him ruler of all Hispaniola. Paris had not authorised the move.
- November 7, 1808Dominican rebels defeat the French at Palo Hincado, east of Santo Domingo
On 7 November 1808 Juan Sánchez Ramírez's rebels, supported by Puerto Rico and British Jamaica, beat General Ferrand's French army at Palo Hincado. The victory opens the siege of Santo Domingo and the return of Spanish rule.
- July 1809French garrison surrenders Santo Domingo and Spanish rule returns
In July 1809, after a siege helped by a British blockade, the French garrison leaves Santo Domingo and Spain recovers its colony. The following period of neglect is remembered as the 'España Boba' (foolish Spain).
- 1821 – February 9, 1822Núñez de Cáceres declares the independent Republic of Spanish Haiti
In late 1821 (30 November or 1 December) José Núñez de Cáceres declares Spanish Santo Domingo independent from Spain, intending to join Gran Colombia. It has little support and falls to Haiti on 9 February 1822.
- February 9, 1822Haitian president Boyer takes Santo Domingo and rules the whole island
On 9 February 1822 Jean-Pierre Boyer enters Santo Domingo with some 10,000-12,000 troops, uniting Hispaniola under Haiti and ending slavery in the east. The occupation lasts 22 years.
- July 16, 1838Juan Pablo Duarte founds La Trinitaria, a secret society for Dominican independence
On 16 July 1838 Duarte and friends in Santo Domingo form La Trinitaria, a secret society working in three-person cells for independence from Haitian rule. Its members go on to lead the 1844 revolt.
- March 1843Boyer is overthrown in Haiti and goes into exile
In March 1843 a liberal revolt forces Jean-Pierre Boyer out of Haiti after 25 years in power; Charles Hérard takes over. The turmoil gives the Dominican independence movement the opening it needs.
- February 27, 1844Dominican patriots declare independence from Haiti in Santo Domingo
On the night of 27 February 1844 Mella, Sánchez and Duarte's Trinitarios proclaim a separate state in the east of Hispaniola, ending 22 years of Haitian rule. The Dominican Republic is born.
- March 19, 1844 – March 30, 1844Dominican forces defeat Haitian armies at Azua and Santiago
In March 1844 Pedro Santana's troops repel a Haitian column at Azua (19 March), and José María Imbert's heavily outnumbered garrison beats Jean-Louis Pierrot's army at Santiago (30 March). The victories secure the newly declared Dominican Republic.
- April 1849Santana defeats Emperor Soulouque's invading Haitian army at Las Carreras
In April 1849 Pedro Santana defeats the Haitian army led in person by Emperor Faustin Soulouque in a two-day battle near Azua, the main Dominican victory between the 1844 battles and the last Haitian invasion of 1855-1856.
- December 1855 – January 1856Dominican troops defeat Haiti’s 1855–1856 invasion at Santomé and Sabana Larga
Dominican troops defeat the Haitian southern column at Santomé (22 December 1855), killing General Antoine Pierrot, and a larger Haitian army near Dajabón at Sabana Larga (27 January 1856).
- March 18, 1861Pedro Santana announces the Dominican Republic's return to Spanish rule
On 18 March 1861 the annexation of the Dominican Republic to Spain is announced under President Pedro Santana. Historians debate whether it was a return to Spanish rule or an annexation; it lasts until 1865.
- August 16, 1863Dominican rebels cross the border from Haiti and rise against Spain
On 16 August 1863 a group led by Santiago Rodríguez raises the flag of revolt at Capotillo. The Restoration War follows, with guerrilla fighting that costs Spain thousands of men, many to disease.
- March 3, 1865 – July 1865Spain annuls the annexation of Santo Domingo and withdraws its troops
Queen Isabella II signs the annulment of the annexation on 3 March 1865, after the US Civil War ended and four years of costly guerrilla war. The last Spanish troops leave by mid-July 1865.
- November 29, 1869Báez signs a treaty to annex the Dominican Republic to the United States
On 29 November 1869 President Buenaventura Báez signs annexation and Samaná Bay lease treaties backed by US president Ulysses S. Grant. A referendum in early 1870 shows about 10,000 votes for and 11 against, and is widely regarded as unreliable.
- June 30, 1870The US Senate defeats the treaty to annex Santo Domingo
On 30 June 1870 the Senate votes 28 to 28, short of the two-thirds needed, after Charles Sumner's opposition as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. Grant's plan to annex the Dominican Republic fails.
- 1888Heureaux borrows from the Amsterdam bank Westendorp, tying Dominican customs revenue to creditors
In 1888 the dictator Ulises Heureaux takes a loan of about £750,000 from Westendorp & Co. After Westendorp's bankruptcy in 1892, New York's San Domingo Improvement Company takes over the claims, with a lien on customs revenue.
- July 26, 1899Dictator Ulises Heureaux is assassinated in Moca, leaving the Dominican Republic in debt
Ramón Cáceres shoots Heureaux on 26 July 1899 during a revolt by Cibao planters and merchants. The state's debt exceeds $35 million, and unpaid foreign creditors become the pretext for later US intervention.
- 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.
- May 1916 – September 18, 1924United States Marines occupy Santo Domingo, beginning an eight-year occupation
In May 1916 US forces land and take Santo Domingo, and a military government follows in November. Aims include forcing repayment of debts to European creditors. The Marines withdraw on 18 September 1924.
- 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.
- 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.
- May 30, 1961Rafael Trujillo is assassinated outside Ciudad Trujillo
On 30 May 1961 a group of conspirators ambush Trujillo's car outside the capital, now Santo Domingo. The regime holds on for months under his son Ramfis, and the CIA's part in supplying weapons is disputed.