Expansionism
Conquests, invasions, annexations, colonisation and voyages of claim by which a state or people extends its rule over new territory; not defensive wars or treaties that only end a war.
Category: Society
- 711 – 718Umayyad army defeats the Visigoths at Guadalete and conquers most of Iberia
A Muslim army under Tariq ibn Ziyad crosses from North Africa in 711 and defeats and kills the Visigothic king Roderic at Guadalete. Most of the peninsula comes under Umayyad rule by about 718, and al-Andalus begins.
- 1085Alfonso VI of León and Castile captures Toledo
Alfonso VI takes the taifa city of Toledo, the old Visigothic capital, in 1085. It is the first great Christian gain in central Iberia and prompts the taifa kings to ask the Almoravids of North Africa for help.
- 1147Portugal takes Lisbon from the Almoravids with help from crusaders
King Afonso Henriques of Portugal captures Lisbon after a siege in 1147, helped by northern European crusaders on their way to the Holy Land. The conquest roughly doubles the size of the young Portuguese kingdom.
- 1236Ferdinand III of Castile conquers Córdoba
Ferdinand III of Castile takes Córdoba, the former capital of the Umayyad caliphate, in 1236. The conquest is followed by much of the Guadalquivir valley and by Granada's submission as a Castilian vassal.
- 1238James I of Aragon conquers Valencia
James I of Aragon takes the city of Valencia, the last taifa of the east coast, in 1238, ending Muslim rule in the Valencia region. Settlers from Aragon and Catalonia follow.
- 1248Ferdinand III of Castile conquers Seville
After a siege Seville falls to Ferdinand III of Castile in 1248, taking the largest city of al-Andalus. Only the Nasrid Emirate of Granada remains under Muslim rule in the peninsula.
- 1253 – 1256Kublai Khan conquers the Dali Kingdom in Yunnan
On his brother Möngke's orders, Kublai leads a campaign from 1253 against the Dali Kingdom in southwest China. Yunnan is pacified by the end of 1256, outflanking the Song dynasty from the southwest.
- 1273Fall of Xiangyang opens the Yangtze to the Mongols
After a siege of several years, the Song twin fortress of Xiangyang and Fancheng surrenders to Kublai Khan's army in 1273. The defeat opens the Yangtze and leaves the Southern Song open to invasion.
- November 1274Kublai Khan's first invasion of Japan reaches Hakata Bay
A Yuan and Korean fleet takes Tsushima and Iki and lands near Hakata in Kyushu in November 1274, but withdraws after a storm and strong samurai resistance. Kublai had demanded Japan's submission since 1266.
- February 1276Mongol army enters Lin'an; the Southern Song court surrenders
General Bayan enters the Song capital Lin'an (Hangzhou) in 1276 and the dowager empress and child Emperor Gong of Song submit to Kublai Khan. Loyalist resistance continues in the south.
- March 19, 1279Battle of Yamen ends the Song dynasty; Yuan rules all China
The Yuan navy under Zhang Hongfan destroys the last Song fleet at Yamen on 19 March 1279; the child emperor Zhao Bing dies. Kublai Khan now rules all China, the first time non-Han rulers hold it all.
- 1281Kublai Khan's second invasion of Japan is wrecked by a typhoon
A far larger Yuan force in two fleets attacks Kyushu in 1281. After weeks held at the coast by samurai defences, a typhoon destroys much of the fleet. The storm becomes known as kamikaze, or 'divine wind'.
- 1285Yuan army invades Đại Việt (Vietnam) for the second time
Kublai Khan's forces invade Vietnam again in 1285, after incursions from 1257, and once more in 1287. The Trần dynasty resists and ends by accepting nominal tributary status.
- 1293Yuan expedition to Java fails after Kublai Khan's last overseas campaign
In 1293 Kublai Khan sends a fleet to punish King Kertanegara of Singhasari in Java. It is drawn into local politics and withdraws, and the Majapahit kingdom emerges. Kublai dies the following year.
- November 1344Pope Clement VI grants the Canary Islands to Luis de la Cerda as 'Prince of Fortune'
In November 1344 Clement VI gives the islands, still unconquered, to the Castilian noble Luis de la Cerda with the title Prince of Fortune. A January 1345 bull makes the conquest a crusade, but Luis dies in 1348 without leading one.
- 1402Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle land in Lanzarote
The Norman knights Béthencourt and La Salle reach Lanzarote in 1402, and Henry III of Castile makes Béthencourt lord of the islands. Sources date the conquest of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura between 1402 and 1405.
- August 21, 1415Portugal conquers Ceuta in Morocco
King John I of Portugal and his sons, including Prince Henry, capture the Marinid port of Ceuta on 21 August 1415. It is commonly treated as the start of Portugal's overseas expansion.
- c. 1419Portuguese captains reach Madeira and Porto Santo
Captains João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, serving Prince Henry, reach Porto Santo and Madeira around 1418-1419. Settlement on Madeira begins in the 1420s, with sugar and wine later its main products.
- c. 1427Portuguese navigators reach the Azores
The Azores are reached by Portuguese ships around 1427-1431; Diogo de Silves is credited with 1427 on a disputed map inscription, and Gonçalo Velho Cabral officially claims them in 1431. Settlement begins in the 1430s-40s.
- c. 1428Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco and Tlacopan form the Aztec Triple Alliance
After defeating Azcapotzalco in 1428, the three cities ally to dominate central Mexico. The article gives 1428 for the foundation, while another passage dates the treaty to 1430.
- 1438Pachacuti begins the expansion that creates the Inca Empire
In 1438 Pachacuti, the ninth Sapa Inca, starts the conquests that turn the Cusco state into Tawantinsuyu. He reigns until 1471, and his successors extend the empire north and south.
- May 29, 1453Fall of Constantinople
The Ottomans take the Byzantine capital, ending the Eastern Roman Empire.
- May 29, 1460Mehmed II conquers the Morea; Mistra falls
Ottoman forces take Mistra, seat of the Despotate of the Morea ruled by the Palaiologos family, ending the last Byzantine holdout in Greece. The despots had been brothers of the last emperor, Constantine XI.
- August 15, 1461Mehmed II takes Trebizond, ending the last Byzantine successor state
Emperor David Komnenos surrenders the Empire of Trebizond on the Black Sea to Mehmed II after a month's siege. Historians treat it as the end of Byzantine continuity.
- June 24, 1478Juan Rejón lands on Gran Canaria and founds Las Palmas
A Castilian force under Juan Rejón lands at La Isleta on 24 June 1478 and founds the camp that becomes Las Palmas, opening the royal conquest of Gran Canaria against its Indigenous inhabitants.
- September 4, 1479Treaty of Alcáçovas divides Atlantic claims between Castile and Portugal
The treaty of 4 September 1479 ends the Castilian succession war. Castile keeps the Canary Islands, while Portugal gets the Guinea coast and the Atlantic south of the Canaries. It was ratified in 1480.
- August 11, 1480Ottoman fleet captures Otranto in southern Italy
Gedik Ahmed Pasha's Ottoman force takes Otranto in Apulia, alarming Italy and Rome. Mehmed II's death in 1481 ends the campaign and the town is retaken that year.
- c. 1482Diogo Cão reaches the mouth of the Congo River
Diogo Cão, sailing for John II, reaches the Congo River in 1482 (the date is not fully settled) and sets up a stone padrão to mark Portugal's claim. His later voyage carries him further south along the African coast.
- c. 1482 – January 1492The Granada War: Castile and Aragon against the Emirate of Granada
Ferdinand and Isabella's war against the Nasrid Emirate of Granada begins around 1482 (some sources say 1481) and ends with Granada's surrender on 2 January 1492.
- January 1482Portugal builds São Jorge da Mina (Elmina) on the Gold Coast
Diogo de Azambuja lands in January 1482, gets permission from local ruler Kwamina Ansa and starts building the fort of São Jorge da Mina. It is the first permanent Portuguese fort in sub-Saharan Africa.
- 1483Castile completes the conquest of Gran Canaria under Pedro de Vera
After years of resistance, mostly in the island's interior, the last Gran Canaria leaders submit to Pedro de Vera in 1483. Rejón had been removed by this time. It is the first of the major islands taken by the Crown of Castile.
- January 1492Boabdil surrenders Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella
Muhammad XII (Boabdil) hands Granada and the Alhambra to the Catholic Monarchs in January 1492, ending Muslim rule in Iberia after almost 800 years. Most sources give 2 January, one gives 1 January.
- April 17, 1492Ferdinand and Isabella sign the Santa Fe Capitulations with Columbus
On 17 April 1492, outside conquered Granada, the Catholic Monarchs make Columbus Admiral, Viceroy and Governor of any lands he finds, with a tenth of the profits. A copy in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon survives.
- August 3, 1492 – March 1493Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic and back
Sailing for Castile with three ships, Columbus crosses the Atlantic, reaches the Bahamas on 12 October 1492 and returns in March 1493, beginning sustained contact between Europe and the Americas.
- September 1492 – May 1493Alonso Fernández de Lugo conquers La Palma
Fernández de Lugo lands at Tazacorte in September 1492 and completes the conquest of La Palma in 1493, founding Santa Cruz de La Palma. The campaign dates vary between sources.
- October 12, 1492Columbus's fleet sights land at Guanahani in the Bahamas
A lookout on the Pinta sights land in the early hours of 12 October 1492. The island, Guanahani to its Lucayan Taíno people and renamed San Salvador by Columbus, is in the Bahamas; which modern island it was remains debated.
- May 4, 1493Pope Alexander VI issues Inter caetera granting Castile lands in the west
On 4 May 1493 Pope Alexander VI grants the Catholic Monarchs the lands discovered or to be discovered west and south of a line near the Azores and Cape Verde. It is revised by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494.
- September 1493Columbus sails on his second voyage with 17 ships to settle Hispaniola
A fleet of 17 ships and over a thousand men, including settlers, soldiers and priests, leaves Cádiz in late September 1493. It is the first Spanish colonising expedition to the Americas.
- c. 1494 – July 1496Castile conquers Tenerife, the last of the Canary Islands
Alonso Fernández de Lugo invades Tenerife in 1494 against the Guanche kingdoms (menceyatos). After defeat at the first Acentejo, he wins at Aguere and the second Acentejo, and the island submits in July 1496.
- c. 1494Columbus founds La Isabela on Hispaniola, the first European town in the Americas
At the turn of 1493-94 Columbus founds La Isabela on the north coast of Hispaniola, in today's Dominican Republic, as the first Spanish colonial town in the Americas. Sources give late December 1493 or early January 1494.
- June 7, 1494Treaty of Tordesillas divides the world between Spain and Portugal
Spain and Portugal agree on 7 June 1494 on a line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. Lands to the west are Spain's to explore and claim; those to the east are Portugal's. It replaces a papal line set the year before.
- September 1494Charles VIII of France invades Italy, opening the Italian Wars
Claiming the Angevin right to Naples, Charles VIII crossed the Alps with a large army and artillery, starting the Italian Wars (1494-1559) between France, Spain, the Empire and Italian states.
- c. 1495Spanish colonists impose a gold tribute on the Taíno of Hispaniola
After Vega Real, Columbus's government makes Taíno adults pay a regular tribute in gold, or in cotton or food where there is no gold. Villages that fail to pay are punished, and many Taíno flee or die.
- March 1495Spanish forces defeat the Taíno at the Battle of Vega Real on Hispaniola
Columbus's brother Bartholomew and Spanish troops with dogs and cavalry defeat a large Taíno force on Hispaniola in March 1495 (24 March in most sources), ending organised Taíno resistance on the island.
- July 8, 1497 – May 1498Vasco da Gama sails from Lisbon to India
Vasco da Gama leaves Lisbon on 8 July 1497 with four ships, rounds the Cape, crosses the Indian Ocean with a pilot from Malindi and reaches Calicut in May 1498, the first sea route from Europe to India.
- April 22, 1500Pedro Álvares Cabral sights Brazil
A Portuguese fleet under Cabral, bound for India, sights Monte Pascoal on the Bahia coast on 22 April 1500 and claims the land for Portugal. Dates for the landing at Porto Seguro vary between sources.
- 1502Nicolás de Ovando arrives as governor of Hispaniola and sets up the encomienda
Ovando sails with about 30 ships and arrives at Santo Domingo in 1502. He introduces the encomienda, in which Taíno are assigned to Spanish colonists as forced labour in return for instruction in Christianity.
- 1504Hernán Cortés sails to Hispaniola and settles at Azua
In 1504 Cortés reaches Santo Domingo, where he receives an encomienda and a post as notary in Azua. Seven years later he will join Diego Velázquez's conquest of Cuba.
- 1511Diego Velázquez begins the Spanish conquest of Cuba
Governor Diego Velázquez leads Spanish forces from Hispaniola into Cuba in 1511 against the Taíno, led by the cacique Hatuey. Cuba becomes a base for later expeditions to Mexico.
- 1513Las Casas serves as chaplain in Velázquez's conquest of Cuba
In 1513 Las Casas accompanies Diego Velázquez and Pánfilo de Narváez's forces in Cuba as chaplain and receives an encomienda near Cienfuegos. He later describes the massacres he saw there.
- c. 1518Smallpox spreads through the Taíno population of Hispaniola
The first recorded smallpox epidemic reaches Hispaniola in late 1518 or 1519 and kills a large share of surviving Taíno. Estimates of their numbers vary widely, and forced labour and violence had already reduced them.
- 1519Cortés founds Veracruz and takes command of the expedition on the Mexican coast
After landing near the site at Easter, on 21 or 22 April 1519, Cortés founds the town of Veracruz, the base for the expedition. The article places the founding in early June; other accounts earlier.
- 1519Havana is founded on its present site on Cuba's northern coast
A settlement founded on Cuba's south coast in 1514 is moved, and the present city of Havana is founded on the north coast in 1519. It becomes the main port of Spain's Caribbean shipping.
- February 10, 1519Hernán Cortés sails from Cuba for Mexico despite the governor's order
On 10 February 1519 Cortés leaves Cuba with an expedition to the mainland, though governor Diego Velázquez had cancelled his commission. It begins the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
- November 8, 1519Cortés and Moctezuma II meet as the Spanish enter Tenochtitlan
On 8 November 1519 Cortés enters the Aztec capital, a city of more than 200,000 people by most estimates, and meets Moctezuma II. The Spanish hold the ruler captive within the following weeks.
- May 1521 – August 13, 1521Cortés besieges Tenochtitlan, which falls on 13 August 1521
The siege begins in May 1521, with sources giving 10 or 22 May. After more than 90 days the Aztec defenders surrender on 13 August and Cuauhtémoc is captured. Estimates put Aztec dead at about 200,000.
- 1524 – 1526Cortés leads an expedition to Honduras against Cristóbal de Olid
From 1524 to 1526 Cortés marches to Honduras against Cristóbal de Olid, who had claimed the territory, and takes Cuauhtémoc with him; Cuauhtémoc is executed on the way. The trip takes him away from Mexico for months.
- August 29, 1526Suleiman I destroys the Hungarian army at Mohács; Habsburgs inherit Bohemia and Hungary
King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia dies at Mohács, triggering the Habsburg inheritance contract. Ferdinand, brother of Emperor Charles V, takes Bohemia and a disputed claim to Hungary, a rival king being Zápolya.
- 1529Francisco Pizarro obtains the Crown's licence to conquer Peru
After earlier expeditions along the Pacific coast, Pizarro secures permission in 1529 to conquer the land. The source gives no month or place for the licence.
- September 27, 1529 – October 1529Suleiman I besieges Vienna for the first time
Suleiman's army, backing John Zápolya against Ferdinand of Habsburg, besieges Vienna. Charles V is busy in Italy, but the defenders hold and the Ottomans withdraw before winter.
- 1532Francisco Pizarro lands in Peru with about 168 men
On his third voyage, in 1531 to 1532, Pizarro reaches Peru with about 168 Spaniards, 106 on foot and 62 on horseback, and heads inland towards the Inca emperor Atahualpa.
- November 16, 1532Pizarro ambushes Atahualpa's party at Cajamarca and captures the Inca emperor
On 16 November 1532 Pizarro's men attack Atahualpa's unarmed entourage in Cajamarca's plaza and seize him. Estimates put the Inca dead at about 2,000 to 3,000; most sources report no Spanish deaths.
- November 15, 1533Pizarro's army enters Cusco, the Inca capital
On 15 November 1533 the Spanish enter Cusco. Pizarro first installs Túpac Huallpa, who dies, and then Manco Inca, who later turns against the Spanish.
- 1534John III divides Brazil into hereditary captaincies
From 1534 the Crown grants the Brazilian coast as 15 hereditary captaincies to 12 donees. Only four, São Vicente, Pernambuco, Ilhéus and Porto Seguro, survive beyond 1549; the others are never settled or are overrun by Indigenous peoples.
- January 18, 1535Francisco Pizarro founds Lima, the 'City of the Kings'
On 18 January 1535 Pizarro founds Lima, which becomes the capital of Spanish Peru and remains so until 1821.
- August 1541Ottomans occupy Buda and partition Hungary into three parts
Suleiman's troops take Buda by a ruse, annexing central Hungary as an Ottoman province. Royal Hungary stays Habsburg and Transylvania goes to Zápolya's heir; the division lasts until 1699.
- May 6, 1542Francis Xavier reaches Goa to begin the Jesuit mission in Asia
Francis Xavier, who left Lisbon on 7 April 1541, arrives at Goa, the capital of Portuguese India, on 6 May 1542. The Jesuit begins missionary work in Asia that takes him to Japan in 1549.
- 1545Silver is found at Cerro Rico and the mining town of Potosí is founded
In 1545 the Andean prospector Diego Huallpa is traditionally credited with discovering the silver of Cerro Rico; the town's founding is dated 1 April 1545. It produces an estimated 60% of the world's mined silver in the second half of the century.
- 1546Zacatecas is founded after the discovery of rich silver veins
In 1546 Juan de Tolosa founds the town of Zacatecas after one of the world's richest silver veins is found nearby. Silver mining draws roads and settlers into Chichimeca lands.
- March 29, 1549Tomé de Sousa founds Salvador as seat of Brazil's first governor-general
In 1549 Tomé de Sousa, Brazil's first governor-general, arrives with six ships and the first six Jesuits and founds Salvador, which is dated to 29 March. The city is Brazil's capital until 1763 and a major port for sugar and the slave trade.
- August 1550 – April 1551Las Casas debates Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda at Valladolid over the conquest
A council of theologians and jurists hears Las Casas and Sepúlveda argue whether Spain's conquests and the treatment of the Indigenous peoples are just. The result is inconclusive, and both sides claim victory.
- 1555Villegaignon founds France Antarctique in Guanabara Bay
In 1555 the French naval officer Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon founds a colony near present-day Rio de Janeiro, in Guanabara Bay. The French hold it until the Portuguese expel them in 1567.
- c. 1564Havana becomes the rendezvous port of Spain's treasure fleets
Under the convoy system set up in the mid-1560s, the New Spain and Tierra Firme fleets gather at Havana before crossing to Spain. Sources date the system from 1561, 1564 or 1566.
- March 1, 1565Estácio de Sá founds Rio de Janeiro
On 1 March 1565 Estácio de Sá, nephew of the governor-general Mem de Sá, founds São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro near Sugarloaf Mountain, as a base against the French and their Indigenous allies.
- December 13, 1577 – September 26, 1580Drake sails around the world in the Golden Hind
Drake leaves Plymouth on 13 December 1577 and returns on 26 September 1580. He is the first Englishman to circle the globe, and raids Spanish ports and ships along the Pacific coast.
- June 1579Drake lands in California and claims Nova Albion for Elizabeth I
In June 1579 the Golden Hind anchors at a bay on the Pacific coast of North America, probably near Point Reyes. Drake claims the land for England as Nova Albion; the exact site is disputed.
- September 1585 – July 22, 1586Drake leads a fleet of 21 ships against Spain's Caribbean colonies
From September 1585 to July 1586 Drake raids Spanish settlements, including Santo Domingo, Cartagena and St Augustine, in the first big English naval offensive of the war with Spain.
- 1628 – 1629Paulista bandeirantes raid and destroy the Jesuit missions of Guairá
In 1628-29 bandeirantes from São Paulo, led by Manuel Preto, destroy the Jesuit missions of Guairá and enslave their Guaraní. Estimates of captives range from about 5,000 to 100,000, and raids on other missions go on until 1632.
- February 1630 – 1654The Dutch take Olinda and Recife and begin their rule in northeastern Brazil
In February 1630 the Dutch West India Company takes Olinda, and Recife by 3 March. Dutch Brazil lasts until 1654, when the Portuguese regain the northeast.
- May 20, 1643 – October 28, 1643Dutch fleet under Brouwer raids Chiloé and occupies Valdivia
From May to October 1643 a Dutch expedition sacks Carelmapu and Castro, then occupies the ruined city of Valdivia, hoping for gold and a base against Spanish Peru. It leaves in October.
- February 1645Spain resettles Valdivia and begins its fortress system
In February 1645 a Spanish fleet from Callao reaches Valdivia and resettles it after the Dutch occupation, beginning the Valdivian fort system.
- April 1655English Western Design force fails to take Santo Domingo, then seizes Jamaica
In April 1655 Cromwell's expedition under Penn and Venables is repulsed outside Santo Domingo, losing about a thousand men. The fleet turns to weakly held Jamaica and takes it in May.
- 1665Louis XIV names Bertrand d'Ogeron governor of Tortuga and the coast of Saint-Domingue
In 1665 France appoints Bertrand d'Ogeron to govern the buccaneers and settlers on Tortuga and the north-western coast of Hispaniola. He promotes tobacco planting and brings in indentured labourers, laying the base of Saint-Domingue.
- c. 1695Gold is discovered in the interior of Brazil, starting the gold rush
In the 1690s, with 1695 given for the strike at Rio das Velhas by Manuel Borba Gato, gold is found in Minas Gerais. Vila Rica, now Ouro Preto, is founded in 1698; about 800 tonnes of gold go to Portugal in the 18th century.
- January 13, 1750Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Madrid, replacing Tordesillas
On 13 January 1750 the two crowns set the borders of their South American colonies by actual possession, accepting Brazil's westward expansion. Spain gets Colonia del Sacramento; Portugal the seven Jesuit missions; Spain annuls it in 1761.
- April 1796 – 1797Bonaparte's first Italian campaign against Austria and Piedmont
Commanding the French Army of Italy, Bonaparte began a campaign in Italy in April 1796 (the Montenotte campaign) during the Revolutionary Wars, the first major step in his rise.
- 1798 – 1799Bonaparte invades Egypt and Syria
A French army under Bonaparte invaded Ottoman Egypt in 1798, fighting the Battle of the Pyramids on 21 July. The army was cut off from France after the British naval victory at the Nile in August.
- 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.
- February 1802Napoleon's brother-in-law Leclerc lands a French army in Saint-Domingue
In early February 1802 General Charles Leclerc arrives at Saint-Domingue with a large expeditionary force sent by Napoleon to restore French control. Toussaint retreats to the mountains and war resumes.
- 1807 – April 17, 1814The Peninsular War in Portugal and Spain
French forces occupied Portugal in 1807 and then Spain, where Napoleon installed his brother Joseph. Spanish armies and guerrillas, with British and Portuguese forces under Wellesley, fought until the war ended on 17 April 1814.
- June 24, 1812 – December 24, 1812Napoleon invades Russia with the Grande Armée
Over 450,000 men crossed the Neman on 24 June 1812. Russia withdrew deeper, preserving its army and, at Borodino and Moscow, denying a decisive result; only about 120,000 of Napoleon's force survived. The campaign ended 24 December.
- 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.
- August 1851Narciso López lands an expedition in Cuba and is defeated and executed
After earlier attempts in 1848-1850 failed, Narciso López lands in Pinar del Río in August 1851 with an armed force from abroad. Spanish troops defeat it and López is executed.
- October 1854US diplomats meet at Ostend and argue that the United States may seize Cuba
In October 1854 James Buchanan, Pierre Soulé and John Y. Mason meet at Ostend and write that the US should buy Cuba, and would be justified in taking it if Spain refuses. Criticism in the North and in Europe ends the plan.
- 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.
- 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.
- February 15, 1898The US battleship Maine explodes in Havana harbour
On 15 February 1898 the USS Maine blows up in Havana harbour and 268 crew die. The cause has not been clearly established; the incident feeds the road to the Spanish-American War.
- April 21, 1898 – August 13, 1898The United States blockades Cuba and goes to war with Spain
A US resolution of 20 April 1898 backs Cuban independence (the Teller Amendment). Congress declares that war has existed since the blockade of 21 April. Fighting ends with an armistice on 13 August.
- December 10, 1898The Treaty of Paris ends Spanish rule in Cuba
Signed on 10 December 1898 without Cuban delegates, the treaty has Spain relinquish Cuba, which the United States occupies from 1 January 1899. Spain also cedes Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.
- March 2, 1901The Platt Amendment gives the United States a right to intervene in Cuba
Signed into US law on 2 March 1901, the amendment is accepted by Cuba's constituent assembly on 12 June, 16 votes to 11, and added to its constitution. It allows US intervention and leads to the Guantánamo naval base.
- 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.
- September 29, 1906 – February 6, 1909The United States occupies Cuba again after Estrada Palma resigns
A Liberal revolt against a rigged 1905 election leads Estrada Palma to resign on 28 September 1906 and the US to install a provisional government, later under Charles Magoon. The last US forces leave on 6 February 1909.
- 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.
- 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.