Recent History
Some Caribbean nations gained independence from European powers in the nineteenth century. Some smaller states are still dependencies of European powers today. Cuba remained a Spanish colony until the Spanish American War.
Since the Monroe Doctrine, the United States gained a major influence on most Caribbean nations. In the early part of the 20th Century this influence was extended by participation in The Banana Wars. Areas outside British or French control became known in Europe as "America's tropical empire".
Victory in the Spanish-American war and the signing of the Platt amendment in 1901 ensured that the United States would have the right to interfere in Cuban political and economic affairs, militarily if necessary. After the Cuban revolution of 1959 relations deteriorated rapidly leading to the Bay of Pigs venture, the Cuban Missile Crisis and successive US attempts to destabilise the island. The US invaded and occupied Hispaniola (present day Dominican Republic and Haiti) for 19 years (1915-34), subsequently dominating the Haitian economy through aid and loan repayments. The US invaded Haiti again in 1994 and in 2004 were accused by CARICOM of arranging a coup d'état to remove elected Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Longer Historical Perspective
The History of the Caribbean reveals the significant role the region played in the colonial struggles of the European powers between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the twentieth century the Caribbean was again important during World War II, in the decolonisation wave in the post-war period, and in the tension between Communist Cuba and the United States (US). Genocide, slavery, immigration and rivalry between world powers have given Caribbean history an impact disproportionate to the size of this small region.
Christopher Columbus was the first European explorer to travel to the Americas, but soon afterward both Portuguese and Spanish ships began claiming pieces of Central and South America. These colonies brought in gold, and other European powers, most specifically England, the Netherlands, and France, hoped to make gains in the region. This caused a number of wars throughout the region.
During the first voyage of the explorer Christopher Columbus (mandated by the Spanish crown to conquer) contact was made with the Lucayans in the Bahamas and the Taino in Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola, and a few of the native people were taken back to Spain.
The Caribbean region was war-torn throughout much of colonial history, but the wars were often based in Europe, with only minor battles fought in the Caribbean. Some wars, however, were borne of political turmoil in the Caribbean itself. Thirty Years' War between the Netherlands and Spain, the First, Second, and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars were battles for supremacy, Nine Years' War between the European powers., the War of Jenkins' Ear Spain and Britain fought over trade rights, Seven Years' War was another European war, The American Revolution had an impact on the Caribbean, the French Revolution allowed for the creation of the Republic of Haiti and the Spanish-American War ended Spanish control of Cuba and Puerto Rico and heralded the period of American dominance of the island.
