The Bryan–Chamorro Treaty was signed between

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on August 5, 1914. It gave the United States full rights over any future canal built through Nicaragua. The

Wilson administration Woodrow Wilson's tenure as the 28th president of the United States lasted from 4 March 1913 until 4 March 1921. He was largely incapacitated the last year and a half. He became president after winning the 1912 election. Wilson was a Democrat ...

changed the treaty by adding a provision similar in language to that of the

Platt Amendment On March 2, 1901, the Platt Amendment was passed as part of the 1901 Army Appropriations Bill.military intervention in Nicaragua. The

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

opposed the new provision; in response, it was dropped and the treaty was formally ratified on June 19, 1916.

History

The democratically elected and reform-minded Liberal Party president José Santos Zelaya López had incurred the wrath of the United States by negotiating with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and Japan to resurrect the proposed

Nicaragua Canal The Nicaraguan Canal ( es, Canal de Nicaragua), formally the Nicaraguan Canal and Development Project (also referred to as the Nicaragua Grand Canal, or the Grand Interoceanic Canal) was a proposed shipping route through Nicaragua to connect th ...

, which might constitute potential future foreign competition with the newly-built US-owned

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

. After supporting an insurgency against the government led by Conservative Party insurgents

Emiliano Chamorro Emiliano Chamorro Vargas (11 May 1871 – 26 February 1966) was a Nicaraguan military figure and politician who served as President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1917 to 1 January 1921, and again as interim president from 14 March to 11 November 19 ...

and

Juan José Estrada Juan José Estrada Morales (1 January 1872 in Managua – 11 July 1967 in Managua) was the President of Nicaragua from 29 August 1910 to 9 May 1911. Biography Juan José Estrada Morales was a Nicaraguan military and political figure who acted ...

with arms, funds, troops, warships, and economic measures, the United States eventually forced the popular liberal Presidents José Zelaya and then Jose Madriz to flee the country. It then installed the conservative governments of first Juan José Estrada (soon deposed by the powerful Secretary of War Luis Mena) and then former Vice President

Adolfo Diaz Adolfo may refer to: * Adolfo, São Paulo, a Brazilian municipality * Adolfo (designer) Adolfo Faustino Sardiña (February 15, 1923 – November 27, 2021), professionally known as Adolfo, was a Cuban-born American fashion designer who started out a ...

. When General Luis Mena convinced the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

to name him successor to the unpopular pro-U.S. Adolfo Diaz, the United States invaded and occupied Nicaragua militarily from 1912 to 1933, wrote a new constitution for the country, changed the National Assembly, and propped up successive conservative regimes under the presidents Adolfo Diaz, Emiliano Chamorro, and

Diego Manuel Chamorro Diego Manuel Chamorro Bolaños (9 August 1861 – 12 October 1923) was the President of Nicaragua between 1 January 1921 and 12 October 1923. He was a member of the Conservative Party of Nicaragua. He was born in Nandaime and was a member of ...

. Luis Mena fled into the countryside to start a rebellion, which continued under various leaders for the next 60 years. In exchange for political concessions from Adolfo Diaz, the United States provided the military strength to suppress popular revolt and ensure the conservative regime maintained control over the Nicaraguan government. For much of the 20th century, Nicaragua remained controlled under the hereditary dictatorship of the Chamorro and after 1936 the Somoza dynasties until widespread rebellions forced them out of power in the 1970s. The Treaty was named after the principal negotiators:

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...

, U.S. Secretary of State; and the then General Emiliano Chamorro, representing the Nicaraguan government. By the terms of the treaty, the United States acquired the rights to any canal built in Nicaragua in perpetuity, a renewable 99 year option to establish a naval base in the

Gulf of Fonseca The Gulf of Fonseca ( es, Golfo de Fonseca; ), a part of the Pacific Ocean, is a gulf in Central America, bordering El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. History Fonseca Bay was discovered for Europeans in 1522 by Gil González de Ávil ...

, and a renewable 99-year lease to the Great and Little

Corn Islands The Corn Islands are two islands about east of the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, constituting one of 12 municipalities of the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. The official name of the municipality is ''Corn Island'' (the English name is ...

in the Caribbean. For those concessions, Nicaragua received three million dollars. Most of the three million dollars was paid back to U.S. creditors by U.S. officials in charge of Nicaraguan financial affairs, which allowed the Nicaraguan government to continue to collect internal revenue. The debt had been quickly amassed in a two-year period by the Nicaraguan government of

under the American "dollars for bullets" scheme to retard infrastructure development funding from rival powers and lingering debts from earlier indemnities Nicaragua was forced to pay the foreign occupying powers of the United States and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, and repairing the devastation inflicted from the war with Great Britain, war with the United States and the civil war of Luis Mena's Rebellion. At the request of Nicaragua, the United States under

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

and Nicaragua under Anastasio Somoza Debayle held a convention, on July 14, 1970, that officially abolished the treaty and all its provisions.

Intended impact

At various times since the

opened in 1914, the Nicaragua route has been reconsidered. Its construction would shorten the water distance between New York and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

by nearly . The Bryan–Chamorro Treaty kept Nicaragua from—and stopped any potential European powers from—competing with the Panama Canal.

Unintended impact

The provision of the Bryan–Chamorro Treaty granting rights to United States to build a naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca was contested by El Salvador and Costa Rica. The

Central American Court of Justice The Central American Integration System ( es, Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana, or SICA) has been the economic and political organization of Central American states since 1 February 1993. On 13 December 1991, the ODECA countries (Spa ...

saw in the favor of the two countries. The United States ignored the decision, contributing significantly to the court's collapse in 1918.

Notes

External links

Text of Bryan-Chamorro Treaty - Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan-Chamorro Treaty 1914 in Nicaragua 1916 in Nicaragua Banana Wars Treaties concluded in 1914 Treaties entered into force in 1916 Treaties of the United States Treaties of Nicaragua Nicaragua–United States relations William Jennings Bryan

History

Intended impact

Unintended impact

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links