How Did The US Involvement In The Dominican Civil War?

“There are times in the affairs of nations when great principles are tested in an ordeal of conflict and danger. This is such a time” (Department). The political environment in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s was fragile, inevitably spiraling into a civil war due to the battle between old and new ideas. The United States’ involvement in this conflict shaped how the war was fought and which leaders came out of the war. The Dominican Civil War of 1965 was the result of the existing political upheaval, the people’s view of communism, and the United States shaping future Dominican politics.

The Dominican Civil War was affected by Rafael Trujillo’s authoritarian rule prior to the war, leaving the country and its people in disarray. Trujillo’s
Specifically in the case of Juan Bosch, when he was elected in 1962, he had President Kennedy’s full support but as Kennedy started to fear for the future, he began to support the coup against Bosch and even supplied weapons to the rebels (Hall). The United States had been meddling in Latin American politics for years behind the scenes, but up until they intervened in the Dominican Civil War, there was not much definitive proof. Without the United States’ support, every leader will crumble. This power is exactly why their intervention in the war massively altered the war. Fearing a communist uprising like Cuba, President Johnson sent military aid and within two weeks, more than 20,000 US troops landed in the Dominican Republic.” (Eakin 369). President Johnson sent troops to establish peace and rescue the approximately 800 Americans. President Johnson’s ulterior motive, however, was to stop communism and pick a leader for the Dominican Republic who would agree with U.S. ideals. A few days after U.S. troops were deployed in the Dominican Republic, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave a speech, “Communist leaders, many of them trained in Cuba, seeing a chance to increase disorder, to gain a foothold, joined the revolution.what began as a popular democratic revolution.[was]placed into the hands of a band of communist conspirators.” (The Department). The Domino Theory had the entire government convinced that because the USSR was the most prominent enemy, anyone with a similar government became an enemy as well. The U.S. has already failed to save Cuba but wanted to demonstrate its power to Latin America. The Dominican Civil War was the perfect opportunity for