The Military After Independence
The long-delayed achievement of independence did not bring peace to the new Dominican Republic, nor did it improve public order. Political power was extremely decentralized, and competition among factions of the landowning white elite produced a level of national disunity that had disastrous effects on public safety. Although the central government had established a national army, this force essentially consisted of a small group of officers who were interested chiefly in personal enrichment and whose duties were largely ceremonial.
The national army was far outnumbered by armed militias that were organized and maintained by local caudillos, who had set themselves up as provincial governors. Using these militias, the caudillos waged bloody civil wars as they contended for regional and national power. National political life was characterized by repeated coups and military uprisings against whichever caudillo — usually self-promoted to general-officer status — had gathered enough power to seize the presidency.
The continuous civil war, political upheaval, and misrule that characterized the republic's early years were punctuated by repeated Haitian attempts to invade. During such periods of danger, forces larger than the small national army were needed to defend the country. These forces, hastily raised and poorly equipped, were essentially conglomerations of regional militias that had been filled out by poor farmers or landless plantation workers who had been pressed into service. Once the threat had subsided and Haitian forces had been repelled, the militias would return to advancing the cause of particular regional leaders. The impressed troops would return home, where some would contribute to the general state of disorder by taking up banditry.
During its first thirty years of independence, the Dominican Republic was run directly, or indirectly, by General Pedro Santana Familias and General Buenaventura Baez Mendez, whose bitter rivalry was played out in civil wars that resulted in alternating Santana and Baez regimes. Each of the two generals used his position to enrich himself, his relatives, and his followers at public expense. To deal with the national bankruptcy caused by civil war, corruption, and mismanagement, Santana called on Spain in 1861 to restore colonial rule. The Dominicans soon had enough of Spanish control, and in 1865 Spain was again forced out. As a result of army restructuring after the restoration, existing military tendencies in Dominican society became more pronounced.
General Ulises Heureaux became president in 1882. During his brutal, dictatorial rule, factionalism was repressed, and the nation enjoyed relative internal peace. The army emerged as a standing organization for the first time, based on a system of conscription that affected mainly peasants. The number of officers increased sharply, and military expenditures dominated the state budget. By 1897 Heureaux was able to boast of a disciplined army with 14,000 Remington rifles and six artillery batteries. With the country's newly built rail lines and a modest navy, the force had considerable mobility.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
