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The Marblehead makes it to Haiti
Topic Started: Sep 2 2011, 09:29 PM (310 Views)
Basil Fawlty
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Post Tenebras Lux
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On September 20, 1897, Emile Lüders, a half-Haitian German national who kept a livery stable in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, became involved in a fray with the local police over the arrest of one of his hostlers. When Lüders was fined and thrown in jail, the German minister, Count Kurt Christoph von Schwerin -- by all accounts, a loud mouthed, overbearing, and generally unpleasant man -- intervened, and Lüders was released and deported. Not content with this, von Schwerin demanded the dismissal of the police and the judges involved in the case. The German bypassed the customary channel of the Haitian Foreign Ministry and pursued the Haitian president personally, in the words of one observer, "like a process server." When he failed to obtain satisfaction by this means, he escalated the German demand to include the payment of an indemnity and referred the matter to Berlin.

On November 30 the Haitian government replied to a stiff German note: Haiti was prepared to discuss the merits of the Lüders controversy but objected to Germany deciding the matter and demanding an indemnity without any discussion whatsoever. (...)

Rumors were abroad in Haiti that a German warship was on its way. Washington watched the situation uneasily and dispatched the cruiser Marblehead, which was at Annapolis, to Port-au-Prince to protect American interests.


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At dawn on December 6, the German training ships Charlotte and Stein anchored off Port-au-Prince. Kapitan-zur-See August Thiele, commander of the schoolship fleet, sent a message ashore. On behalf of Kaiser Wilhelm II, he was making the following demands: a twenty-thousand dollar indemnity must be paid to Herr Lüders, and he must be readmitted to Haiti; the government of Haiti must submit a formal apology to the government of Germany; a twenty-one gun salute must be made to the imperial German colors flying above his ships; there must be a reception at the palace for Count von Schwerin. If the Haitian government failed to haul down the Haitian colors and hoist a white flag over the Palais National, signifying its agreement to all these demands, by 1 P.M., he would sink all Haitian ships in the harbor, destroy the Palais National, and bombard the city.

The Haitian president contacted the American minister, William F. Powell, and urgently inquired whether any help might be expected from the U.S. Navy. The Marblehead was still at sea, steaming south from Annapolis, and Powell, who had for more than a week been warning Washington of an impending German action and begging for warships, was forced to reply that no American aid was available at the moment.

Shortly before 1 P.M. the Haitian colors came down and the white flag was raised.


Four days later, the USS Maine departed Norfolk for its date with destiny in Cuba.

The question is, what happens if the Marblehead had been in Port-au-Prince on the sixth? Would Germany have been deterred? If so, does the kaiser become even more inclined to intervene in the Spanish-American War just months later?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luders_Affair
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Basil Fawlty
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A bit of background.

Not long before, the Kaiser had annexed Kaichow after a similar incident with the Chinese. This put the European powers on notice that Germany seemed interested in hunting for new colonies.

Germany, Austria, France, Italy, and Russia all agreed in the weeks before the Spanish-American War on a joint diplomatic intervention, to prevent the U.S. from going to war and gaining Cuba. However, none was willing to take the first step, so the talks collapsed. All had been hoping Britain would join in and lead. Without British participation, there would be no coalition.

The question then becomes, if Germany was more willing to stick its neck out than @, whether this would 1) impel Britain to go along with the original plan (it would be virtually alone otherwise), and if not, whether 2) the kaiser would be sufficiently irritated by previous U.S. interference in Haiti to go ahead without British support.

I am skeptical whether a coalition could survive determined British opposition, and that would likely result if the Germans pressed ahead on their own accord. Italy would probably fall first, due to Mediterranean interests; France would be close behind. Austria would probably support its ally regardless. Russia is an enigma, as always.
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Simon Darkshade
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At this point in time, I can't see Britain going against its interests and antagonizing America in favour of what was already a greater rival and growing threat in the form of Germany.
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Basil Fawlty
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At one point, the American ambassador in London did say something to the effect of, "We could have Britain's entire fleet at our disposal if only we would ask."
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