Haiti breaks off relations with Germany

On 16 June 1917 the government of Haiti broke off diplomatic relations with the German Empire and sent home the German chargé d’affaires. At noon the next day the American minister in Port-au-Prince, Arthur Bailly-Blanchard, cabled Washington that the Haitian foreign minister had informed him of the break. The Haitians asked at the same time that the Americans arrange a safe-conduct for the German representative, his wife and his suite. The Germans were to leave on a Dutch ship, and the Haitians wanted to be sure that American warships would not stop them. That is why the American collection of diplomatic documents dates the break to 17 June, the day of the notification.

Haiti was not then a fully independent state. Since 28 July 1915, when American marines landed in the capital after the lynching of President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, the country had been occupied by the United States, as had, since 1916, the neighbouring Dominican Republic, which had also broken off relations with Germany a few days earlier. President Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave had been elected in August 1915 under American supervision, and a treaty of the same year gave the Americans control over customs, finances and the gendarmerie. Washington had earlier feared German influence on the island. The German merchants, few in number but wealthy, handled a large part of Haiti’s foreign trade, and some had married into the country’s most influential families.

On 4 February 1917, when the United States broke off relations with Germany, Bailly-Blanchard encouraged Haiti to follow its example. In April Dartiguenave talked several times about entering the war with the commander of the American occupation forces, General Cole, who considered the step advisable. The president, however, feared opposition at home and wanted first to know whether the Americans would help him. On 24 April the Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, had the Haitian minister told that the United States would give Haiti “all proper assistance”. When Port-au-Prince asked what that meant in concrete terms, Lansing replied on 27 April that it would depend on circumstances, but that Washington would do everything possible to ensure that Haiti suffered no harm on account of its decision.

The pretext for the break was the loss of Haitian lives. Several Haitian citizens had died on the French ships Karnak, sunk by a German submarine in November 1916, and Montréal, torpedoed on 24 March 1917. Dartiguenave asked parliament to declare war, but the National Assembly refused. On 11 May it adopted instead a resolution protesting against the German submarine blockade and holding Germany responsible for the lives and property of Haitians at sea, with due compensation. It also announced that if necessary Haiti would break off relations with Germany. Haiti demanded redress in Berlin. According to a 1919 Pan-American Union memorandum, Germany responded by handing the Haitian chargé d’affaires his passports, whereupon Port-au-Prince sent the German diplomat home.

Three days after the break, on 19 June, Dartiguenave dissolved parliament, which opposed a new constitution prepared under American supervision. That constitution was, among other things, to allow foreigners to buy land in Haiti, which had been forbidden since independence. The dissolution decree was carried out by the gendarmerie commanded by the marine officer Smedley Butler. Haiti declared war on Germany only on 12 July 1918, through the Council of State, which was then standing in for parliament.