Under the Shadow of the Big Stick

The U.S. intervention in Cuba in 1906, commonly referred to as the Second Intervention, began on September 28, 1906 with the resignation of the Cuban president and his cabinet and ended on January 28, 1909 when the U.S. relinquished control of the state to its newly elected president. While American political and military leaders clearly made some mistakes before and during the Second Intervention, the U.S. intervention in Cuba in 1906 should be considered a success both politically and militarily for the United States. The military actions of the Army of Cuban Pacification and the provisional government led to a peaceful occupation and pacification of the island. Furthermore, the military objectives met the narrow national political objectives of the day, resulting in fifty years of positive political and economic relations between Cuba and the United States. This monograph describes the different nature of American military actions conducted during stability operations in support of non-war policy objectives during the Second Intervention. The study examines the conditions and events in Cuba that contributed to the intervention, traces the evolution of U.S. foreign policy that led to the national political objectives in 1906, discusses the U.S. military's actions during the pacification of the country, and analyzes the effectiveness of those military actions to meet political goals.