Between 1921 and 1933, the United States moved from a policy of active intervention to a policy of noninterference in the internal political affairs of the Caribbean states. How the shift from the diplomacy of the Taft and Wilson administrations to the Good Neighbor policy of Franklin Roosevelt occurred is the subject of Dana Gardner Munro's book. The author draws on official records and on his personal experience as a member of the Latin American Division of the United States Department of State to piece together the history of the transition in diplomatic policy. Professor Munro concentrates on several important issues that changed the tone of the relations of the United States with Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and the five Central American Republics: the failure to compel political reforms in Cuba from 1921 to 1923; the withdrawal of the occupations from the Dominican Republic and Haiti; the intervention in Nicaragua; the response to the Machado and Trujillo dictatorships; and the refusal to recognize revolutionary governments in Central America. The author's analysis sheds new light on the much-discussed Clark memorandum, on the degree to which policy furthered the interests of bankers and businessmen, and on the attitude of the American government toward dictatorial regimes. Originally published in 1974. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

An examination of the background to conflicts in Central America through culture, politics and social conditions. It examines the obstacles to a transition to democracy, the political parties in the region, the role of export crops and the co-existence of indigenous and Spanish cultures.