Military Government of Santo Domingo
| Military Government of Santo Domingo | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupied territory of the United States | |||||||||
| 1916–1924 | |||||||||
Santo Domingo (To the Right) | |||||||||
| Anthem | |||||||||
| Salve, Columbia "Hail, Columbia" | |||||||||
| Capital | Santo Domingo | ||||||||
| Demonym | Dominican | ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| • Type | Military government | ||||||||
| • Motto | E Pluribus Unum "Out of Many, One" | ||||||||
| Military Governor | |||||||||
• 1916-1917 (First) | Harry Shepard Knapp | ||||||||
• 1917-1924 (Last) | Edwin Anderson Jr | ||||||||
| Historical era | Modern Era | ||||||||
• Established | 15 May 1916 | ||||||||
| 12 July 1924 | |||||||||
• U.S. forces withdraw | 18 September 1924 | ||||||||
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The Military Government of Santo Domingo (Spanish: Gobierno Militar de Santo Domingo) was a provisional military government established during the American occupation of the Dominican Republic that lasted from May 15, 1916 to September 18, 1924. The United States aimed to force the Dominicans to repay their large debts to European creditors, whose governments threatened military intervention. On May 13, 1916, Rear Admiral William B. Caperton forced the Dominican Republic's Secretary of War Desiderio Arias, who had seized power from President Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra, to leave Santo Domingo by threatening the city with naval bombardment.
The Marines landed two days later and established effective control of the country within two months. Three major roads were built, largely for military purposes, connecting for the first time the capital with Santiago in the north, Azua in the west, and San Pedro de Macorís in the east; the system of forced labor used by the Americans in Haiti was absent in the Dominican Republic.