- Date:
- April 21, 1914 - November 14, 1914 (Anniversary tomorrow)
- Participants:
- Mexico
- United States
- Context:
- Mexican Revolution
United States occupation of Veracruz
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What was the United States occupation of Veracruz?
In April–November 1914, the United States occupied Veracruz, the primary port on Mexico's east coast, during the Mexican Revolution's civil wars.
Tensions arose after the Tampico Affair, when U.S. sailors were briefly detained. Simultaneously, the U.S. discovered that a German steamer, the SS Ypiranga, was en route to deliver weapons to Victoriano Huerta's government in Veracruz, violating the U.S. arms embargo. This prompted U.S. forces to seize the port.
On April 21, 1914, U.S. warships arrived at Veracruz, and U.S. Marines and Navy personnel landed, meeting minimal resistance from Mexican army soldiers who retreated. However, cadets from the Veracruz Naval Academy and armed citizens resisted the U.S. invasion. U.S. warships shelled the academy, resulting in casualties on both sides. By April 24, with reinforcements, U.S. forces gained control of the city, beginning a six-month occupation. The U.S. withdrew its troops in November 1914.
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When did the occupation of Veracruz happen and which countries were involved?
In April–November 1914, United States military forces occupied Veracruz, the primary port on Mexico's east coast, during the Mexican Revolution's civil wars. The U.S. initially supported General Victoriano Huerta's military regime but withdrew support after Woodrow Wilson became president.
Tensions rose after the Tampico Affair, where U.S. sailors were temporarily detained. The U.S. also learned the German steamer SS Ypiranga was planning to deliver weapons to Huerta in violation of the U.S. arms embargo, which led to Wilson ordering the U.S. military to seize the port.
U.S. warships arrived on April 21, encountering resistance from cadets of the Veracruz Naval Academy and armed citizens. By March 24, U.S. forces, totaling 3,000, gained complete control, beginning a six-month occupation.
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Why did the United States decide to occupy Veracruz?
In April 1914, the United States occupied Veracruz, the primary port on Mexico's east coast, for six months during the Mexican Revolution.
The U.S. initially supported General Victoriano Huerta's military regime but withdrew support following Woodrow Wilson's election due to his view that the regime was illegitimate. The Tampico Affair, involving the arrest of unarmed U.S. sailors, and the Ypiranga Incident, concerning a German ship delivering arms to Huerta, led Wilson to order the U.S. military to seize the port.
U.S. forces faced resistance from naval academy cadets and armed citizens, but they secured the city. The occupation cut off Huerta from munitions but allowed the U.S. to supply his rivals. By July 1914, Carranza's forces took over, and Huerta was exiled.
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What happened during the occupation of Veracruz?
During the United States occupation of Veracruz in April–November 1914, U.S. forces seized Veracruz, Mexico's primary east coast port, amidst the Mexican Revolution.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, opposing General Victoriano Huerta's regime, ordered the military to take the port after tensions from the Tampico Affair and the Ypiranga Incident. On April 21, 1914, U.S. warships landed Marines and Navy personnel, meeting resistance from naval academy cadets and armed citizens. U.S. warships shelled the academy, leading to the death of all fifteen cadets barricaded inside. By April 24, about 3,000 U.S. troops gained full control, starting a six-month occupation. Although both Huerta and Venustiano Carranza denounced the seizure, the U.S. allowed Carranza's forces to be supplied, contributing to Huerta's exile in July 1914. The U.S. withdrew its troops in November but did not immediately endorse Carranza.
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How did the Mexican people and government respond to the United States occupation?
The United States occupation of Veracruz in 1914 sparked widespread denouncement from both factions of the Mexican Revolution. Victoriano Huerta, leader of the military regime, and Venustiano Carranza, his rival, both publicly condemned the seizure.
When U.S. forces arrived at Veracruz, they were met with fierce resistance from cadets at the Veracruz Naval Academy, along with citizens and prisoners. The U.S. military shelled the academy, resulting in many casualties. Although the occupation cut off Huerta from arms supplies, the U.S. allowed his opponents to receive them.
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What were the long-term effects of the occupation of Veracruz on United States-Mexican relations?
The United States occupation of Veracruz in 1914 worsened already strained relations between the U.S. and Mexico. The occupation, prompted by the Tampico Affair and the Ypiranga Incident, was denounced by both Victoriano Huerta and his rival Venustiano Carranza.
Even after the withdrawal of U.S. troops in November 1914, the U.S. government did not immediately endorse Carranza, and warfare along the U.S.-Mexico border intensified. Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico, and the subsequent Pershing Expedition's invasion of Mexico further strained relations. The Mexican Constitution of 1917, which granted the state all subsoil resources, was a direct response to prevent exploitation by U.S. firms, but it led to the U.S. cutting off loans and trade.
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United States occupation of Veracruz, the occupation in April–November 1914 of Veracruz, the chief port on the east coast of Mexico, by military forces of the United States during the civil wars of the Mexican Revolution. Victory for the United States in a one-sided battle resulted in U.S. troops occupying the city for six months.
By early 1914, U.S. support for the military regime of General Victoriano Huerta during the Mexican Revolution had been withdrawn. Woodrow Wilson’s election as president led to U.S. opposition to a regime Wilson considered illegitimate, and an embargo was placed on arms transfers to Huerta. Tensions then arose over the so-called Tampico Affair. On April 9, several unarmed sailors from the crew of the USS Dolphin, anchored in the southeastern Mexican port of Tampico, an important entrepot for Mexico’s oil trade, were arrested after landing in a restricted dock area and were detained for an hour and a half. The Mexican commander, recognizing the error on the part of his inexperienced troops, immediately released the sailors, but Wilson demanded a 21-gun salute to the U.S. flag as an apology. The apology was made, but President Huerta refused the salute. This development, in conjunction with the Ypiranga Incident—in which the U.S. learned that the SS Ypiranga, a German steamer, was about to deliver weapons and munitions to the Mexican government at Veracruz in violation of the arms embargo that the U.S. had instituted—compelled Wilson to order the U.S. military to seize the port.
On April 21, warships of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, commanded by Admiral Frank Fletcher, arrived at Veracruz, and around 500 U.S. Marines and 300 U.S. Navy personnel went ashore. They encountered almost no resistance in taking the port, as Mexican army soldiers loyal to Huerta retreated. However, taking control of the city would not be so easy. Fierce fighting began when cadets of the Veracruz Naval Academy, supported by fifty remaining Mexican army soldiers, the untrained citizens of Veracruz, and even a detachment of freed inmates from the federal prison, resisted the U.S. invasion. The Americans suffered a number of casualties in trying to take the academy before U.S. warships shelled the building with their long guns, killing all fifteen cadets barricaded inside. With further reinforcements arriving, the U.S. forces, now totaling about 3,000 sailors and Marines, were able to take complete control of the city with little difficulty. The so-called “Battle of Veracruz” was over by March 24, then beginning a six-month U.S. occupation of the city.
Both Huerta and his rival Venustiano Carranza denounced the seizure. The action cut Huerta off from the source of needed munitions (although the arms aboard the Ypiranga did reach Huerta via an unoccupied port), but the United States permitted his opponents to be supplied as well. By July 1914, the Constitutionalists under Carranza were able to take over the government, and Huerta was forced into exile.
The U.S. Marines occupying the city were finally withdrawn in November. However, Wilson’s government did not immediately endorse Carranza, and the Revolution, with new contenders to take Huerta’s place, soon saw intensified warfare along the U.S.-Mexico border, including Pancho Villa’s cross-border raid on Columbus, New Mexico, followed, in 1916, by the Pershing Expedition’s invasion of Mexico anew.
Losses: U.S., 22 dead, 70 wounded of 2,300; Mexican, some 160 dead, at least 200 wounded.