The Second Cleveland Administration And Venezuela-British Guiana Boundary Dispute

This thesis describes the development of boundary dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana during the second Cleveland Administration, analyses the foreign policy of Cleveland Administration and the way in which an accommodation was finally arrived at with Britain. On the basis of these discussions, it attempts to ascertain the significance and influence of this affair. It has four chapters:Chapter one briefly deals with the origin of the boundary dispute as well as the Anglo-Venezuela negotiations before America's intervention in 1895. The rivalry among the European powers in Latin America caused the indefinite boundary line between Venezuela and British Guiana from the very beginning. When Britain put forward the Schomburgk line as British Guiana's border, this long existed question thus developed into boundary dispute between the two countries. To settle the dispute, the two sides had intermittently negotiated for almost half a century. But all these negotiations had produced no results.Chapter two focuses on the reasons of America's progressive involvement in the affair and the Anglo-American confrontations in the first period. The secretary of state, Richard Olney's strongly worded note sent out to Great Britain meant the formal involvement of the United States. When Salisbury absolutely refuted this note on behalf of Great Britain, The first Venezuelan crisis broke out.Chapter three tries to discuss why the United States and Great Britain changed their initial attitudes. Much attention is paid to reconstruct the course during which the two countries tried to seek a solution. The crisis in American stock market and the isolated position of Great Britain made a clash between them impossible. After nearly one-year negotiations, an Anglo-American agreement was reached at last.The last chapter describes the final settlement of the boundary dispute, stresses the great effect that this affair had taken on the United States. Under the pressure of the United States, Venezuela accepted the Anglo-American agreement and signed arbitration treaty with Great Britain in Washington. In 1899, the arbitration tribunal defined the boundary line between Venezuela and British Guiana. By means of using its good offices in the dispute, the United States not only reinterpreted the Monroe Doctrine, enhanced its influence in Latin America and world affairs, but also improved the Anglo-American friendship in fact.During the settlement of the dispute, the United States worked as an agent of Venezuela. On the excuse of safeguarding the Monroe Doctrine and the sovereignty of Latin America, the United States actually attained its objective of excluding the influence of European powers from the Latin America. After this affair, the United States and Great Britain adjusted their relationship in Latin America, which removed obstacles in the way of the great rapprochement.