The Monroe Doctrine and Anglo-American Rivalry in Latin America, 19th – early 20th centuries

Abstract

In the article, the author analyses the issues related to the US adoption of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 in the context of Anglo-American confrontation and rivalry in Latin America. The author examines the relations between the USA and Great Britain during the Spanish American wars of independence, the main aspects of the policy of “neutrality”, the actual support of Latin American patriots in their struggle against the Spanish metropole. Despite the common interest in preventing European competitors from entering South America, the Americans did not sign a joint document with the British, despite repeated proposals from London. The Doctrine was put into effect under conditions unfavourable to the US, characterised by Britain's unchallenged world domination in military and economic power. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, the situation changed dramatically in favour of the USA. The author analyses the content of the Doctrine (“America for the Americans”), its adjustment in the course of the rivalry between the USA and Great Britain in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the concessions made by the UK in its rivalry with its strategic competitor. In all events related to the Anglo-American rivalry in Latin America, the Monroe Doctrine was the “starting point’ for the actions and statements of American politicians, and it is not by chance that President Woodrow Wilson stated at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference that the doctrine should be extended to the whole world.