Honduran-Nicaraguan War of 1907
The Honduran-Nicaraguan War of 1907 was a significant conflict driven by regional rivalries and political instability in Central America. The war began after a group of Honduran exiles, supported by Nicaragua, invaded Honduras in December 1906, prompting a retaliatory invasion by Honduran forces. Tensions escalated as Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya, bolstered by a German-trained army, led troops into Honduras, ultimately capturing the capital, Tegucigalpa, in March 1907. The conflict highlighted the broader geopolitical struggles in Central America, particularly the influence of the United States and European powers, as well as the implications of regional nationalism and the desire for political control.
Despite attempts at arbitration, the fighting continued until a diplomatic conference convened in Washington, D.C., in December 1907, leading to agreements that promoted neutrality and arbitration among the Central American states. The war was notable for the introduction of modern military technology, including machine guns, into the region's conflicts. Ultimately, the Honduran-Nicaraguan War marked a pivotal moment in Central American history, as it signaled the diminishing independence of Nicaraguan governments in the face of foreign influence, setting the stage for future political dynamics in the area.
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Honduran-Nicaraguan War of 1907
At issue: Dominance of Central America by the rival presidents of Guatemala and Nicaragua
Date: December, 1906-December, 1907
Location: Honduras and Nicaragua
Combatants: Hondurans vs. Nicaraguans
Principal commanders:Guatemalan, Manuel Estrada Cabrera (1857–1924); Nicaraguan, José Santos Zelaya (1853–1919)
Principal battles: Los Calpules, Namasigue
Result: Intervention of Mexico and the United States; the Washington Conference of December, 1907; establishment of a Central American Court of Arbitration to settle differences peacefully
Background
With the exceptions of Belize and Panama, the countries of Central America formed a single administrative unit throughout the period of the Spanish Empire. They also formed part of Agustín de Iturbide’s short-lived Mexican empire. For the next generation, this area constituted the Central American Confederation. After the breakup of this union, each state went its separate way but always kept in mind the ideal and hope of reunification.
Throughout the colonial period, administration had been centered in Guatemala. The federation’s strongest leaders were Honduran. There then developed the tradition of regional strongmen, who attempted to play the role of kingmaker by intervening periodically in their neighbors’ politics to place friendly figures in neighboring presidential palaces. These practices continued despite numerous treaties and conventions prohibiting them. A short-lived Greater Republic of Central America was formed by El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, but it did not go beyond temporarily combining diplomatic representation abroad.
Two further factors bear on regional rivalries in this period: competition between the United States and Europe for influence in the area and the issue of a trans-isthmian canal. After 1893, Nicaraguan president José Santos Zelaya’s increasing nationalism, his willingness to take on Great Britain over the Mosquito Coast, his use of Germans to improve his army, and his increasing influence over northern South America, later the site of the Panama Canal, all brought him into increased conflict with the United States.
Action
In December, 1906, Dionisio González led dissident Honduran exiles in an invasion of Honduras from Nicaragua. The Hondurans, arguing complicity in the invasion on the part of Nicaragua, invaded Los Calpules in January of 1907. Attempts at arbitration were given up by February 8. Nicaraguan troops, whose quality had recently been improved through German training and who were fresh from retaking the Mosquito Coast, pushed the Hondurans back at the Battle of Namasigue (1907). By March 25, they occupied Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, deposing the Honduran president. Nicaraguan troops remained there until they were withdrawn in December. Civil war continued in Honduras. In June, Miguel R. Dávila was named president but was unable to restore order.
Manuel Estrada Cabrera, president of Guatemala, refused to recognize Dávila and, with El Salvador as an ally, suggested an alternative candidate. Zelaya was agreeable to the nomination of an alternative candidate but refused Guatemalan and Salvadoran intervention. With the exception of Costa Rica, it seemed for a while that Central America was on the brink of a major regional war.
At this point, the presidents of Mexico and the United States called a conference in Washington, D.C, for December and convinced all five republics to attend. Before attending this conference, leaders from Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua held a conference at Amapala, near their common border on the Gulf of Fonseca, and agreed to forget the issues of the recent war. The Washington Conference produced an agreement that principally provided for Honduran neutrality, acceptance of arbitration of differences and renunciation of use of force to settle these, and the establishment of a Central American Court of Arbitration, which functioned well until the eve of World War I.
Aftermath
The war of 1907 marked the last major independent act of a Nicaraguan government. Succeeding governments were either directly or indirectly beholden to the United States, until the coming of the Sandinistas. The Washington Conference, while it was one in a series of conferences on area security, did produce a functioning Court of Arbitration, a step toward greater area cooperation. This conflict also marked the introduction of machine guns into Central American warfare.
Bibliography
Stansifer, Charles L. “José Santos Zelaya: A New Look at Nicaragua’s ‘Liberal’ Dictator.” Revista/Review Interamericana 7 (Fall, 1977): 468–475.
Woodward, Ralph Lee. Central America: A Nation Divided. 3d ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.