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The Expansion of the American Empire

Introduction

The expansion of the American Empire has six main phases, some of which overlap:

1800-1898: The purchase or annexation of the current United States.
1898-1932: After the Spanish American War in 1898 the US took over the Philippines and Central America using overt military actions.
1945-1953: After World War 2 the US occupied Western Europe, where it subverted governments, and Japan.
1948-1976: By supporting military coups and dictators the US took over the rest of what was once the Spanish or Portuguese Empire in South America.
1954-1975: The US turned its attention to the Asian and Pacific region, especially South East Asia and Indonesia.
1990-2006: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has subverted elections where necessary in Eastern Europe and expanded NATO.

Overview of expansion

In history, empires have never been monolithic power structures. Each part of the empire has its own degree of independence, ranging from none in the case of occupation or annexation, to a commitment to pay "protection money" to the center accompanied by relative freedom of action. The following list of countries (or territories) comprises those that:

have been occupied, annexed or purchased by the US.
contain US military bases. (An exception is Guantánamo in Cuba, where the country has managed to keep its independence.)
are ruled by an elite that cooperates closely with and benefits from US economical interests.
are closely tied to the US because of financial reasons, such as debts.
are ruled by a US-installed (military) government after a coup.
are ruled by a US-backed political party in elections that have been subverted by the US.
are or were members of a US-dominated military alliance such as NATO or the now-defunct SEATO.

In other words, those countries that do not have full sovereignty.

For many countries US influence has grown gradually. The year in the following table corresponds to a particular event that signals the definitive loss of sovereignty.

Year Country/Territory Event Note

1803 Louisiana Purchased from France 1

1821 Liberia Founded by the American Colonization Society

1848 Mexico (northern third) Annexed 2

1867 Alaska Purchased from Russia

1883 Mexico Sell-out by Mexican elite

1894 China Marines are stationed at Tientsin and Beijing 3

1898 Cuba Purchased from Spain after war 4

1898 Guam Purchased from Spain after war

1898 Hawaii Annexed

1898 Philippines Purchased from Spain after war

1898 Puerto Rico Purchased from Spain after war

1899 American Samoa Occupation

1899 Nicaragua Marines land and occupation (1912)

1903 Dominican Republic Occupation

1903 Haiti US customs receivership and occupation (1915)

1903 Panama Taken from Colombia for canal

1904 Korea Marines land and stay in Seoul 5

1907 Honduras Marines land

1917 US Virgin Islands Purchased from Denmark

1920 Guatemala Troops intervene

1932 El Salvador Naval forces intervene

1945 Austria Occupation

1945 Germany Occupation

1945 Japan Occupation

1945 Marshall Islands UN trust territory

1945 United Kingdom Financial dependence after war

1946 Iran Troops deployed in northern province 6

1947 Bahrain US naval base

1947 France Subversion of Democracy

1947 Greece CIA intervention

1947 Italy Subversion of Democracy

1948 Colombia Subversion of elections

1948 Israel Client state

1948 Peru Military coup by CIA-trained Manuel Odria

1948 Venezuela US-supported military coup 7

1949 Belgium Membership of NATO

1949 Canada Membership of NATO

1949 Denmark Membership of NATO

1949 Iceland Membership of NATO

1949 Luxembourg Membership of NATO

1949 Netherlands Membership of NATO

1949 Norway Membership of NATO

1949 Portugal Membership of NATO

1951 Greenland US military base(s)

1952 Turkey Membership of NATO

1953 Guyana US/UK overthrow of elected government

1954 Australia Membership of SEATO

1954 New Zealand Membership of SEATO

1954 Pakistan Mutual defence agreement signed 8

1954 Paraguay US-backed coup

1954 Thailand Membership of SEATO

1954 Vietnam US takes over from France 9

1958 Lebanon US marines and army units totaling 14,000 land 10

1960 Congo CIA-backed overthrow of government

1962 Laos CIA-backed military coup

1963 Bahamas 'Independence' from the UK

1963 Ecuador CIA backs military overthrow of government

1964 Bolivia Military coup by CIA-trained René Barrientos Ortuño

1964 Brazil CIA-backed military coup

1965 Indonesia CIA-backed army coup

1966 Ghana CIA-backed military coup

1969 Cambodia CIA supports military coup (- 1975)

1970 Oman Counter-insurgency operation

1971 Diego Garcia US military base(s)

1973 Chile CIA-backed military coup

1973 Uruguay CIA-backed military coup

1975 Cambodia Marines land

1975 Egypt US financial support

1976 Angola Military and CIA operations (-1992)

1976 Argentina Military coup by CIA-trained Jorge Rafael Videla

1979 Somalia US military base at Berbera

1980 Jamaica CIA subversion of elections

1982 Costa Rica US interference with government

1982 Spain Membership of NATO

1983 Grenada US invasion (Operation Urgent Fury)

1987 Fiji Military coup by CIA-funded Sitiveni Rabuka

1987 Iraq US backs war against Iran

1990 Bulgaria US-funded government installed

1990 Croatia US-funded government installed

1991 Albania US-funded government installed

1991 Kuwait US military base(s)

1991 Saudi Arabia US military base(s)

1991 United Arab Emirates US military base(s)

1993 Nigeria US-backed military coup by Sani Abacha

1994 South Africa US-South Africa Binational Commission

1995 Bosnia NATO occupation

1996 Jordan Major non-NATO ally

1999 Czech Republic Membership of NATO

1999 Hungary Membership of NATO

1999 Kosovo Occupied by NATO

1999 Macedonia NATO forces

1999 Poland Membership of NATO

2000 Serbia and Montenegro US-funded government installed

2001 Afghanistan Occupation by NATO

2001 Kyrgystan US base established

2001 Tajikistan US military presence

2001 Uzbekistan US military base

2002 Djibouti US military base(s)

2002 Georgia US special forces arrive

2002 Qatar US air base(s)

2004 Estonia Membership of NATO

2004 Latvia Membership of NATO

2004 Lithuania Membership of NATO

2004 Morocco Major non-NATO ally

2004 Romania Membership of NATO

2004 Slovakia Membership of NATO

2004 Slovenia Membership of NATO

2004 Ukraine US-funded government installed

Notes

1	Parts or all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains, the portions of southern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta that drain into the Missouri River, and Louisiana on both sides of the Mississippi River including the city of New Orleans.
2	Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, most of Colorado, and part of Wyoming
3	China lost in 1949, except Taiwan
4	Cuba lost in 1959, except for the US base in Guantánamo Bay
5	North Korea lost in 1953
6	Iran lost in 1979
7	Venezuela lost in 1998
8	Bangladesh (East Pakistan) lost in 1971
9	Vietnam lost 1976-1995
10	Lebanon lost in 1982

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For more articles and links on related topics see
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Timelines
The American Empire