64 Chapter 2
Participants: 255 Germany/41 Haiti
Outcome (and Settlement): Released (Imposed)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Germany compelled Haiti to release Emil Luders from prison. Luders
was a German national and former soldier in Kaiser Wilhelm’s own regiment and
was arrested and imprisoned on September 21, 1897. The charge was essentially an
obstruction of justice for holding a man accused of theft in his livery yard and citing
“extraterritoriality” as an excuse for not having to produce the accused thief for the
Haitian police. The German government took up the issue on behalf of its national.
The Haitian president was served with a notice from the German government at a pub-
lic setting. The demands included the imprisonment of the police, $5,000 indemnity,
and Luders’s immediate release. Haiti was aware of its precarious predicament. A
refusal meant that German warships would arrive and cause a panic. However, acqui-
escence could produce another revolution. Haiti hoped for American intervention on
the grounds of the Monroe Doctrine, though the United States refused to get involved.
German warships arrived on December 6, 1897, and demanded the release of Luders
within three hours, a public reading of Germany’s demands, and $20,000. A siege
awaited Port-au-Prince if the Haitian government refused, so they ultimately yielded.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from December 6, 1896. End Date changed
from December 6, 1896.
MID#95
Dispute Number: 95
Date(s): October 1909 to April 1910
Participants: 255 Germany/41 Haiti
Outcome (and Settlement): Yield by side B (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Haiti was one of the most isolated countries in the international system
when it became independent of France in the early 19th century. Distrust of foreign-
ers and foreign influence played an important role. By the early 20th century, Haitian
involvement in the international system improved remarkably. Foreign nationals
began moving to Haiti, and France and Germany in particular took a keen interest in
Haitian finance.
France already controlled the national bank, and Germany sought one in Haiti as
well as to control customs in the Caribbean state. Germany’s financial overtures to
Haiti came with support from France and the involvement of a few American cor-
porations, in hopes of avoiding any adverse reaction from abroad. The proposal was
for Germany to hold 50 percent of the stock in the national bank with France and
Germany splitting the remaining 50 percent.
The United States minister to Haiti—Dr. Henry Watson Furniss—was opposed to
the proposal in accordance with the Monroe Doctrine. Meanwhile, American com-
mercial interests were working on a counterproposal. American interest in Haitian