Dutch–Venezuelan crisis of 1908 explained

Conflict:Dutch–Venezuelan Crisis
Date:26 November – 23 December 1908[1]
Place:Venezuela
Result:Dutch victory
Combatant1: Venezuela
Combatant2: Netherlands
Commander1:Cipriano Castro
Commander2:Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Strength2:1 pantserschip (coastal defence ship)
2 protected cruisers

The Dutch–Venezuelan crisis of 1908 was a dispute that broke out between the Netherlands and Venezuela after the Venezuelan president, Cipriano Castro, cut off trade with the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao.

Venezuela expelled the Dutch ambassador, prompting a Dutch dispatch of three warships:,, and . The Dutch warships had orders to intercept every ship that was sailing under the Venezuelan flag. On 12 December, Gelderland captured the Venezuelan coast guard ship Alix (Alejo in Spanish) off Puerto Cabello.[2] She and another ship, 23 de Mayo, were interned in harbor of Willemstad.

A few days later, on 19 December 1908, Vice President Juan Vicente Gómez seized power in Caracas during the absence of President Castro, who had left for Berlin for a surgical operation, installing himself as de facto president.[3] Gómez reverted Castro's measures in the following days, and the Netherlands proceeded to withdraw its warships.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Politieke geschiedenis: Bijna-oorlog met Venezuela (in Dutch). Historisch Nieuwsblad.
  2. The New York Times, 14 December 1908, "Dutch at war with Venezuela"
  3. Book: McBeth, B. S.. 2001. Gunboats, Corruption, and Claims: Foreign Intervention in Venezuela, 1899–1900. Santa Barbara. Greenwood. 9780313313561. 213–214.
  4. Web site: Politieke geschiedenis: Bijna-oorlog met Venezuela (in Dutch) . Historisch Nieuwsblad.