The Danger of Dreams: German and American Imperialism in Latin America (review)

Written in clear and comprehensible language, this book demonstrates that the perceived threat to U.S. interests in Latin America posed by the ambitions of the German Empire at the turn of the twentieth century did not correspond to reality. These threats included commercial tensions dating back to 1880 , bankers' and industrialists' search for business opportunities, large-scale German immigration to certain regions of the New World and their mercantile bonds with the old country, the aggressive expansionistic rhetoric of Wilhelm II and the pangermanistas that included denunciations against the Monroe Doctrine, the expansion of the German navy, the discovery of Germany's warlike plans against the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century, the German-American naval confrontation in the Bay of Manila in 1898 , German aspirations for a naval base in the Caribbean, the Panther's bombardment of the fort of San Carlos during the 1902-3 blockade of Venezuelan ports, the Zimmermann telegram of January of 1917 , and the shipment of arms from the Ypiranga boat of the Hapag to the Mexican government of V. Huerta. All these events would have served to intensify and to revive an image of a Germany with imperialistic pretensions in Latin America. Nancy Mitchell squares away against this position, based in a well-reasoned documentary consultation. In separate chapters on the blockade, German ambitions in southern Brazil, and Germany's relations with the Huerta government, Mitchell maintains that Berlin's policies were extremely cautious—even timid—with respect to the interests and sensitivities of Washington. This is especially clear in the Mexican case, due to the clear hegemony of the United States in that country. According to Mitchell, a careful analysis of Wilhelm II's policy with respect to Latin America and the Monroe Doctrine demonstrates a remarkable inconsistency between actual policy and its reception among North American sectors. By 1900 , the German threat to North American hemispheric interests was tenuous and (due to the near total isolation of the Reich in Europe) nonexistent by 1914. Nevertheless, the perception of a German threat to the New World was a ready excuse for an increase in American naval forces, and it created an enemy against which to rally Congress and the people, to justify U.S. expansionism, and to strengthen U.S. hegemony in Latin America. This was played out in the occupations of Haiti in 1915 and the Dominican Republic in 1916 , as well as the acquisition of the Danish West Indies a year later.

This work enters into the historiographic debate between traditional and revisionist views with respect to the existence of a German threat to the Monroe Doctrine at the turn of the twentieth century. Although the book's main audience is those interested in this debate, it will also be of interest to all students of German-American relations, particularly those interesting in the rivalry between both powers as played out throughout Latin America.