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103-539: The L3/35 , also known as the Carro Veloce CV-35 , was an Italian tankette that saw combat before and during World War II . It was one of the smallest tanks that faced combat. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tankettes. It was the most numerous Italian armoured fighting vehicle and saw service almost everywhere

206-625: A maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and a land border with Haiti to the west, occupying the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola which, along with Saint Martin , is one of only two islands in the Caribbean shared by two sovereign states . In the Antilles , the country is the second-largest nation by area after Cuba at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi) and second-largest by population after Haiti with approximately 11.4 million people in 2024, of whom 3.6 million reside in

309-464: A tank gun ; instead their main weapon tended to be one or two machine guns or, rarely, a 20 mm autocannon or grenade launcher . The genesis of the tankette concept was the armoured warfare of World War I . On the Western Front in the later stage of the war, Allied tanks could break through the enemy trench lines but the infantry (needed to take and hold the ground gained) following

412-405: A 20 mm gun in a rotating turret. Did not enter serial production. On 8 August 1937, Major General García Pallasar had received a note from Generalísimo Francisco Franco which expressed the need for a Panzer I armed with a 20 mm gun. Although originally forty Italian L3/35 tankettes were ordered with the original armament exchanged for the 20 mm Breda Model 35 instead, this order

515-473: A U.S. offer of military aid against Arias, Jimenes resigned on May 7, 1916. Wilson thus ordered the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic. U.S. Marines landed on May 16, 1916, and seized the capital and other ports, while General Arias fell back to his inland Santiago stronghold. A significant weaponry disparity between the U.S. Marines and Arias's forces led to the latter's defeat. The clashes with

618-558: A brief return to Spanish colonial status, before permanently ousting the Spanish during the Dominican Restoration War of 1863–1865. From 1930, the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo ruled until his assassination in 1961. Juan Bosch was elected president in 1962 but was deposed in a military coup in 1963 . The Dominican Civil War of 1965 preceded the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer (1966–1978 and 1986–1996). Since 1978,

721-741: A corridor for the Marines guarding the U.S. Embassy. However, the Loyalists withdrew to San Isidro airfield instead. On May 2, U.S. forces were authorized to link up, and the outgunned Constitutionalists retreated to the southeastern part of the city. On May 6, U.S. diplomats persuaded the OAS to establish an Inter-American Peace Force to support American troops. The following countries volunteered: Brazil (1,250 soldiers), Costa Rica (25 police), Honduras (250 soldiers), Nicaragua (164 soldiers), and Paraguay (286 soldiers). U.S. and OAS peacekeeping troops remained in

824-618: A figure that does not include the Dominicans, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans fighting alongside them. The Dominicans fighting for independence against Spain suffered more than 4,000 dead. Political strife again prevailed in the following years; warlords ruled, military revolts were extremely common, and the nation amassed debt. It was now Báez's turn to act on his plan of annexing the country to the United States , where two successive presidents were supportive. U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant desired

927-400: A great deal of the wealth was taken by the dictator and other regime elements. There was progress in healthcare, education, and transportation, with the building of hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and harbors. Trujillo also carried out an important housing construction program and instituted a pension plan. He finally negotiated an undisputed border with Haiti in 1935, and achieved the end of

1030-591: A military revolt against the government of Vásquez. A few of the former caudillos initially opposed the new dictator. General Cipriano Bencosme led an uprising but was defeated and killed in November 1930 during a confrontation with the army near Puerto Plata. General Desiderio Arias attempted to rebel but was unsuccessful, dying in combat near Mao in June of the following year. There was considerable economic growth during Rafael Trujillo 's long and iron-fisted regime, although

1133-494: A naval base at Samaná and also a place for resettling newly freed African Americans. The treaty was defeated in the United States Senate in 1870. Báez was toppled in 1874, returned, and was toppled for good in 1878. Relative peace came to the country in the 1880s, which saw the coming to power of General Ulises Heureaux . "Lilís", as the new president was nicknamed, put the nation deep into debt while using much of

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1236-420: A second military coup ousted the military-installed president Donald Reid Cabral . Despite tank assaults, strafing , and aerial bombardment by the opposing Loyalists, the pro-Bosch Constitutionalists maintained control of most of the capital. By April 26, armed civilians outnumbered the original rebel military regulars. Radio Santo Domingo, now fully under rebel control, began to call for more violent actions and

1339-565: A single L3 Lf platoon. The basic L3 platform was also employed as a command vehicle using the Marelli RF1 CA radio in platoon and company command vehicles. The L3 was considered too small to be effectively employed as a regimental level command radio vehicle so this task fell to the later and slightly larger L6/40 CR ( Centro Radio = Radio Center). The few L3 Passerella (bridge layer) vehicles constructed were assigned to units at Armoured Brigade levels. The 7-meter-long (23 ft) bridge

1442-663: A single unsprung wheel on each side. There was an acacia wood rail that the top run of the tracks went on. Between 2,000 and 2,500 L3 tankettes were built in different models and variants for the Royal Italian Army ( Regio Esercito ) and for other users. Twenty L3/33 tankettes were sold to China . Other L3 tankettes were sold to Afghanistan (unknown number), Albania (unknown number), Austria (72), Bolivia (14), Brazil (23), Bulgaria (14), Croatia (10), Hungary (65), Iraq (16), Nationalist Spain , and Venezuela (2). Many foreign buyers substituted other machine guns as

1545-558: A tankette in form, specifically intended for scouting ahead of the main force. In 1935, the Soviets experimented with transporting T-27s by air, suspending one under the fuselage of a Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) became one of the most prolific users of tankettes, producing a number of designs for reconnaissance and infantry support in Second Sino-Japanese War and jungle warfare . However, by

1648-572: Is reported variously as 48,442 km (18,704 sq mi) (by the embassy in the United States) and 48,670 km (18,792 sq mi), making it the second largest country in the Antilles , after Cuba . The Dominican Republic's capital and largest city Santo Domingo is on the southern coast. The Dominican Republic is located near fault action in the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic has four important mountain ranges. The most northerly

1751-939: Is the Cordillera Septentrional ("Northern Mountain Range"), which extends from the northwestern coastal town of Monte Cristi , near the Haitian border, to the Samaná Peninsula in the east, running parallel to the Atlantic coast. The highest range in the Dominican Republic ;– indeed, in the whole of the West Indies ;– is the Cordillera Central ("Central Mountain Range"). In the Cordillera Central are

1854-607: Is the largest of the plains in the Dominican Republic. Stretching north and east of Santo Domingo, it contains many sugar plantations in the savannahs that are common there. West of Santo Domingo its width is reduced to 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) as it hugs the coast, finishing at the mouth of the Ocoa River. Another large plain is the Plena de Azua ("Azua Plain"), a very arid region in Azua Province . A few other small coastal plains are on

1957-679: The Sierra de Bahoruco is a continuation of the Massif de la Selle in Haiti. There are other, minor mountain ranges, such as the Cordillera Oriental ("Eastern Mountain Range"), Sierra Martín García , Sierra de Yamasá , and Sierra de Samaná . Between the Central and Northern mountain ranges lies the rich and fertile Cibao valley. This major valley is home to the cities of Santiago and La Vega and most of

2060-669: The 19th Mechanized Division , although they did not take part in combat with the latter. After the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece in April 1941, L3 tankettes were also captured by the Yugoslav and Greek resistance forces. From 1941, some L3 tankettes were given to the Italo-German puppet government of the Independent State of Croatia ( Nezavisna Država Hrvatska , or NDH). Though numerous, Italy's tankettes proved to be outclassed from

2163-807: The Chaco War . However, the design did lead to the 'Bren Gun Carrier' which in final form as the Universal Carrier had an extensive operational history in the Second World War. In 1928, the British Army Council objected to the use of the word "tankette," noting that the "mechanization of the Army" was still in its infancy. The Italian Royal Army ( Regio Esercito ) equipped three armoured divisions and three "fast" ( celere ) divisions with L3/33 and L3/35 tankettes. The L3s were used in large numbers during

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2266-783: The Greater Antilles , with the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Sea to the south. It shares the island roughly at a 2:1 ratio with Haiti , the north-to-south (though somewhat irregular) border between the two countries being 376 km (234 mi). To the north and north-west lie The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands , and to the east, across the Mona Passage , the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico . The country's area

2369-627: The Greco-Italian War where it provided reliable support to Italian infantry and disrupted enemy lines. The L3/35 was developed from the Carden Loyd Mark VI tankette , four of which were imported from Britain in 1929. The first vehicle developed by the Italians from the Carden Lloyd tankette was designated CV-29; "CV" being an abbreviation of Carro Veloce (Italian: "fast tank") and "29" as

2472-784: The Italian Social Republic . Hungarian L3s had by this point been issued to the Gendarmerie . L3/35s also joined the Chinese Nationalist Army fighting against the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Communists during the Chinese Civil War . The L3/35 appeared in several variants including an anti-tank variant and a flame thrower variant. The "L3 cc" anti-tank ( controcarro )

2575-628: The Italian invasion of Ethiopia , the Spanish Civil War , and almost every place Italian soldiers fought during World War II . Some L3s went with the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia ( Corpo di Spedizione Italiano , CSIR) as late as Operation Barbarossa . The French armoured reconnaissance type ( automitrailleuses de reconnaissance , "machine-gun scout") of the 1930s was essentially

2678-645: The Italian/French border , North Africa , Italian East Africa , the Balkans , USSR , Sicily , and Italy . The combat performance of the L3s during the interwar period was poor. On at least two occasions during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia , L3s were put out of action by massed infantry attacks . In the Spanish Civil War , L3s of the Corps of Volunteer Troops ( Corpo Truppe Volontarie , or CTV) were totally out-classed by

2781-622: The Marines in Haiti was largely absent in the Dominican Republic. The U.S. government's rule ended in October 1922, and elections were held in March 1924. The victor was former president (1902–03) Horacio Vásquez . He was inaugurated on July 13, 1924, and the last U.S. forces left in September. In 1930, General Rafael Trujillo , who was trained by the U.S. Marines during the occupation, seized power following

2884-510: The Morris-Martel ) for testing. The publicity caused John Carden and Vivian Loyd to produce their own. Both types were developed further, but the two-man Carden Loyd tankette was considered the classic and most successful design, with many other tankettes modelled after it. While the design was influential, few Carden Loyd tankettes saw combat, other than those the Bolivian side used during

2987-548: The Organization of American States , for the first time in its history, decreed sanctions against a member state. The United States severed diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic on August 26, 1960, and in January 1961 suspended the export of trucks, parts, crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also took advantage of OAS sanctions to cut drastically purchases of Dominican sugar,

3090-563: The Spanish crown as Spanish Haiti , on November 30, 1821. This period is also known as the Ephemeral independence. The newly independent republic ended two months later, when it was occupied and annexed by Haiti, then under the leadership of Jean-Pierre Boyer . For twenty-two years, Haiti controlled Santo Domingo, which it called Partie de l'Est , treating it as a colonial territory. The unpaid Haitian army sustained itself by taking resources from

3193-568: The T-26 and BT-5 tanks provided to the Republican forces by the Soviet Union . The L3s were not a factor in the brief war between Hungary and Slovakia in 1939. On 10 June 1940, when Italy entered World War II , the Royal Italian Army ( Regio Esercito ) possessed only about one-hundred M11/39 medium tanks in two tank battalions. L3 tankettes still equipped all three Italian armoured divisions,

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3296-627: The US Marines employed the similar, somewhat larger, M50 Ontos tank destroyer with some success. The 1980s saw the renaissance of a similar concept in the German Wiesel AWC , introduced to provide airborne troops with armoured reconnaissance capability; while these are called "armoured weapons carriers", they fit the definition of a tankette. Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , Tanks in World War I Background: History of

3399-488: The metropolitan area of Santo Domingo , the capital city. The native Taíno people had inhabited Hispaniola prior to European contact , dividing it into five chiefdoms . Christopher Columbus claimed the island for Castile , landing there on his first voyage in 1492 . The colony of Santo Domingo became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas . In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over

3502-460: The " New World ". The Spaniards created a plantation economy . Initially, after friendly relationships, the Taínos resisted the conquest, led by female Chief Anacaona of Xaragua and her ex-husband Chief Caonabo of Maguana, as well as Chiefs Guacanagaríx , Guamá , Hatuey , and Enriquillo . The latter's successes gained his people an autonomous enclave on the island. Within a few years after 1492,

3605-507: The 50-year customs agreement in 1941, instead of 1956. He made the country debt-free in 1947. This was accompanied by absolute repression and the copious use of murder, torture, and terrorist methods against the opposition. Several Dominicans were assassinated in New York City after taking part in anti-Trujillo activities. In October 1937, Dominican troops murdered 10,000 to 15,000 Haitian men, women, and children—mostly with machetes—along

3708-418: The Caribbean from South America during the 1st millennium BC, reaching Hispaniola by around 600 AD. These Arawakan peoples engaged in farming, fishing, hunting and gathering, and the widespread production of ceramic goods. The estimates of Hispaniola's population in 1492 vary widely, ranging from tens of thousands to 2,000,000. By 1492, the island was divided into five Taíno chiefdoms. The Taíno name for

3811-527: The Caribbean's largest lake and lowest point, Lake Enriquillo . The island has an average temperature of 26 °C (78.8 °F) and great climatic and biological diversity. The country is also the site of the first cathedral , palace , monastery , and fortress built in the Americas, located in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone , a World Heritage Site . The name Dominican originates from Saint Dominic ,

3914-632: The Caribbean. The country did not make a military contribution to the war, but Dominican sugar and other agricultural products supported the Allied war effort. Over a hundred Dominicans served in the American armed forces. The arsenal at San Cristóbal , operated under Trujillo's regime, produced rifles, machine guns, and ammunition. Trujillo also formed a Foreign Legion of 3,000 mercenaries to attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba. Major William Morgan agreed to lead

4017-547: The Dominican Republic has moved towards representative democracy . The Dominican Republic has the largest economy in the Caribbean and the seventh-largest in Latin America . Over the last 25 years, the Dominican Republic has had the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5.3% between 1992 and 2018. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7.0%, respectively,

4120-515: The Dominican Republic, but the Haitian forces were defeated after a short war. After defeating a new Haitian invasion in April 1849 at the Battle of Las Carreras , Santana marched on Santo Domingo and deposed president Manuel Jimenes (who had ousted Santana as president) in a coup d'état . At his behest, Congress elected Buenaventura Báez as president, but Báez was unwilling to serve as Santana's puppet. In November–December 1849, Dominican seamen raided

4223-632: The Dominican forces had confined the Spanish troops to Santo Domingo, and the Spaniards were afraid to venture outside the capital. After nearly two years of fighting, Spain abandoned the island in July 1865. One military historian estimates Spanish casualties at 10,888 killed or wounded in action and thousands dead from yellow fever , while the Dominican forces fighting for Spain suffered 10,000 casualties. Another military historian estimates that Spain lost 18,000 dead,

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4326-437: The Dominican people and land without compensation. In 1838, Juan Pablo Duarte founded a secret society called La Trinitaria , which sought the complete independence of Santo Domingo without any foreign intervention. Also Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Ramon Matias Mella , despite not being among the founding members of La Trinitaria, were decisive in the fight for independence. Duarte, Mella, and Sánchez are considered

4429-515: The Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic. On February 27, 1844, the members of La Trinitaria , now led by Tomás Bobadilla , declared independence from Haiti. The Trinitarios were backed by Pedro Santana , a wealthy cattle rancher, who became general of the army of the nascent republic. The decades that followed were filled with tyranny, factionalism, economic difficulties, rapid changes of government, and exile for political opponents. Archrivals Santana and Buenaventura Báez held power most of

4532-422: The French were expelled from the island and Santo Domingo returned to Spanish rule . After a dozen years of discontent and failed independence plots by various opposing groups, including a failed 1812 revolt led by Dominican conspirators José Leocadio, Pedro de Seda, and Pedro Henríquez, Santo Domingo's former Lieutenant-Governor (top administrator), José Núñez de Cáceres , declared the colony's independence from

4635-437: The Haitian coasts, plundered seaside villages, as far as Dame Marie , and butchered crews of captured enemy ships. A fourth and final invasion by Haiti in November 1855 was defeated by Dominican forces by January 27, 1856, resulting in thousands of Haitian casualties. Again Santana and Báez plotted against each other for political dominance, with Báez winning the first encounter and expelling Santana in 1857, and Santana winning

4738-462: The Haitian-Dominican border under the orders of Trujillo. During World War II , Trujillo symbolically sided with the Allies and declared war on Japan the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor and on Nazi Germany and Italy four days later. Soon after, German U-boats torpedoed and sank two Dominican merchant vessels—the San Rafael off Jamaica and the Presidente Trujillo off Fort-de-France . German U-boats also sank four Dominican-manned ships in

4841-607: The Haitians. By April 15, Dominican forces had defeated the Haitian forces on both land and sea. In early July 1844, Duarte was urged by his followers to take the title of President of the Republic. Duarte agreed, but only if free elections were arranged. However, Santana's forces took Santo Domingo on July 12, and they declared Santana ruler of the Dominican Republic. Santana then put Mella, Duarte, and Sánchez in jail. On February 27, 1845, Santana executed María Trinidad Sánchez , heroine of La Trinitaria, and others for conspiracy. In August of that year, Haiti made another attempt to conquer

4944-425: The Italians fought in the Second World War but proved inadequate for modern warfare, having too thin armour and weak armament of only machine guns. It was cheaply produced but because of its light armaments and armour it was reserved to mostly colonial, policing, reconnaissance, and supply duties. However, given its low production costs, proved to be efficient in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War , Spanish Civil War and

5047-427: The PRD's Hipólito Mejía won the election. This was a time of economic troubles. Under Mejía, the Dominican Republic participated in the US-led coalition, as part of the Multinational Plus Ultra Brigade , during the 2003 invasion of Iraq , suffering no casualties. In 2008, Fernández was elected for a third term. Fernández and the PLD are credited with initiatives that have moved the country forward technologically, on

5150-444: The Spanish forces. The Haitian rebel Sylvain Salnave , fearful of the reestablishment of Spain as colonial power, gave refuge and logistics to revolutionaries seeking to reestablish the independent nation. The ensuing civil war, known as the War of Restoration , killed more than 50,000. The war began on August 16, 1863. The Spanish garrison of Santiago was forced to retreat to Puerto Plata by mid-September. The Dominicans bombarded

5253-443: The Trujillos attempted to "reassert dictatorial domination". Following this warning, and the arrival of a 14-vessel U.S. naval task force within sight of Santo Domingo, Ramfis and his uncles fled the country on November 19. The OAS lifted its sanctions on January 4, 1962. In February 1963, a democratically elected government under leftist Juan Bosch took office but it was overthrown by a military coup in September. On April 24, 1965,

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5356-524: The U.S. Marines marked the first time the Dominicans had ever encountered a machine gun. A peace delegation from Santiago surrendered the city on July 5, coinciding with General Arias' surrender to the Dominican governor. The military government established by the U.S. under the Navy and Marine Corps on November 29, led by Vice Admiral Harry Shepard Knapp , was widely repudiated by the Dominicans, but organized resistance ceased. The occupation regime kept most Dominican laws and institutions and largely pacified

5459-427: The U.S. occupation of 1916–24, peasants from the countryside, called Gavilleros, would not only kill U.S. Marines, but would also attack and kill Arab vendors traveling through the countryside. From 1902 on, short-lived governments were again the norm, with their power usurped by caudillos in parts of the country. Furthermore, the national government was bankrupt and, unable to pay its debts to European creditors, faced

5562-424: The adjectival form of "Domingo", and as such, the revolutionaries named their newly independent country the "Dominican Republic" ( la República Dominicana ). In the national anthem of the Dominican Republic ( himno nacional de la República Dominicana ), the poetic term "Quisqueyans" ( Quisqueyanos ) is used instead of "Dominicans". The word "Quisqueya" derives from the Taíno language , and means "mother of

5665-427: The assassinations of political opposition, the massacre of Haitians , and Trujillo's plots against other countries. The U.S. finally broke with Trujillo in 1960, after Trujillo's agents attempted to assassinate the Venezuelan president, Rómulo Betancourt , with a car bomb, as he was a fierce critic of Trujillo. After its representatives confirmed Trujillo's complicity in the nearly successful assassination attempt,

5768-491: The attack for $ 1 million, but Castro learned of the plot and instructed Morgan to go along with it and report back. Trujillo was tricked into believing that Morgan had captured Trinidad . On August 13, 1959, a C-47 transport flying from the Dominican Republic carrying military advisors and supplies landed at Trinidad airport. Castro seized the aircraft and the ten occupants and arrested some 4,000 suspects throughout Cuba. On November 25, 1960, Trujillo's henchmen killed three of

5871-401: The border with Colombia, like other weapons acquired from the Italian mission they did not survive past World War II. In addition to seeing action in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War , the Second Sino-Japanese War , the Spanish Civil War , the Slovak-Hungarian War , and the Anglo-Iraqi War , the L3 was used almost everywhere that Italian troops fought during World War II . L3s were found on

5974-463: The concept with some exceptions such as the more modern German Wiesel (Weasel) series. Tankettes were made both in two- and three-man models. Some were so low that the occupant had to lie prone. Some models were not equipped with turrets (and together with the tracked mobility, this is often seen as defining the concept), or just a very simple turret that was traversed by hand or leg. They were significantly smaller than light tanks and did not have

6077-410: The country against Medina's government), marking the end to 16 years in power of the centre-left Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). In May 2024, President Luis Abinader won a second term in elections . Especially his tough policies towards migration from neighbouring Haiti was popular among voters. The Dominican Republic comprises the eastern five-eighths of Hispaniola , the second-largest island in

6180-538: The country for over a year and left after supervising elections in 1966 won by Joaquín Balaguer . He had been Trujillo's last puppet-president. Balaguer remained in power as president for 12 years. His tenure was a period of repression of human rights and civil liberties, and was criticized for a growing disparity between the rich and poor, but it was praised praised for an ambitious infrastructure program, which included construction of large housing projects, sports complexes, theaters, museums, aqueducts, roads, highways, and

6283-403: The country's major export. This action ultimately cost the Dominican Republic almost $ 22,000,000 in lost revenues at a time when its economy was in a rapid decline. Trujillo had become expendable, and dissidents inside the Dominican Republic argued that assassination was the only certain way to remove him. On May 30, 1961, Trujillo was shot and killed by Dominican dissidents. Ramfis Trujillo ,

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6386-408: The dictator's son, remained in de facto control of the government for the next 6 months, as commander of the armed forces. Trujillo's brothers, Hector Bienvenido and Jose Arismendi Trujillo, returned to the country and plotted against President Balaguer. On November 18, 1961, as a planned coup became more evident, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk issued a warning that the US would not "remain idle" if

6489-461: The entire island was either Ayiti or Quisqueya . Christopher Columbus arrived on the island on December 5, 1492, during the first of his four voyages to the Americas. He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Española , due to its diverse climate and terrain, which reminded him of the Spanish landscape. In 1496, Bartholomew Columbus , Christopher's brother, built the city of Santo Domingo , Western Europe's first permanent settlement in

6592-506: The farming areas of the nation. Rather less productive are the semi-arid San Juan Valley, south of the Central Cordillera, and the Neiba Valley, tucked between the Sierra de Neiba and the Sierra de Bahoruco. Much of the land around the Enriquillo Basin is below sea level, with a hot, arid, desert-like environment. There are other smaller valleys in the mountains, such as the Constanza , Jarabacoa , Villa Altagracia , and Bonao valleys. The Llano Costero del Caribe ("Caribbean Coastal Plain")

6695-406: The four Mirabal sisters , nicknamed Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). Along with their husbands, the sisters were conspiring to overthrow Trujillo in a violent revolt. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is observed on the anniversary of their deaths. For a long time, the U.S. and the Dominican elite supported the Trujillo government. This support persisted despite

6798-408: The four highest peaks in the Caribbean: Pico Duarte (3,098 metres or 10,164 feet above sea level), La Pelona (3,094 metres or 10,151 feet), La Rucilla (3,049 metres or 10,003 feet), and Pico Yaque (2,760 metres or 9,055 feet). In the southwest corner of the country, south of the Cordillera Central, there are two other ranges: the more northerly of the two is the Sierra de Neiba , while in the south

6901-582: The general population. The occupying government also revived the Dominican economy, reduced the nation's debt, built a road network that at last interconnected all regions of the country, and created a professional National Guard to replace the warring partisan units. Additionally, with grass-roots support from local communities and assistance from both Dominican and US officials, the Dominican education system expanded significantly during US occupation. Between 1918 and 1920, more than three hundred schools were established nationwide. The system of forced labour used by

7004-453: The highest in the Western Hemisphere. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing, tourism, and mining. The country is the site of the third largest (in terms of production) gold mine in the world, the Pueblo Viejo mine . The Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. A geographically diverse nation, the Dominican Republic is home to both the Caribbean's tallest mountain peak, Pico Duarte , and

7107-399: The killing of all police officers. On April 28, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson deployed U.S. Marines to Santo Domingo to protect American citizens, with U.S. forces subsequently expanded to 24,000 troops. On April 30, two battalions of the 82nd Airborne Division landed at San Isidro airfield . Hours later, U.S. troops crossed the Duarte Bridge to link up with Loyalists, who were to secure

7210-404: The lands". It is often used in songs as another name for the country. The name of the country in English is often shortened to "the D.R." ( la R.D. ), but this is rare in Spanish. The islands of the Caribbean were first settled around 6,000 years ago by hunter-gatherer peoples originating from Central America or northern South America. The Arawakan-speaking ancestors of the Taíno moved into

7313-410: The machine guns, and the flame fuel was carried in an armoured 500-litre (133 US gallons) fuel trailer towed by the vehicle. Later versions carried another 60 litres of fuel in a box-shaped tank mounted above the L3's engine compartment. The vehicle weighed 5 metric tons. The L3 Lf saw action in Abyssinia, Spain, France, the Balkans, North Africa, and Italian East Africa. From 1936 each CV/L3 company had

7416-543: The main armament. The Hungarians added a raised commander's vision cupola to 45 of the L3s they acquired. In 1937, the Brazilian Army ordered 18 L3/35 tankettes, designated Auto Metralhadora de Reconhecimento which remained in active service until 1945 when some units were resold to the Dominican Republic . Venezuela bought two units in 1934 for evaluation in infantry support operations, because of several incidents on

7519-599: The massive Columbus Lighthouse , completed in 1992 during a later tenure. In 1978, Balaguer was succeeded to the presidency by opposition candidate Antonio Guzmán Fernández , of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). Hurricane David hit the Dominican Republic in August 1979, which left upwards of 2,000 people dead and 200,000 homeless. The hurricane caused over $ 1 billion in damage. Another PRD win in 1982 followed, under Salvador Jorge Blanco . Balaguer regained

7622-550: The neighboring French colony of Saint-Domingue —the wealthiest colony in the Caribbean and whose population of half a million was 90% enslaved and four times as numerous as Santo Domingo. In 1795, Spain ceded Santo Domingo to France by the Treaty of Basel as a result of its defeat in the War of the Pyrenees . Saint-Domingue achieved independence as Haiti from France on January 1, 1804. In 1809,

7725-634: The northern coast and in the Pedernales Peninsula. Four major rivers drain the numerous mountains of the Dominican Republic. The Yaque del Norte is the longest and most important Dominican river. It carries excess water down from the Cibao Valley and empties into Monte Cristi Bay, in the northwest. Likewise, the Yuna River serves the Vega Real and empties into Samaná Bay, in the northeast. Drainage of

7828-563: The number and type of machine guns, the differences between the L3/35 and the L3/33 were few. Both featured riveted and welded construction. The vehicle's commander/gunner sat on the left and the driver sat on the right. The engine was mounted transversely in the rear. A circular radiator was mounted behind the engine. The transmission went to the front to the final drive. The Vickers-Carden-Lloyd type suspension had two three-wheel bogies on leaf spring and

7931-470: The other hand, his administrations have been accused of corruption. Danilo Medina of the PLD was elected president in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. On the other hand, a significant increase in crime, government corruption and a weak justice system threaten to overshadow their administrative period. He was succeeded by the opposition candidate Luis Abinader in the 2020 election (weeks after protests erupted in

8034-678: The patron saint of astronomers , and founder of the Dominican Order . The Dominican Order established what is now known as the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo , the first university in the New World. For most of its history, up until independence, the colony was known simply as Santo Domingo and continued to be commonly known as such in English until the early 20th century. The residents were called "Dominicans" ( Dominicanos ),

8137-533: The population of Taínos had declined drastically due to smallpox , measles, and other diseases that arrived with the Europeans. African slaves were imported to replace the dwindling Taínos. The last record of pure Taínos in the country was from 1864. Still, Taíno biological heritage survived due to intermixing. Census records from 1514 reveal that 40% of Spanish men in Santo Domingo were married to Taíno women, and some present-day Dominicans have Taíno ancestry. By

8240-429: The port of Puerto Plata and destroyed much of the town. In the south, Spanish forces were successful in driving the rebels out of several towns and into Haiti. However, the capture of Azua proved to be a costly endeavor, with two months of fighting and a significant loss of lives for the Spanish. Spanish forces from Cuba attacked and captured Monte Cristi on the north coast, but sustained heavy casualties. By 1865,

8343-422: The presidency in 1986 and was re-elected in 1990 and 1994, in the latter defeating PRD candidate José Francisco Peña Gómez , a former mayor of Santo Domingo. The 1994 elections were flawed, bringing international pressure, to which Balaguer responded by scheduling another presidential contest in 1996. Balaguer was not a candidate. The PSRC candidate was his Vice President Jacinto Peynado Garrigosa . In 1996, with

8446-416: The proceeds for his personal use and to maintain his police state. In 1899, he was assassinated. However, the relative calm over which he presided allowed improvement in the Dominican economy. The sugar industry was modernized, and the country attracted foreign workers and immigrants. Lebanese, Syrians, Turks, and Palestinians began to arrive in the country during the latter part of the 19th century. During

8549-539: The second and expelling Báez in 1859. In 1861, after imprisoning, exiling, and executing many of his opponents and due to political and economic reasons, Santana asked Queen Isabella II of Spain to retake control of the Dominican Republic. Spain, which had not come to terms with the loss of its mainland American colonies 40 years earlier, made the country a colony again. The island was occupied by 30,000 Spanish troops bolstered by battalions of Cuban and Puerto Rican volunteers and 12,000 Dominicans who aligned themselves with

8652-563: The single 6.5 mm machine gun was replaced with twin 8 mm machine guns. Many older CV-33s were retrofitted to meet the specifications of the CV-35. In 1938, the vehicles were redesignated L3/33 ("L" for Leggero or 'light') and the L3/35. In 1938, a further development of the L3 design was designated L3/38. The L3/38 had torsion bar suspension and two versions of a single mounted 13.2 mm machine gun. Italy retrofitted at least 12 L3/35s to meet

8755-506: The specifications of the L3/38. The converted L3/35s with the L3/38's torsion bar suspension saw limited service in September 1943 until June 1944. These L3/38s versions of the L3/35s were armed with a single 13.2 mm Breda M31 machine gun. The L3/35 was a lightly armoured two-man vehicle typically armed with twin 8 mm machine guns, though variants were developed with other armament. Other than

8858-556: The start and also proved to be of low tactical value. They were vulnerable to the British Boys anti-tank rifles . Other than those used for occupation duties in the Balkans and elsewhere, few L3s remained in front line service past the end of 1940. After the Italian armistice with the Allies in 1943 , L3 tankettes were used by German Army forces and by the pro-Nazi National Republican Army of

8961-659: The support of Joaquín Balaguer and the Social Christian Reform Party in a coalition called the Patriotic Front, Leonel Fernández achieved the first-ever win for the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), which Bosch had founded in 1973 after leaving the PRD. Fernández oversaw a fast-growing economy: growth averaged 7.7% per year, unemployment fell, and there were stable exchange and inflation rates. In 2000,

9064-544: The tank , Tank classification , interwar period Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , Tanks in the Cold War Background: History of the tank , Tank classification Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a North American country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean . It shares

9167-536: The tank battalions in the motorized divisions, the light tank squadron group in each "Fast" ( Celere ) division, and numerous independent tank battalions. On 22 March 1941, two Iraqi L3s were reported to have been put out of action near Fallujah during the Anglo-Iraqi War . More than 40 captured L3 tankettes were used by the Greek Army during the Greco-Italian War , fought from 1940 to 1941, and were used to equip

9270-413: The tanks were easily stopped or delayed by small arms fire and artillery. The breakthrough tanks were then isolated and destroyed, and reinforcements plugged the hole in the trench line. The tankette was originally conceived in the early interwar period to solve this problem. The first designs were a sort of mobile, one-man machine gun nest protected against small arms fire and shell fragments. This idea

9373-512: The threat of military intervention by France, Germany , and Italy . United States President Theodore Roosevelt sought to prevent European intervention, largely to protect the routes to the future Panama Canal . He made a small military intervention to ward off European powers, to proclaim his famous Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine , and also to obtain his 1905 Dominican agreement for U.S. administration of Dominican customs, which

9476-458: The time of the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, which ceded the western one-third of the island to France, the population of Santo Domingo consisted of a few thousand whites, approximately 30,000 black slaves, and a few Taínos. By 1789, the population had grown to 125,000, but Santo Domingo remained one of Spain's less wealthy and strategically important colonies in the New World. The population composition of Santo Domingo sharply contrasted with that of

9579-452: The time of the Second World War, many were already obsolete and some were proven unsuccessful in their appointed task. Many were relegated to tractor duties for artillery or logistics units. Due to their limited utility and vulnerability to anti-tank weapons (even machine guns), the tankette concept was abandoned, and their role largely taken over by armoured cars . However, in Vietnam ,

9682-411: The time, both ruling arbitrarily. They promoted competing plans to annex the new nation to a major power. The Dominican Republic's first constitution was adopted on November 6, 1844, and its population in 1845 was approximately 230,000 people (100,000 whites; 40,000 blacks; and 90,000 mulattoes). In March 1844, Haiti invaded, but the Dominicans put up stiff opposition and inflicted heavy casualties on

9785-519: The western third of the island, which became the independent First Empire of Haiti in 1804. A group of Dominicans deposed the Spanish governor and declared independence from Spain in November 1821, but were annexed by Haiti in February 1822. Independence came 22 years later in 1844, after victory in the Dominican War of Independence . The next 72 years saw several civil wars, failed invasions by Haiti, and

9888-641: The year of adoption. Only twenty-one CV-29s were built. In 1933, a new design was built jointly by the Fiat Company of Turin and the Ansaldo Company of Genoa . This vehicle was introduced as the Fiat-Ansaldo CV-33 . About 300 CV-33s were built. In 1935, a slightly improved model of the CV-33 was introduced and designated CV-35. The primary differences were that the armour was bolted rather than riveted and

9991-458: Was abandoned and the two man-model, mainly intended for reconnaissance, was produced instead. The moving up of infantry while protecting them was solved with the development of the armoured personnel carrier concept in the 1930s. In 1925 British tank pioneer Giffard Le Quesne Martel built a one-man tank in his garage and showed it to the War Office , who agreed to production of a few (known as

10094-499: Was an L3 with a Solothurn 20 mm anti-tank rifle mounted in place of its normal machine gun armament. Only a few were so modified, and they saw action only in North Africa. The Solothurn rifle could penetrate up to 18 mm of armor at 300 m (328 yards) which was effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Development of the "L3 Lf" flamethrower ( lancia fiamme ) flame tank began in 1935. The flamethrower nozzle replaced one of

10197-416: Was modified to carry a L3/33 recessed under the fuselage for experiments with airborne armour. Unarmed armoured recovery vehicle with a rear tow bar, did not progress beyond the prototype stage. Tank destroyer with a 47 mm L/32 gun mounted in the hull, based on the L3/35. At least one built but did not enter service. Tank built by Fiat-Ansaldo in 1937 on the L3/33 chassis with a redesigned hull and

10300-645: Was several years of great political instability and civil war . U.S. mediation by the William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson administrations achieved only a short respite each time. A political deadlock in 1914 was broken after an ultimatum by Wilson telling the Dominicans to choose a president or see the U.S. impose one. A provisional president was chosen, and later the same year relatively free elections put former president (1899–1902) Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra back in power. With his former Secretary of War Desiderio Arias maneuvering to depose him and despite

10403-434: Was stripped down into sections on a trailer towed by the L3 itself for travel. On arriving at the combat zone, this bridge was assembled on the front of the tank, suspended by cables from two small cranes located over the crew's superstructure. The crew laid the completed bridge over the obstacle from within the vehicle. A L3 Passerella crew took seven minutes to lay out this bridge. A single Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 aircraft

10506-502: Was subsequently cancelled after it was thought that the adaptation of the same gun to the German Panzer I would yield better results. Background: History of the tank , Tank classification , interwar period Tankette Several countries built tankettes between the 1920s and 1940s, and some saw limited combat in the early phases of World War II . The vulnerability of their light armour, however, eventually led armies to abandon

10609-422: Was the chief source of income for the Dominican government. A 1906 agreement provided for the arrangement to last 50 years. The United States agreed to use part of the customs proceeds to reduce the immense foreign debt of the Dominican Republic and assumed responsibility for said debt. After six years in power, President Ramón Cáceres (who had himself assassinated Heureaux) was assassinated in 1911. The result

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