 
did the monroe doctrine work? 
it did. 
spain and portugal never won back their lost colonies. 
a real test of the monroe doctrine came in the 1860"s. 
at that time france invaded mexico and seized control of the country. 
a new ruler, a prince from austria by the name of maximilian, was made 
emperor of mexico. 
he was protected by the french army. 
while this was happening, the united states was fully engaged in fighting 
the civil war. 
as the war came to an end, the american government cast a stern eye toward 
mexico. 
we want no more nonsense, the french were warned. 
no european nation will be allowed to take over mexico and set up a 
monarchy. 
war was threatened. 
the french in mexico were no match for the powerful american army of 
50,000 troops sent to texas at the end of the civil war to enforce the monroe 
doctrine and to fight the french troops if necessary. 
so the french army sailed back home. 
then the emperor maximilian was captured by mexican patriots and shot by 
a firing squad. 
as time went on, the monroe doctrine created a curious problem. 
it said that european countries must stay out of the western hemisphere. 
however, suppose that a latin american country treated a european country 
unfairly? 
could it then hide behind the monroe doctrine like a bad boy hiding 
behind his mother's skirts? 
could it say, "don"t you dare touch me, or the united states will punish 
you"? 
this would be very unjust. 
the problem arose in 1904 when the dominican republic, a small country in 
the west indies, got into trouble. 
