“巴尔的摩号事件”与美国海上大国地位的形成

“Baltimore Incident” and Development of the US into a Major Maritime Power

自19世纪80年代以来,随着美国海上实力的提升,它对智利的外交策略也发生了相应变化。由于和智利之间存在商业利益的竞争,美国对南美太平洋战争的调停明显偏向秘鲁与玻利维亚,之后还间接参与了智利内战,暗中支持巴尔马塞达政府,连美国海军都直接参与了巴尔马塞达支持者的撤离工作。双方对立的本质在于,美国不满智利对硝石的排他性占有,并利用硝石经济的不稳定性对智利海军建设的拖累,趁着国际硝石市价暴跌和两国海军实力逆转之际,炒作“巴尔的摩号事件”谋求政治利益。美国海军首次向智利公开发难,迫使后者妥协。事件之后,“门罗主义”不再只是搭乘英国海军安全便车的“妄言”,为美国海上大国地位的形成先在西半球奠定了基石。因此,针对美国海军在南海仲裁期间同步展开的海军强制外交,理解百年前“巴尔的摩号事件”中美国海军部署左右智利司法审判的先例显得尤为必要。

Since the 1880s, with the improvement of the maritime power of the US, its diplomatic strategy towards Chile has accordingly changed. Due to the contest of commercial interests between Chile and the US, the US mediation of the South American Pacific War was obviously biased towards Peru and Bolivia. Furthermore, it indirectly participated in the Chilean civil war, secretly provided assistance to the Balmaceda administration, and even sent the Navy to directly participate in the evacuation of political exiles. The essence of the opposition between the two sides lies in the following fact: the US is dissatisfied with Chile s exclusive possession of saltpeter, making full use of the instability of the saltpeter economy which has been a drag to the construction of Chilean navy, and hyping up the “Baltimore Incident” for political gains against the context of the collapse of international saltpeter market and the reversal of the two countries’ naval strengths. For the first time, the US Navy made a public attack on Chile, forcing the latter to compromise. After the incident,“Monroe doctrine” was no longer just a “rumor” of taking a free ride on the British navy s safe and secure train, which laid a solid foundation for the formation of the US maritime power in the Western Hemisphere. Therefore, it is particularly necessary to understand the precedent of the US Navy s intervention in the Chilean judicial trial in the Baltimore Incident 100 years ago, which provides clues to understand the US naval compulsory diplomacy in the process of the South China Sea arbitration.