Figure 1.--Here a group of American sailors from a visiting U.S. Navy ship poses with some Martinique school children about the time of World War I. Presumably that is their school in the background.

Martinique in the years before World War I experienced a series of natural disasters. The volcano Mont Pelée destroyed the commercial capital of the colony, St. Pierre (1902). Almost all of its 29,000 inhabitants perished. The only survivors were a shoemaker and a prisoner who was saved because he was in a virtual dungein cell. The town had to be completely rebuilt and commercial activity shifted to Fort-de-France. This was followed by a devestating hurricane damaging the sugar crop (1903). A massive earthquake off nearby Saint Lucia did further damage (1906). The economy was auded by the massive U.S. effort to build the Panama Canal. More than 5,000 islanders found work there. With the construction of the Canal, the United states had to begin ti think about defending it., especially as several European ciuntries like France had naval bases in the Caribbean. As tensions mounted in Europe, France began to mobilize its colonies. France mandated compulsory military service in Martinque (1913). Martinique was assigned a quota of 1,100 men per year to send to France for training. Unlike World War II, Martiniue supported the French war effort throughout the War. Some 18,000 Martiniquans served in France during the War and 1,306 died. French authorities requisitioned the Island's rum production for the French Army. Production doubled as sugar mills converted to distilleries, helping the local economy to revive from the series of naturl disasters. Martinique was not as importnt as a naval base as it woukd be in World War II. German U-boats had a muvh more limited range than would prove to be the case in World War II.

Created: 8:21 AM 5/24/2012
Last updated: 8:22 AM 5/24/2012