Panama: Crossroads of Empires · Episode 11 of 24 · 18 min
The Canal Zone: A Country Cut in Two, and the U-Boats Off Colón
For half a century a ten-mile-wide American strip ran through the middle of Panama. The episode sets Zonian nostalgia beside Panamanian grievance, covering the 1936 Hull-Alfaro Treaty and World War II, when German U-boats and Japan's planned I-400 submarines threatened the canal. Postwar nationalism built toward 1964.
Who's who
- Arnulfo Arias+1 more episodeDominant, turbulent Panamanian nationalist politician
- Cordell HullU.S. Secretary of State; negotiator of the 1936 treaty
- Ricardo AlfaroPanamanian negotiator of the 1936 treaty
Where it happens
- Canal Zone, Panama+5 more episodesU.S.-controlled strip that bisected the republic
- Coco Solo, PanamaNaval hospital site; war memories of U-boat sinkings
- Colón, Panama+2 more episodesCaribbean port where ships were sunk offshore
- Gatún Locks, Panama+1 more episodeIntended target of Japan's I-400 submarines
Timeline
- 1936Hull-Alfaro Treaty ends protectorate and intervention right
- 1939U.S. Senate finally ratifies the treaty
- 1942German U-boats ravage Caribbean shipping
- 1947Filós-Hines base agreement rejected after mass protests
- 1955Remón-Eisenhower Treaty raises annuity and trims privileges
Still debated
Zonian nostalgia and Panamanian grievance are both treated as genuine. The I-400 plan was real but cancelled at surrender, and the U-boat total of about 263 ships in the Caribbean by November 1942 varies by source. The Coco Solo account is a remembered recollection, not a verified event.
← PreviousThe Panama Canal Opens: World War One and the Gold vs. Silver Color LineNext →Martyrs' Day 1964: The Flag That Doomed the Canal Zone — An Eyewitness
