The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and North America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America.
It was in the Caribbean region in 1942 that author Ernest Hemingway found a GermanU-boat while patrolling the waters on his boat, the Pilar, after having a disagreement with his wife. He promptly tossed a grenade down the submarine's hatch, and later won a Distinguished Service Medal for his work.
The Caribbean was dominated by the British and Confederatenavies until the end of the Great War when the United States forced Great Britain to cede Bermuda and the Bahamas establishing a strong American presence there. Those islands were retaken by the Entente early in the Second Great War. However, Britain and the C.S. failed to achieve a decisive advantage over the United States at sea, leading to the defeat of the Royal Navy in 1943, the American recapture of Bermuda, and the return of a US presence in the Caribbean.
After the eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean cooled down, which in turn negatively impacted the Gulf Stream, which in turn caused places that benefitted from the warmth of the Gulf Stream to become much colder.[1]
By the late 20th century, all of the largest Caribbean islands were dominated by Nueva España, a nation of the Holy Alliance. However, the British Empire maintained toeholds in the Bahamas in the northeast, and a few of the Windward Islands in the southeast.[2]