CONFLICT:Spanish-American War

BY THE 1890s, Spain's imperialistpossessions had dwindled toinclude Cuba and Puerto Rico inthe New World, Morroco and WestAfrica in Africa, and the Philip-pines and Guam in the Pacific.

Industrialization had madeCuba one of the world's leadingsugar exporters, attracting foreigninvestment and rivals to Spain'shegemony. The US had more than$50 million invested in Cuba by1895 and nearly 90 percent ofCuban exports went to America,while six percent went to Spain.

US investors bought largeplantations and the American gov-ernment even tried to buy Cubaafter the first armed revolt, the TenYears War (1868-78). By the 1890s,however, Americans bought lessCuban sugar since Congress imp-osed high tariffs to protect USfarmers — a result of a failed trade-^pact with Spain. In 1895, a band ofmulti-racial and multi-class rebelslead by Jose Marti, who believedSpain's inability to deal with theUS would cripple the economy,began a new Cuban revolt. (Martidied in an early skirmish.)

Spain sent more than 200,000soldiers to suppress the rebels.Spanish Captain General ValerianoWeyler forced combatants intorural camps and cut water andfood supplies, hoping to starve therevolution. They became known asreconcentration camps (a precursorto 20th-century concentration

camps). The rebels persistedthrough the persecution, while thefighting killed an estimated 20 per-cent of the Cuban populationbefore the US finally intervened.

American president GroverCleveland initially declared neutral-ity in 1895. However, Weyler's opp-ression of rebels and Cuba's crip-pled economy amplified the hawk-ish cries from Washington and WallStreet. Support for intervention alsogrew through newspapers, notablyWilliam Randolph Hearst's NewYork Journal and Joseph Pulitzer'sNew York World. The two papers,sourcing unreliable Cuban exiles,ran sensational stories about Spain'scruel acts. This style of reportingwas labeled "yellow journalism".

William McKinley replacedCleveland as president in March1897, and although he wanted to

• avoid mobilizing the precarious USNavy, the president declared thatAmerica would intervene if Spainfailed to resolve the Cuban crisis.

On 15 February 1898, the USSMaine exploded while in HavanaHarbor, killing 266 men. A Spanishinvestigation concluded that theship sank due to an engine fire,while the Americans concluded thatthe Maine had been attacked.

The US Congress demandedSpain — who was prepared togrant Cuba limited independence— give the nation complete auton-omy. Spain refused. Congressdeclared war on 25 April 1898(retroactive to the 21st) and McKin-ley asked for 125,000 volunteers(later 267,000) to fight.

Meanwhile in the Philippines,another revolt againstSpanish authority was

occurring. American CommodoreGeorge Dewey sailed with exiledrebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo toManila. There, Dewey destroyedthe surprised Spanish fleet on May1, but did not have enough men towage a ground war. McKinley ord-ered 15,000 soldiers to Manila; enroute, the US cruiser Charlestonshelled Guam and accepted its sur-render.

In Cuba, the US Navy blockad-ed Havana and turned its attentionto the harbor at Santiago de Cuba,where Spanish Admiral PascualCervera y Topete had concentratedthe Spanish fleet (six ships).

On July 1, a disorganized offen-sive of 10,000 American soldiers and5,000 Cuban guerrillas, led by Gen-eral William Shatter, took place atSan Juan Hill. With the help ofTheodore Roosevelt's Texas "RoughRiders", the Americans eventuallyforced the Spanish army to retreat— which then forced Cervera'sships to attempt an escape fromSantiago Harbor. The US Navy sunkthe last of the Spanish fleet on July 3and Cervera surrendered on July 17.By August, America had control ofManila and Puerto Rico as well.Hostilities ended before September.

On 10 December 1898, SpanishPresident Praxedes Mateo Sagastaand McKinley signed the Treaty ofParis. The treaty gave the US con-trol of Guam and Puerto Rico.Spain sold the Philippines to Amer-ica for $20 million and promised tosever all colonial ties with Cuba.

With the Treaty of Paris camethe end of Spain's imperialist era •and the transformation of Ameri-can foreign policy from isolation-ism to a new brand of burgeoningimperialism.

History Magazine • October/November 2006 13