Quite an interesting period.... Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, annexation of the Hawaiian Islands in 1898 as a needed naval base, Guam, ...Spain, the U.S., Europe, Russia, Japan.
Perhaps the early high watermark of popular support for America pursuing it's own Imperial growth, appropo to European elites' consensus belief in the wisdom of such national expressions of power. (Much of that popular support whipped-up by media seeking revenues and influence....)
Cuba itself, of course, had long been embroiled in rebellions against Spanish colonial rule. Philippines had their own batch of trouble. After defeating the Spanish there (already pressured by the nationalist rebel fighters) we had to fight again - the Philippine-American War.
'...Under Spanish rule in Cuba had become progressively harsh and revolution broke out in 1895. President William McKinley was under tremendous public pressure to defend U.S. interests on the island. "The media", at this point in history represented by the newspaper chains of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, had a field day stirring up outrage against the Spanish colonial government's many atrocities. As rebel forces gained popular support, the military resorted to moving entire villages into "reconcentration" sites and erecting massive cleared and fenced demilitarized zones.'
(Under General Valeriano Weyeler, the Spanish adopted a novel military tactic to deal with attacks by the insurgent Cuban forces - they partitioned up the island with barbed wire fences and blockhouses, and they impounded suspected sympathetic civilians in "reconcentration" camps. They perished miserably by the thousands. Sound familiar? U.S. troops soon adopted this tactic while occupying the Philippines. The British later did this during the Boer War in South Africa, and United States used it in Viet Nam, calling them "strategic hamlets".)
[This was the period which gave rise to the term "yellow journalism" - literally taken from the yellowish paper much of the muck-raking publications were printed on. In a classic, although perhaps apocryphal, example of editorial power, William Randolph Hearst reportedly telegrammed this reply to illustrator Fredric Remington who had asked to come home from a quiet Havana: "Please remain. You furnish the pictues and I'll furnish the war."]
Senator Thurston, Nebraska: "War with Spain would increase the business and earnings of every Ameican railroad, it would increase the output of every American factory, it would stimulate every branch of industry and domestic commerce."
Major-General of Volunteers J.C. Beckenridge: "...Summing up, ou policy should always be to support the weaker against the stronger, until we have obtained the extermination of them both, in order to annex the Pearl of the Antilles."
In the end, U.S. goals were overwhelmingly achieved. Cuba's struggle for independence had been hijacked to become the "Spanish-American War." The Caribbean was "secured", allowing for construction of the Panama canal. In Asia, shipping routes and military facilities were established. The U.S. finally became an international player. It was characteristic of the U.S. role in the conflict that the efforts of Cuban patriots before and during the war were belittled. Cuban forces were prohibited from attending their own surrender ceremonies, and Cuban representatives were not invited to the peace treaty signing in Paris. The army of occupation demobilized the mostly black Cuban army but appointed Spanish officers to security positions. By 1902, the Cubans accepted the Platt Amendment (which, among other things, gave the U.S. the unconditional right to intervene in Cuba's internal affairs and perpetual rights to the coaling station at Guantanamo Bay) as the only alternative to remaining under direct U.S. military rule.
===============
The Battle of Manila Bay was one of two major American naval victories in the Spanish-American War, both of which were very decisive, and, in hindsight, very one-sided. The Battle of Manila Bay occurred on the morning of May 1, 1898, only days after war had been declared between Spain and the United States.
The battle is notable for several reasons. First, it was a complete and final victory, ending any threat from the Spanish naval forces involved. All major Spanish ships were destroyed or captured, without any significant damage occurring to the American Forces.
Secondly, technically no Americans lost their lives in the battle (two American deaths did indirectly occur which may be attributable to the battle), though the lives of many Spaniards were lost. The result is that Americans look at the victory as a "bloodless" battle, whereas the Spanish obviously do not.
Thirdly, the American attack was very daring and dangerous, based on what the Americans knew at the time, but not as risky when looked at in hindsight. Many world powers, who were not aware of the American naval build-up over the past decade and a half, considered the United States Asiatic Squadron to be little or no threat to the Spanish naval forces. The Americans also over-rated the Spanish navy's ability and determination to fight, and many authorities considered the fleet to be sailing into a veritable deathtrap. In addition to the naval forces, many Spanish gun batteries existed in the fortifications around Manila Bay. These guns alone should have been enough armament to destroy the American squadron.
Lastly, the American Asiatic Squadron was not sufficiently supplied with ammunition for wartime service and the nearest site for resupply was California, seven thousand miles away!
By far, the most notable aspect of the battle was that, as a result of this battle, the United States became a recognized world power overnight. The U.S. Navy had been a subject of derision internationally for years. The United States had begun to change that with the advent of its new steel navy, but, in a time when a country's military was rated according to the strength of its navy, this was the first time that the ability of both the U.S. warships and their well-trained crews were shown to be an important world force.
======================
When the USS Maine exploded in Havana, Cuba, on February 15th, 1898, it served as the spark that ignited the Spanish-American War. As the American population was stirred into a frenzy by the popular press, Span knew that it had to protect its possessions in the Caribbean from American aggression. For while Spain was an empire in decline – now merely a shadow of her former glory – the United States was a nation on the rise. The battleship Maine was an early step in the building of a powerful American Navy that would establish the United States as a world power. American shipbuilders, inexperienced at building modern naval vessels, had many problems in completing the Maine, and her construction took ten years to complete. When the Maine was launched, she was already obsolete and was designated a “Second-Class Battleship.” Of limited military value, she was the perfect ship to make a “courtesy call” to Cuba, and assert American power.
But now, the very future of this new steel navy was at risk. The American people were wondering how it could be that one of the new battleships could be so utterly destroyed, and doubts were cast about the decision to build battleships for the United States Navy in the first place. And so, in the Navy Department, there arose a need to show just what the newest battleships were capable of – to provide a demonstration to the American people of the battleships’ worth. This opportunity would present itself at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, as the bulk of the United States’ “New Navy” confronted what remained of what had once been the mighty Spanish Navy. |
