Spanish-American War (1898)

The 1898 Spanish-American War pitted a burgeoning world power, the United States, against the fading Spanish empire, primarily over the Spanish colony of Cuba. This entry examines the origins, naval and ground battles, and consequences of the Spanish-American War.

Cuba and Puerto Rico were the two last outposts of a Spanish empire in the Western Hemisphere that had once scaled almost all of Central and South America. Spain had lost most of its possessions in the first half of the 19th century, and from 1868 to 1878, a native Cuban independence movement had challenged Spanish rule. Spain clung to the island, using strong military force to quell the rebellion. For its part, the United States had since the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 dedicated ...