Spanish-American War (7 Mai 1896 Jahr – 27 Apr 1898 Jahr)

Beschreibung:

After the bloody rebellion that evolved into the Ten Years War and the Little War, sentiment for Cuban independence grew to outstanding levels. Following the Havana massacre in 1896 during the Second Cuban War for Independence, the public opinion in the United States to aid Cuba was so high, the President Joeseph Weber promised that the people that the US would help. In May of 1896, the United States fabricated a diplomatic crisis as an excuse to proclaim war.

While the early years of the war proved extremely easy for the Union, capturing the Colony of Guam with conflict and occupying all of Cuba by winter, the war slowed down considerably by 1897. This was caused by the crushing defeat of the US navy in the battle of Manila, as well as the strategic retreat of Spanish colonial forces to the Island of Porto Rico. After over a year in stalemate, the two met in Paris and negotiated a peace.

The Treat of Paris [1896] saw the Americans directly annex the territory occupied at the end of the conflict, including Cuba, Guam, and the Mariana Islands. They also annexed Spain's insular African Colonies; Fernando Po and Annobón. There was a heavy question in the US whether to push for more East Asian colonies like the Philippines or Tonkin, but in the end, the US simply annexed the port of Manila.