Cuban War of Independence – The Spanish-american War
by The United States watched the war unfold with more than just casual interest.
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was unacceptable. “You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war,” Hearst famously said to one of his cartoonists covering the conflict. Meanwhile, those involved in the Cuban independence movement, like Cuban revolutionaries in the next century, faced a challenging balancing act. They needed U.S. support and recognition as a way of countering Spanish half-a-loaf autonomy impulses while suspecting thattoo closely courting the United States could well threaten the independence and integrity of their movement (a fear shared by many leaders, including Gómez). The final push for war came in February 1898, when the U.S. battleship Maine, sent to Havana Harbor to protect U.S. interests in the wake of popular riots against Spain, mysteriously exploded. Accusations flew of Spanish culpability. Then President William McKinley attempted to divert the hawkish prodding of his Republican Party colleagues and avoid warby offering to purchase Cuba outright from Spain or serve as a mediator in the conflict. Spain declined both options. The march to intervention thus became unstoppable. Cuban independence fighters were ill informed of American plans and left out once the war began. The pro independence Cuban junta in New York had helped to secure passage of the Teller Amendment in the U.S. Congress, a provision under which Washington disclaimed any intent to seek longterm control of the island. It would prove little assurance. The war was over rather quickly. From the time the United States declared war in late April 1898 to the signing of anarmistice in August, hardly three months had passed. During this short period, U.S. forces destroyed the Spanish navy and routed Spanish forces in its other colonial possessions: Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The United States and Spain signed a final peace treaty in December 1898 in Paris. Just as Cuban independence forces had been blocked from occupying key cities once the Spanish were defeated, they were not permitted to participate in the Paris negotiations. The American flag, not the Cuban flag, was raised over Havana.
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