The Spanish-American War and Spain's Loss of Empire

The Crisis of 1898 and Fall of Empire

Spanish Policy in Cuba Before 1898

Between the end of the first war in Cuba in 1878, marked by the Peace of Zanjón, and the beginning of the third war, 17 years passed during which various Spanish governments had the opportunity to introduce some of the reforms demanded by Cuban nationalism. The only measure passed was the abolition of slavery in 1886, but any proposal for autonomy was rejected. There were no major reforms to the colonial status. Tension grew between the metropolis and the colonies due to economic policies. Spain applied a protectionist economic policy that favored Spanish trade through high tariffs, leading to higher prices for products from other countries. The United States was the most affected, as it was the major buyer of Cuban products: sugar and tobacco. The U.S. government threatened to close its borders to Cuban trade if Spain did not end its protectionist policy on the island. It was feared that a revolt for independence could count on U.S. support.

The Spanish-American War of 1898

In 1892, the nationalist leader José Martí founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party, which spearheaded the beginning of the uprising for independence with the Manifesto of Montecristi in February 1895. The rebellion began in the eastern part of the island. Its main leaders, Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gómez, were able to spread the conflict to the west.

The Spanish government, led by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, responded by sending an army to Cuba headed by General Arsenio Martínez Campos. His strategy was to wage a slow war. The lack of immediate success caused his replacement by General Valeriano Weyler. His aim was to achieve faster progress, employing forceful methods. To isolate the rural guerrillas, he decided to move the rural population to concentration camps near large cities. The new tactic was not as successful as expected. Rather, the lack of medical care and poor diet caused high mortality among the civilian population and the army. With plantations abandoned, Cuba's economy suffered greatly.

Cánovas was assassinated in 1897. The new Liberal government, headed by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, sought negotiation, granting autonomy to Cuba and an end to economic protectionism, but it was too late. The rebels were already in contact with the U.S., which was preparing to intervene.

In the Philippines, there was also a significant independence movement, whose main leader was José Rizal. The Spanish presence in the Philippines was less substantial than in Cuba. The archipelago was used largely as a commercial hub for trade with China. General Camilo Polavieja applied a tactic similar to that of Weyler in Cuba to halt the insurgency.

In 1898, the U.S. decided to intervene in Cuba and the Philippines and declared war on Spain. Several factors may explain this:

• The Monroe Doctrine, under which the U.S. would not permit any European interference in American affairs.
• The era of maximum colonial development and U.S. imperialist policy, protecting economic interests in the Americas and Asia (including trade with China).
• The immediate cause: the explosion of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana. Although the reasons are still unknown today, Spain was accused.

In August 1898, the defeat at Cavite in the Philippines took place. Shortly after, the Spanish fleet in the Americas was almost entirely destroyed in Santiago de Cuba. In late 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed. Spain ceded Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States. Two years later, Spain sold its remaining Pacific islands (the Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, and Palau) to Germany.