Spanish-American War

The Spanish-American War was 1898. The war launched by the United States to seize the territories of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in Spain was the first imperialist war in which the powers repartitioned the colonies. Cuba and the Philippines are not only of great economic value, but also strategic bases for the United States to expand to South America and Asia respectively. The emerging United States has strong economic and military potential and has established a relatively strong navy. Spain has long been in decline and isolated internationally. In particular, the armed struggle of the Cuban and Filipino people against Spanish colonial rule contained a large number of Spanish troops. The cruel repression of Cuban insurgents by Spanish troops angered the American people and endangered the economic interests of American capitalists there. 1898 18 On February 5th, the American aircraft carrier Maine, which was sent to Cuba to protect overseas Chinese, exploded in Havana Harbor. On April 25th, the United States took military action against Spain under the pretext of this incident.

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/kloc-at the end of 0/9, the United States entered the period of imperialism. American monopoly capital consortia urgently need to open up new markets, investment places and raw material producing areas, so various propaganda machines create public opinion about external expansion. But just as the United States is preparing to expand overseas, the whole world has been carved up by the old colonial powers. The United States also wants to carve up the world colonies, but because of its limited strength, it is still unable to compete with countries such as Britain and France. Only the old empire Spain is a good target. At this time, Spain was dying, and the once huge empire was only Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in Asia. The United States decided to take Spain as the first step to capture these Spanish colonies in order to control Central America and the Caribbean and gain a base for expanding to Asia, especially the Far East.

At this time, the struggle of the western colonial people also created a favorable environment for the United States. Armed uprisings against Spanish colonial rule broke out in the Philippines and Cuba. Philippine rebels have liberated most of the country and surrounded Manila. Cuban rebels contained Spain's 0.2 million/200 thousand army The United States seized this "godsend opportunity" and used the "Maine" incident in February 1898 to create war public opinion. On April 25, it officially went to war with Spain.

The United States has long been ready for war. The United States has established a powerful fleet known as the third in the world, which is deployed at various strategic points in the world, among which Hong Kong's Asian fleet is already rising. Congress has recruited 200,000 soldiers and has advanced equipment such as rapid-fire field guns, telegrams and telephones. Spain, on the other hand, was unprepared. Of the 200,000 Spanish troops in Cuba, only 65,438+2,000 can fight, and the rest are mostly old, weak and sick.

The navy only has some old wooden-shell warships. There are only 42,000 troops in the Philippines, and the political situation in Spain is chaotic. Military politicians generally believe that there is no hope of winning the war with the United States.

Fighting in the Philippines

After the United States declared war, wars started in the Philippines and Cuba. The battle first started in the Philippines. 1898, Philippine rebels liberated most of the country and surrounded Manila. The United States took this opportunity to send troops to participate in the war with the support of in the name of people.

On April 27th, Dewey led the American Asian Fleet, which had been on standby in Hong Kong for two months, to sail for the Philippines. Arrive outside Manila harbor before dawn on May 1. Soon, Spanish warships took the lead in firing, and the two sides launched a fierce naval battle. The United States has six new armored steam warships and five auxiliary ships, and Spain has seven wooden-shell warships, all of which are worn out and the flagship is still leaking. American ships have absolute advantages in firepower and speed. The United States can fire 3,700 pounds of artillery shells in a volley, while the Spanish ship can only fire 1.273 pounds in a volley. Moreover, the deck of the west ship is full of combustible materials such as firewood and coal for boilers. When hit by shells, it will ignite a raging fire. By noon, all seven western ships were sunk, with 38 1 casualties of western troops and only 8 minor injuries of American troops. The naval battle in Manila Bay decided the end of Spain in the Philippines.

After Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet, because there was no army, he blocked Manila and waited for the arrival of domestic troops. At the end of July, W. Mei Lite led the Eighth Army of the American Expeditionary Force10.5 million people to come from the United States. By this time, Manila was surrounded by 25,000 Philippine rebels. In order to monopolize Manila, the US military played a cunning trick. Dewey reached an agreement with rebel leaders and promised to recognize the independence of the Philippines. The insurgents believed the promise of the United States and promised to fight with the American army. I didn't know that President McGinley had ordered the US military to stop the revolutionary army from invading Manila under any circumstances. Moreover, the US military had reached a secret agreement with the Spanish governor in private, and Spain "transferred" Manila to the United States and did not allow Philippine troops to enter the city. In order to take care of the Spanish face, the US military launched a fake attack. On August 13, the US and Philippine troops launched a general attack on Manila.

After a little resistance, the western army surrendered. The casualties of American and Philippine troops were only 1 19, while those of western troops were 300. The U.S. military captured 22,000 weapons, with bullets10,000 rounds and prisoners130,000 people. As soon as the fighting was over, Dewey tore up the agreement and forced the rebels to retreat to the suburbs by force. The US military established a military government and monopolized Manila. The Battle of Manila ended Spanish colonial rule over the Philippines.

Fighting in Cuba

Cuba is the main battlefield of the Spanish-American War. The United States set up an expeditionary force of 25,000 people to conduct intensive training in Tampa, Florida. The US Navy blocked the Cuban coast through two sub-fleets. Spain originally stationed over 200,000 troops in Cuba and other places. Under the leadership of Gomez Bates, the Cuban rebels liberated a large area of land and formed a favorable situation. After the "Maine" incident, the western government sent a fleet (six warships under the command of P. Cebeira) to defend Puerto Rico. On May 19, the Spanish fleet successfully maneuvered to avoid the blockade of American ships and arrived at the port of Santiago. Covered by cobweb-like mine array, supported by coastal defense artillery, ready to fight against American attacks. On May 28th, the United States North Atlantic sub-fleet (seven combat ships, with the commander of W.T. sampson) arrived outside the port of San Diego, and a few days later joined another American fleet, with a total of 24 ships, forming a tight blockade. The US military then sent troops to Cuba. The American army wanted to attack Havana, but at the request of the navy, it agreed to attack San Diego with the navy. On June 22nd, nearly 17000 troops of the Fifth Army of the United States landed in the east of San Diego under the cover of naval fire. At this time, the Cuban rebels have also liberated most of the country and surrounded Santiago. After the talks with the ancient rebels, the US military began to cooperate. On June 29th, American troops arrived in the suburb of Guantanamo. On July 1 day, they stormed the commanding heights of Elca and San Juan Mountain in the east of the city.

The volunteers under the command of theodore roosevelt are brave and good at fighting. After fierce hand-to-hand combat, they captured San Juan Mountain and Elca was captured. On July 2nd and 3rd, the troops of the Western Front launched a counterattack, and the two sides started a tug-of-war. The American army finally repelled the counterattack of the western army. American casualties reached 1700.

While the army was fighting fiercely, on July 3, the Spanish fleet attempted to break through. The two sides launched a fierce naval battle in San Diego Bay. The US Navy has 24 ships, while the Western Army has only 9 ships. American naval vessels attack first, with fierce firepower and long distance. The total weight of each volley is 654.38+09000 Jin, while the Western Army only weighs 6000 Jin. With fierce and accurate firepower, the US military hit one western ship after another and burned and sank. After four hours of fierce fighting, the western fleet was completely destroyed. Seven ships were sunk, two ships were captured, 600 people died, and Cerbeira, the commander of the fleet, and 1800 officers and men were captured. Only two American ships were slightly injured, each with 1 casualties.

After the American army annihilated the western fleet, it besieged San Diego with the ancient rebels. /kloc-in July 0/6, the troops on the western front ran out of ammunition and food, and 24,000 people laid down their weapons. As in the Philippines, the US military was treacherous, negotiating with Spain to surrender alone and forbidding the rebels from entering the city, so the US military enjoyed the fruits of victory alone.

Fight in other ways

In the course of the war, the US military also seized some other strategic points. On June 20th, American troops captured Guam, an important strategic island in the Pacific Ocean. On July 4th, they occupied wake island again. On July 25th, nelson miles commanded 3000 American troops to land in Puerto Rico and set up a military base. At the beginning of August, the United States increased its troops 1 000, and laid siege to San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, in four ways. After a small-scale battle, 50 people were killed or injured, and the whole island of Puerto Rico was captured.

The war ended in American victory. 1898 12 10, the United States and Spain signed the Paris Peace Treaty. The peace treaty stipulates that Spain recognizes Cuba's independence and assigns Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States; The United States paid Spain $20 million as compensation for the Philippines. 1899- 190 1 year, the United States launched another attack on the Philippine rebels, brutally suppressed the resistance of the Filipino people, and turned the Philippines into an American colony. Although Cuba gained independence in name, the United States used platt amendment to turn Cuba into a "protectorate" of the United States.

The Spanish-American War went down in history as the first imperialist war. The scale of the war is not large, and the time is not long. The number of people participating in the war does not exceed 50,000. In the war, the US military paid the price of 5,000 deaths, but the number of deaths did not exceed 400, mostly because of injuries. For the first time, the US military went overseas for expeditionary operations, and the outcome of the war depended on naval battles. When the US Navy annihilated the Spanish sub-fleet in Manila Bay and San Diego Bay respectively, the overall situation of the war was decided. America's rapid victory over Spain was also due to the cooperation between Cuban and Filipino people's insurgents. The rebels of the two countries liberated a large area of land and annihilated a large number of Spanish troops, which made great contributions to the victory of the United States.

This war also exposed many military weaknesses of the US military: inadequate preparation for overseas operations, chaotic logistics supply, and poor medical care, which made the death toll of yellow fever in the army 10 times that of the dead. In addition, Lu Haijun's poor coordination and chaotic organization of landing operations prompted the United States to further strengthen its navy after the war, and tried to overcome the problems exposed in the war and prepare for its continued overseas expansion.

The war greatly encouraged American aggression. The United States has turned the Caribbean into an "inner lake" and gained an important strategic base in the Pacific Ocean. Since then, the United States has actively participated in the hegemony of great powers in the Far East and the Pacific.