How Did Spain Struggle For Independence?

On April 25, 1898 the United States of America declared war on Spain immediately after the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. This was the start of the Spanish American War; the war ended a few months later with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. As a result Spain lost its control over the remains of its overseas empire which included Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines Islands, Guam, and a few other islands.
Beginning in 1492, Spain was the first European nation to sail westward across the Atlantic Ocean to explore and colonize the Amerindian nations of the Western Hemisphere. At its height, the resulting empire extended from Virginia on the eastern coast of the United States south to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America, excluding Brazil, and westward to California and Alaska. Across the Pacific, it included the Philippines and other island groups. Eventually, much of the empire fell into other hands and in 1825, Spain acknowledged the independence of its possessions in the present-day United States (then under Mexican control) and south to the tip of South America. The only remnants that remained in the empire in the Western Hemisphere were Cuba and Puerto Rico and across the Pacific
During the years from 1868-1878, Cubans personified by guerrilla fighters known as mambises fought for autonomy from Spain. That war concluded with a treaty that was never enforced. In the 1890's Cubans became agitated once again for their freedom from Spain. The moral leader of this struggle was Jose Marti, known as "El Apóstol." He established the Cuban Revolutionary Party on January 5, 1892 in the United States. Following the grito de Baire, the call to arms on February 24, 1895, Martí returned to Cuba and participated in the first weeks of armed struggle but he was killed on May 19,