Spanish American War Research Paper

The Spanish American War On April 25, 1898, the United States became concerned in a war with Spain and began an eight-month war amid the United States and Spain called the Spanish-American War. This action was motivated by Spain’s attack on the Battleship Maine in Havana port on February 15, 1898. The United States acted based on the Monroe Doctrine and consideration for the Cuban’s fight for liberty. The Monroe Doctrine was written in 1823, and declared that: The Americas were not destined for future colonization, and to deem any attempt to take possession of the Americas, or anything in our Hemisphere to be an act against our tranquility and security. Spain’s effort to overcome Cuba was measured to be in infringement of the Monroe
Doctrine, and was one reason for declaring war on Spain. Another motive to become caught up in the clash was that the United States had business interest in the area. U.S. citizens also felt compassion for the Cubans’ fight for freedom. In June, the Marines captured Guantanamo Bay and 17,000 troops landed at Siboney and Daiquiri.
However, Spanish military had more troops in Cuba than Cuba and the United States could muster. The passage of the Mobilization Act of April 22, allowing up to 125,000 volunteers to battle, strengthened the troops. Patriotism brought the patriots to sign up. They were prepared to protect Cuba and their own interests. On July 1, 1898, U.S. troops assaulted the San Juan heights. The first few fights by Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt, and Brigadier General Jacob Kent caused the yield of 23,500 troops by the Spanish. Later, Major General Nelson Mile’s forces landed near Ponce and hiked to San Juan with no trouble. As a result of the Spanish-American War, Spain lost its control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines Islands, Guam, Midway Island, and other islands. The U.S. also became allies with Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The Spanish-American War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10,
1898.

The Bay of Pigs American interests in Cuba were safe under the regulation of Flugencio Batista. However, in 1959 Fidel Castro gained power by overthrowing the Cuban dictator. He established a socialist government and diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union. Castro became connected with Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev and Cuba became more and more economically reliant on Soviet markets and military aid. Throughout the Cold War, this coalition among Russia and Cuba, a nation only 90 miles from the United States, was professed as a threat to America. In 1960, President Eisenhower responded to this danger and initiated an agenda to overthrow Castro and his command and substitute it with a more self-governing administration. Political relations between the U.S. and Cuba were detached by Eisenhower in January 1961. Secret efforts by the CIA to expel Castro were ineffective. Plans were made for an attack using CIA taught Cuban exiles using United States weapons. Eisenhower’s term was finishing so they needed to encourage Kennedy to pursue the plan. On April 17, 1961, about 1,300 Cuban exiles, armed with U.S. weapons, landed at the Bay of Pigs on the southern shore of Cuba. The military was looking for neighboring help in Cuba, and they planned to cross the island to Havana. However, it was exceptionally obvious, after only a few hours of combating, that the exiles were most likely going to be defeated. President Kennedy had the choice of using the Air Force against the Cubans but decided against using it. The invasion was blocked by Castro's own faithful soldiers. By the time the fighting finished on April 19, 1961, ninety exiles had been killed and the rest had been taken as captives. In the end, the majority of those taken prisoners throughout the clash were ransomed and unconfined. However, the U.S. suffered an enormous defeat at the Bay of Pigs. The power of the Kennedy direction was questioned. Many considered that the U.S. should not have done anything; others thinking that more must have been done. The incident shattered US-Cuban relations, and achieved nothing except lifting Castro’s uncertainties that the U.S. would persist to be a threat. The Cuban Missile Crisis On October 15, 1962 investigation photographs of Cuba showed building of Soviet artillery on the island. This constituted a danger as Soviets would be able to hit targets in the U.S. with middle range missiles. When Kennedy was informed of this progress he held concentrated meetings with advisors for a week to decide a preparation of action. They needed to keep Soviet missiles away from Cuba. On October 20, 1962, Kennedy educated the public of the risk and announced a nautical quarantine in the region of Cuba.
Any projectile launch would be seen as an assault by the Soviets and he called for the elimination of all Soviet artillery from Cuba. The U.S. continued to observe doings on the island and finally on October 26th Khrushchev proposed that in exchange for an assurance that the U.S. would not attack Cuba, Soviet missiles would be removed. On October 27th, a spy airplane was shot down above Cuba and a new demand was made by the Soviets. The U.S. must get rid of their middle range missiles from
Turkey. On October 28th, Khrushchev proclaimed that the systems would be taken apart and the missiles would be brought back to the Soviet Union. Confidentially, the U.S. settled to the extra terms of removing missiles from Turkey. Though it lasted merely thirteen days, this quarrel between Cuba, the Soviet Union, and the U.S. was the closest the world had ever come to nuclear war.