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The Spanish-American War is famous for being a pretty one-sided affair, during which the Spanish fighting to keep their frail empire alive willingly declared war and fought against the United States of America, which was by essentially every metric much more powerful than Spain. And given how quickly the US was victorious and how total Spain's defeat was, this raises the obvious question. Why did Spain choose to fight the USA? Why not just abandon Cuba as the Americans had demanded, thus saving the money, the lives, and the trouble that the war had cost it? So, in the 1890s, the remnants of Spain's once great
empire were in a bit of a crisis. Cuba, seen as the crown jewel of said empire, was currently revolting against Spanish rule, and Madrid's response to this was not soft. The same was happening in the Philippines, and to combat this, Spain sent a large number of soldiers to both of these places, and the respective wars of independence took a major toll on both sides. The Cuban fight for independence struck a chord with the American people, and with the help of some imaginative reporting from the press, more and more began to see war as the only way to help. During 1897 and early 1898, US-Spanish relations soured due to reports of the mistreatment of Cuban civilians. A riot in Havana, the Spanish ambassador's criticism of
President McKinley, the USS Maine exploding whilst in Cuba, US senators publicly denouncing Spain and the Spanish people, and Congress putting aside large sums of money just in case of war. Whilst more and more Americans were becoming pro-war, there were still many there that opposed it, including at least partially President William McKinley, who was somewhat skeptical of the benefits that war could bring. McKinley had been trying to negotiate with Spain to end the Cuban conflict without US military intervention being needed. The US government demanded that Spain and the rebels sign a ceasefire, which was something that Spain also
wanted. The issue was that ceasefire meant different things to both sides, with Spain assuming that it meant the end of the rebellion within Spanish Cuba, and the Americans believing that it meant Cuban independence. And so, when Spain and the rebels paused the fighting in early April 1898, McKinley and his government were thrilled. That was until they learned that Spain had no intention of leaving Cuba, something which would have been completely unacceptable to the American people. Tensions rose, and as war seemed unavoidable, the US implemented a naval blockade of Spanish Cuba. So, according to basically everyone, a blockade of another nation's waters is seen as an act of war and upon learning of the
Americans doing this, the Spanish retaliated by formally declaring war. As you'll know, the following war between itself and the US was short and devastating for Spain with Madrid signing away Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico whilst having to deal with the national shame that came with this. So, why did Spain agree to fight instead of just agreeing to the US demand to leave Cuba, which would have kept the door open to them retaining the Philippines and the other colonies? Well, there were numerous reasons why Spain decided to declare war on the United States. The first was the extreme pressure from the military in Madrid.
Mateo Sagasta, Spain's Prime Minister, made it clear that he was willing to grant Cuba greater autonomy within the Spanish Empire. And whilst the Cuban rebels rejecting this isn't surprising, in Madrid, high-ranking military officers made it clear that any negotiated settlement would be seen as an affront to Spain's national honor and that the army wouldn't tolerate it. Whilst the implicit threat from the officer class would have been a pretty good motivator, the political leaders of Spain were no fools. They knew that the Spanish people would be mortified that the government had just abandoned Cuba, the birthplace of the Spanish Empire, and a major part of their national history. And it wasn't much of a leap from there to assume that this
embarrassment would lead to turmoil and potentially revolution. And besides, any negotiated exit would become harder and harder as tensions rose because just like in America, the Spanish people were becoming much more pro-war due in part to political and military leaders talking about how Spain could realistically win the war and by doing so, reinvigorate the nation. Of course, behind closed doors, there were many politicians and notably naval officers who believed that victory would be incredibly unlikely and that the United States had a massive advantage over Spain militarily. However, there were others, and not just in Spain, who believed that the upcoming war would be a much less lopsided affair. Now, whilst
the US had a far greater population, a significantly larger and more modern economy, as well as access to resources that the Spanish could only dream of, its military wasn't exactly that of a great powers. Its army was about 30,000 strong compared to the roughly quarter of a million strong Spanish army. Although, it's worth noting that most of these were already fighting in the colonies where disease and nutrition had taken a terrible toll or they were in Spain and therefore a long way from Cuba and needed the navy to give them a clear path if they were ever going to get there. Speaking of which, the Spanish and American The were fairly similar in size, but the US had many more modern
ships with all the technological advantages that brought. The Spanish navy was also divided between the Philippines, Cuba, and Spain itself, giving the US a much greater ability to concentrate its forces. However, there was a belief amongst European navies that because the Americans didn't have a long-standing naval tradition, and its lack of experience with major fleet actions meant that it would be at a disadvantage against the Spanish. This belief wouldn't last very long though. Beyond this, Spain pursued war because some politicians there believed that the other European great powers simply wouldn't allow the United States to take whatever it wanted if it did win. And so, it made sense to pursue a war if it
meant that either France, Germany, or Britain would intervene if they felt that their interests were being threatened by an American victory. The belief was that because Spain had pursued an isolationist, non-interventionist foreign policy for the previous few decades, none of the great powers would have any reason to want to see Spain diminished. With respect to Britain, this hope was a complete fantasy. To put it bluntly, the British mostly saw Spain as a backwards has-been, whose people were unenlightened and thus unworthy of ever being considered a great power ever again. And beyond this historical animosity, Britain was also in a period of improved relations with Washington, and was keen to see another English-speaking, like-minded power get
involved in world affairs. And if the US could get said boost by embarrassing the Spanish, then that was just fine by them. Whereas in France, the upcoming war was monitored with concern. The French were worried that in the event of an American victory, France would suddenly find herself face with yet another imperial naval power. One which would have an even greater hold over the Americas, and if Washington took the Philippines, one with a foothold in Asia, too. To the French, American expansion so close to its growing empire in Asia was absolutely terrifying. And there were worries that the United States would get a taste for empire, and would thus soon turn its attention to Africa as well. The problem for the
French was that military involvement was completely out of the question, and going to war would risk weakening France and giving its neighbors and rivals a chance to profit. Not to mention the fact that the United States was a major trade partner, and the French relied on the import of natural resources from it. As such, its best bet was to aid Spain diplomatically, by either bringing the war to an early close, thereby allowing Spain to retain more of its holdings, or to mediate peace talks and try to convince the Americans to ask for less. But the Americans were clear that they wanted absolutely zero European interference in either the war or the peace. And so the French were forced to just sit there and hope for the best.
And with that, Spain's best hope was now Germany. The German government saw the approaching war as a potential issue, believing that the defeat of the Kingdom of Spain by the American Republic could lead to a revolt there and by extension the end of the Spanish monarchy, thereby weakening monarchism itself in Europe. It pushed for Austria, Russia, Italy, and Britain to make a statement in support of Spain's continued imperial presence in Asia and the Americas. But all of these powers refused. Germany had deep trade ties with the United States and so didn't want to risk upsetting them with a public declaration and so it opted for a sneakier route. Knowing that Spain was now likely doomed, it sought
to gain the Philippines or at least part of it for itself. Germany's own fleet in the region was shadowing the American one, the hope in Berlin being that either the US would reject imperialism and allow for the Spanish to remain, whom the Germans were promptly helping suppressing the rebels in return for some bases there, or that the Germans could convince the United States that taking the islands would threaten the European balance of power, and that Washington's new-found closeness with London would force Germany to make an alliance with Russia, Austria, and France to counteract their combined threat. Again though, the American refuses to acknowledge European input with Britain just not caring meant that
this went nowhere. Back in Spain, there was a small hope that even though America had done well initially, Spanish resistance in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines would be so fierce and the casualties inflicted against the US so high that the public would pressure the politicians to end the war, thereby allowing the Spanish to save face and maybe the Philippines too. The problem with this was that reality had other plans and the Americans after swelling the size of their army continued with a string of victories. As such, the Spanish tried numerous times to make peace but for the Americans there was no reason for them to do so yet. The war was going incredibly well for Washington. And so by making peace, it
would do little except reduce what it could expect to gain after Spain's surrender. After some more losses, the Spanish government openly pled for peace and the Americans, now the undisputed winners of the war, agreed. The following treaty saw the Spanish not only lose Cuba but also Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. The Spanish political hope that going down fighting would at least allow for Spain to retain some of its national honor proved false. Spain's international prestige was forever damaged and whilst there wasn't a revolution there and its monarchy did survive, Spain's choice to go to war harmed the country greatly, marking the definitive undeniable end of his place
as a world power. I hope you enjoyed this episode with a special thanks to my patrons, James Bissonette, Sky Chappell, Katowice, Winston Kaywood, Marvin Cassel, YN Hockey, Michael Holbert, Paul H Castle, Bravo Shuenin, Alex Schwin, Gustav Swan, Andy McGehee, Lester Diamond, Yiduan Wang, Anthony Beckett, A Firefly, Respectable Level of Chaos, Captain Sci-Dog, The Flying Dutchman, Spencer Lightfoot, Robert C Perkins, The McWhopper, Rod D Martin, Kamoon Yun, Dr. Frederick Dan Lyman, The Jim Stanum, Remco Heusman, Jim Stromberg, and Lord Beak.
