THE SPANISH-AMERICAN
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The US Changes Course by RADM Joseph F. Callo t ended an empire. And it marked the beginning of a maritim e era th at's still shapin g wo rld eve nts. Yet, to a signifi cant extent, th e Spanish-American war has been relegated to the back shel ves of US history. Fo r many, awa reness of the war is limited to Teddy Roosevelt's charge up San Juan Hill and the sinking of USS M aine. Ironicall y, th e form er even t was no t a major determin ant in the confli ct, and the lan er was simply the trigger when powerful politi cal and economic forces explosively ca me rogether. But now, o n the 1OOth annive rsary of rhar "linle war"- combar las ted abo ut 90 days-ir's rime for a fresh look at both its cause and effect. T hose two aspects of this commo nly derided conflict can nor o nl y help us ro more accurately kn ow o ur nation 's pas t, they can help us ro more ration ally chart its future.
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Beginning with an Ending Insight inro th e forces that led up ro the Spanish-Am eri can war begins with a recogniti o n that the Spanish colonial empire was in th e late stages of decline as the confli ct began. One by one, co loni al possess ion s of the 400-year-old Spanish empire had fall en away, sometimes lost to military conquests by other nations, so metim es lost ro indigenous mo vem ents for self-determin ation. In rhe Spanish-Ameri ca n W ar, bo th of those forces were in volved atthe two main military focal po ints, C uba and the Philippines . In C uba, the T en Years W ar, a nasty guerilla struggle fought by C ubans aga inst Spanish rule, had come to an end with th e Treaty of El Za njon in February 1878. U nfo rtun ately, the reforms ro which Spain agreed in the treaty we re too slow in co min g, and in 1895, the insurge ncy reignited . Bo th th e bru tal treatment of C ubans by th e Spanish military, and US economi c interests, fuel ed American sympathy for the C ubans and antipathy towards Spain. In the Philippines, the geography and politi cs were mo re complicated, but there was a co mmo n denominaror with C uba, an in dige no us, armed movement fo r freedo m fro m Spanish rule. In addition to the in-country situati o ns, at the end of the 1800s both geograph y and
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geo politi cs made C uba and th e Philippines impo rtant in Ameri ca n foreign po licy. In the Caribbean, the U S was determined to main tain the M on roe D octrine and the do minant US positio n in Latin America th at it identifi ed. In the Pacifi c, the situatio n was somewhat di ffere nt, and the US interes t was in establishing co mmercial and eco no mic leadership .
A Changing National Mood As the end of the 19th century approached, th ere was a combin ati o n of dive rse forces in the U S that was releva nt in th e run-up to the war with Spain . On th e d omestic political scene, the unsenl ed afte rm ath of the C ivil Wa r had receded, and the nation was turning its anenti o n o utwa rd. T he industrial age was gathering mo mentum, accelerated by the achievement of a national rail road system in 1869, when the east and west were linked by track at Promontory, Utah. Business mo mentum was in creasing with the developm ent of new co nsumer and commercial products, like the box camera, the carb o n-fil ame nt lamp and the electri cal telegraph . In creased tariffs and establishment of th e gold standard by the M cKinley administrati o n helped increase the confidence of busin ess. In fo reign affairs, the nation was becoming more secure and confident in its ove rseas relations. It all added up to an expansive publi c attitude in Am erica. In the U S Navy there also we re major changes raking pl ace. T he prev io us naval d octrine, ancho red in commerce, raiding, coas tal defense, blockade, smaller ships and single-ship acti o ns, was changing. As pan of rh e reshaping of naval thinking that was taking place, the US Naval Institute was established in Annapolis, M aryland, in 1873 ro advance " profess io nal and scientifi c knowledge in the Navy," and the Naval W ar C ollege was established in Newport, Rhode Island , in 1884 ro study naval strategy and tacti cs . And in 1890, then-Captain A. T. Mahan articulated his th eo ries of sea powe r in The Influence of Sea Power upon H isto ry. Th e concept that a navy was primaril y a defensive force was rapidly shifting rowards tho ugh ts abo ut offense and fa r-ranging actions. T hose theo ries translated into
the large r ships made poss ible by the growing techno logies of steel ship constructio n and stea m propul sio n. T hey also emphasized fl eet ac ti o ns vs. single ship ac tions. In This People's Navy, author Kenn eth H agan summ ed up th e background for this revolutio n in Ame ri can naval thinking: "A natio nal ce nsus in the U nited States in th at yea r (189 0] reco rded th e disappearance of rhe fro nti er, a demographic and statistical awakenin g that contributed ro a collecti ve ' psychic crisis' and a reordering of national goals... . T he U nited States Navy in th e 188 0s retoo led its hardware and rewrote its srraregic theo ry to make itself in to a E uropean-style fo rce ready for combat with th e navies of other major powers. "
The Catalyst C ircul ati o n-building jingoism in the press was the fin al ingredient for th e wa r with Spain . William Randolph H earst's New Yo rk journal and Joseph Pulitze r's N ew Yo rk Wo rld aro used public outrage with descripti o ns of th e brutal attacks-som e real , some fi ctio nalized-of the Spanish army in C uba. T he fa mous painter of America's Wes t, Frederick Remingto n, was empl oyed by H ea rst to p rovide the images to m arch rhe New York journal's emoti o nally charged copy. In the fi erce co mpetiti on for circul ation, th e newspapers pl ayed o n two of th e nation's positive qualiti es, hum anitarianism and patriotism. Also, by dram atizing damage ro Am eri ca n pro perry in C uba, th ey played on the co ncerns of th e busin ess communi ty. T hen, in one vio lent instant, th e jin goists had their ultim ate wea po n. On 15 February 1898, USS Maine blew up and sa nk in H ava na H arb o r, with the loss of mo re than 25 0 Ameri ca n lives. T he New York j ournal offered a $5 0,000 reward for the co nvictio n of th e sabo teurs pres um ed to have caused the explos ion . A naval co urt of inqui ry in H ava na qui ckly fo und th at "the Maine was dest royed by a subm arine min e. " Assistant Secreta ry of the Navy Teddy Roosevelt had no doubts: "The Maine was sunk by an act of dirty treachery o n th e part of the Spani ards." Since then, various th eories about the cause of the explosion h ave bee n adva nced, so me co ncluding it was a min e, o thers
SEA HISTORY 86, AUTUMN 1998