Spanish-American War
Short war that ended Spanish imperial rule in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines and expanded U.S. power.
Historical overview
Overview adapted from a Wikipedia summary and stored locally on May 11, 2026.
The Spanish–American War was fought between Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the U.S. acquiring sovereignty over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and establishing a protectorate over Cuba. It represented U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence and Philippine Revolution, with the latter later leading to the Philippine–American War. The Spanish–American War brought an end to almost four centuries of Spanish presence in the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific; the United States meanwhile not only became a major world power, but also gained several island possessions spanning the globe, which provoked rancorous debate over the wisdom of expansionism.
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Border context
High imperial age
Imperial expansion and late nineteenth-century state competition reshape Africa, East Asia and the Caribbean.
Japan rises as a regional power after war with Qing China. European colonial borders harden across Africa.