The Spanish-American War

Summary

American History Hit: The Spanish-American War – Detailed Summary

Release Date: November 18, 2024

Introduction

In this episode of American History Hit, host Don Wildman delves into the pivotal yet often underappreciated conflict that reshaped the United States’ position on the global stage: the Spanish-American War. Joining him is Christopher Nichols, a distinguished Professor of History at The Ohio State University and the Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair of National Security Studies. Nichols, an expert on U.S. foreign relations, brings his insights from his latest work, Ideology in US Foreign Relations, to explore the intricate dynamics of this seven-month war and its lasting impact on American imperialism and global influence.

Background and Causes of the War

The Spanish-American War, officially commencing in April 1898 and concluding with the Treaty of Paris in December of the same year, was ignited primarily by the United States' interest in Cuban independence. However, the roots of the conflict extended much deeper, tracing back to longstanding American concerns over Spanish colonialism and its implications for U.S. security and economic interests.

Early American Expansionism

Don Wildman highlights that the United States, during the late 19th century, was fervently expanding its military and naval capabilities. This period saw American politicians and military leaders eyeing global powers like Germany as rivals, with figures like Teddy Roosevelt expressing a desire for broader conflicts that could project American strength internationally. For instance, Wildman references a note from Roosevelt stating, “I’ll take a war with Spain,” revealing an underlying appetite for extended military engagements beyond the immediate Cuban crisis ([04:12]).

Cuban Struggle for Independence

The U.S.’s involvement in Cuba was deeply influenced by the island's protracted struggle for independence from Spanish rule. Nichols emphasizes that by the late 1800s, five major Cuban revolutions had already occurred, with the most recent beginning in 1895. American sympathies were strongly aligned with the Cuban rebels, partly due to the humanitarian abuses perpetrated by Spanish forces, such as the reconcentration policies that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Cubans ([05:14]).

Media Influence and Public Opinion

A critical factor in the lead-up to the war was the role of "yellow journalism." Wildman explains how sensationalist reporting by publishers like William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer inflamed American public opinion against Spain. Dramatic accounts and political cartoons depicted Spaniards as brutal oppressors, fostering a climate ripe for war ([17:06]). Christopher Nichols notes that this was one of the earliest instances of modern media significantly influencing public sentiment and, consequently, political decisions.

The Sinking of the USS Maine

A pivotal event that escalated tensions was the explosion and sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor on February 1898. Initial suspicions quickly pointed towards Spanish sabotage, fueling the call for war. Nichols provides an in-depth analysis of the subsequent investigations, which, despite forensic efforts, failed to conclusively determine the cause of the explosion. The incident became a catalyst for the U.S. declaring war, encapsulating the volatile mix of strategic interests and public outcry ([14:32]).

Diplomatic Maneuvering and the Teller Act

Before the outbreak of war, President William McKinley sought to negotiate a peaceful resolution, proposing arbitration to end Spanish reconcentration policies. However, the publication of the De Lôme Letter, in which the Spanish ambassador criticized McKinley, undermined these efforts and swayed public opinion further towards war ([18:13]). In April 1898, Congress authorized the use of force, simultaneously passing the Teller Amendment, which declared that the U.S. had no intention of annexing Cuba, instead aiming to leave the island to its inhabitants after securing peace ([20:33]).

Military Campaigns and Key Battles

The war was fought on multiple fronts, including the Caribbean and the Pacific, showcasing America's emerging global military capabilities. Nichols details the strategic operations, such as Admiral George Dewey's decisive victory at the Battle of Manila Bay, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the newly modernized U.S. Navy ([25:54]).

One of the most famous engagements was the Battle of San Juan Hill, where Theodore Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders" played a significant role. Wildman describes the diverse composition of American forces, including African American "Buffalo Soldiers" and volunteers from various backgrounds, highlighting the evolving nature of the U.S. military ([30:16]). The battle, characterized by its intense and somewhat chaotic combat, became emblematic of American bravery and strategic prowess despite logistical challenges like disease and inadequate equipment ([32:06]).

The Mock Battle of Manila

In August 1898, a tactical maneuver known as the "Mock Battle of Manila" occurred. This orchestrated conflict aimed to position American forces favorably against both Spanish troops and Filipino revolutionaries. Nichols explains that this event involved deceptive tactics and resulted in minimal casualties, effectively transferring control of Manila to the United States while sidelining Filipino aspirations for immediate independence ([35:04]).

Consequences and Aftermath

The Treaty of Paris concluded the war, awarding the United States control over former Spanish territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. This marked a significant shift, as the U.S. emerged as a colonial power with overseas possessions, a sharp departure from its earlier isolationist tendencies. Wildman discusses the dual legacy of the war: fostering national unity and military modernization on one hand, while simultaneously igniting debates over imperialism and the ethical implications of American expansionism ([42:56]).

Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy

The Spanish-American War set the stage for the United States' future role on the global stage. Nichols posits that the war was a foundational moment for American imperialism, embedding the nation into a trajectory of international interventionism and shaping its diplomatic and military strategies well into the 20th century ([44:43]). The episode also touches on the internal conflicts within the U.S. regarding imperialism, exemplified by the Anti-Imperialist League, which included prominent figures like Mark Twain and W.E.B. Du Bois, who opposed the annexation of territories like the Philippines ([44:28]).

Cultural and Economic Ramifications

Beyond political and military outcomes, the war had significant cultural and economic impacts. Wildman highlights the rise of Army-Navy surplus stores, such as the first one established in New York City by Bannerman, which capitalized on the vast amounts of military goods produced for the war but left unused ([41:25]). This phenomenon illustrates the intersection of military mobilization and private enterprise, shaping consumer culture in the United States.

Conclusion

The Spanish-American War, though brief, was a transformative conflict that propelled the United States into the ranks of global powers. Through strategic military victories, diplomatic negotiations, and the influence of burgeoning media, the war redefined American identity and foreign policy. Don Wildman and Christopher Nichols underscore the war's enduring legacy, emphasizing its role in laying the groundwork for America's 20th-century ascendancy and the complex interplay between humanitarian impulses and imperial ambitions.

Notable Quotes

• Don Wildman ([04:12]): “I’ll take a war with Spain,” revealing an underlying appetite for extended military engagements beyond the immediate Cuban crisis.

• Christopher Nichols ([05:14]): “American observers in the 1890s were deeply sympathetic to the Cuban revolution, especially due to the horrific reconcentration policies imposed by Spain.”

• Don Wildman ([17:06]): “The yellow press...fanning the flames of patriotism and war through sensationalist reporting and political cartoons.”

• Christopher Nichols ([20:33]): “The Teller Amendment was a declaration that the U.S. had no intention of annexing Cuba, aiming instead to leave the island to its inhabitants after securing peace.”

• Don Wildman ([30:16]): “Pershing eventually becomes the highest commander until Eisenhower, a testament to the evolving nature of the U.S. military leadership.”

Closing Remarks

Professor Christopher Nichols concludes the episode by reflecting on the Spanish-American War's pivotal role in shaping modern American diplomacy and military strategy. The dialogue between Wildman and Nichols offers listeners a comprehensive understanding of how this "splendid little war," as Secretary of State John Hay called it, served as a crucible for the United States' transformation into a global powerhouse.

Listeners are encouraged to subscribe to American History Hit for more in-depth explorations of America's past, ensuring a nuanced appreciation of the events that have shaped the nation.

Further Listening

For those interested in exploring more about the complexities of American history, American History Hit features a wide array of episodes that delve into topics ranging from pre-colonial times to modern-day political movements. Don Wildman continues to bring history to life with engaging discussions and expert interviews, making it an essential listen for history enthusiasts.

Transcript

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[Christopher Nichols]

The Cruiser USS Olympia lobs shells at the old fort in the Melate district of Manila here in the Philippines. It's August 13, 1898 and American forces have the city surrounded. Admiral George Dewey and his fleet are in the bay. Major General Wesley Merritt has troops positioned around the city. It seems the Spanish occupiers of the Philippines for over 300 years are facing a tough fight if they mean to main of Manila. But their resistance is strangely minimal. Artillery fire from Spanish fortifications is token scattered and weak. It's almost like they're hardly trying. It's almost like this battle has been faked. It is American history hit. I am Don Wildman. Thanks for joining us Today. We will speak of a brief but consequential war that pitted a once expansive imperial power against an emerging America seeking to stretch its global standing. It is a conflict that doesn't receive the historical Attention it richly deserves, given that overwhelming victory granted the United States new territorial possessions across two oceans and ushered it towards a bold new century with tremendous influence in place. If not for the Spanish American War, the 20th century would perhaps not have become the American century, it is so often called. The reasons supporting this proposition are the stuff of today's conversation with Christopher Nichols, professor of History at the Ohio State University, where he occupies the Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair of National Security Studies, specializing in the history of United States relationship to the rest of the world. His most recent book, an edited work, is Ideology in US Foreign Relations. Hello, Chris. Welcome.

[Don Wildman]

Great to be here with you, Don.

[Christopher Nichols]

The Spanish American War lasts for only a matter of months, officially begins April 1898. Hostilities over in mid summer. I mean, a treaty signed in December. It was seven months long, famously called by Secretary of State at the time, John Hay, a splendid little war. It's a fight over Cuban independence primarily, but how much had the US been spoiling for a larger war with the Spanish at this time?

[Don Wildman]

You know, there's no doubt the US in this period, the 1880s, 1890s, was spoiling for a war that it was. The Spanish took some by surprise because in that era, you know, many of the American politicians who were agitating for conflict for the US's growth as a military power, a larger navy, they were looking to countries like Germany who were more of a peer rising power. There's a note that I found in the Teddy Roosevelt papers, for instance, where he said he'll take a war with Spain, but what he wanted was a war with Germany.

[Christopher Nichols]

Wow.

[Don Wildman]

But really, conflict with Spain over Cuba stretches back to Thomas Jefferson's time. There were attempts to buy the island, there were attempts to seize the island, and Spanish colonialism and Spain on the border had been a security threat for the US for most of its history.

[Christopher Nichols]

Sure, the Monroe Doctrine, 1823. So for 75 years, by the time of the Spanish American War, we were still, you know, but for this Civil War and the Mexican American War, this was a primary concern of ours to sort of spread our influence throughout, especially the Caribbean. The Spanish Empire has been there for hundreds of years since the Conquistadors and rebellions were a regular feature of life. Americans really don't understand the depth of the Cuban story in terms of that struggle and the, and the desire for an independent nation. Americans then really supported that idea. I mean, they related totally, didn't they?

[Don Wildman]

They did, yeah. There's a couple elements there. Americans today absolutely didn't and don't understand that the Long history of Cuban revolution against the occupation by the Spanish. I mean, think about this. It goes back to 1492, right?

[Christopher Nichols]

Yeah.

[Don Wildman]

So just in the 19th century, there were something like five major revolutions. And American observers in the 1890s and 1898, we're looking at a revolution that really, the next one that began in 1895 with very famous sort of intellectuals from Cuba generating interest, generating enthusiasm, and most importantly, sympathy and empathy from Americans. People like Jose Marti, very famous thinker who was killed when he comes back from exile in 1895 from the US to be part of the revolution, to help lead it. And so Americans are deeply sympathetic in thinking about the kind of ravages that the Spanish are placing onto the Cuban people. They have these policies, reconcentrado policies, concentration camps. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are dying in the 1890s in these camps. American politicians go and observe them. The yellow press, of course, is a huge part of this moment. And they're there sensationalizing what's going on in very vivid terms with political cartoons, and particularly in terms of a kind of concept of manhood in this period where. Where, you know, for the US to be a good sort of Uncle Sam, male protector in the hemisphere. You see all these images of a feminized Cuba being being ravaged by these horrible, you know, Spaniards and often depicted in deeply racialized and problematic ways. And it resonates with Americans. It resonates with American politicians who arguably didn't want to be in a war with Spain, despite what Teddy Roosevelt said. And McKinley administration does try arbitration and other things, but they're sort of. Their hand is forced in some ways by the public perceptions about how bad Spanish rule was.

[Christopher Nichols]

Yeah, the backdrop is very complex. And one of the big themes also is colonialization around the world. I mean, you're coming out. We're at the end of a century, really two centuries in which England, France, Germany, all of these powers are now stretched around the world, having claimed major colonies in all kinds of continents. America has not done that. And that's a big missing element. Big piece of the puzzle missing for a lot of Americans, politicians especially.

[Don Wildman]

Yeah, you're so right. You know, Don, the goes back again to Jefferson. In one sense, there's this concept that he uses the phrase the empire of liberty. About 1780, as the US is expanding across the hemisphere, continent first, you know that there would be this kind of set of proactive, strong, robust foreign policies that would ensue after the US Got a sufficient amount of strength to push a kind of republican empire out there throughout the hemisphere by the end of the century, by the end of the. In the 1880s and 1890s, Americans are looking around the world at the French, at the Spanish, particularly at the British empires and thinking, okay, we can do that. And there's kind of a term that you see in some of the popular press at the time that the US could be a better imperial ruler than the British. We could be a better. The U.S. they would say, you know, we could do this better, we could be more republican. We wouldn't be a monarchy. We would, you know, help the peoples of these countries. And then there's a huge divide about whether or not there's capacity for self rule amongst Cubans or Filipinos in particular. And that's a huge sticking point in the anti imperialist leagues debates starting at the end of 1898 and moving into the early 1900s.

[Christopher Nichols]

It's really an outgrowth of Manifest Destiny, isn't it, where you end up with this sea to shining sea America finally in the late 1800s and the need to protect that new coast is a big deal. And the Spanish being out there in the Philippines and other and Guam and places like that are a direct threat to that vulnerable place. And so a lot of this becomes an almost preemptive strike against them in order to preserve our security, I suppose.

[Don Wildman]

Yes. Yeah. In the founding generation you can find some really interesting sort of strategic thought about the problem of Cuba. If it's Spanish and if it's independent, the US didn't have a worry and the problems related to other islands and other bordering countries. And then, you know, the other element of this though, isn't just the sort of defensive or strategic piece of this, but it's the offensive projection of power if you want to go there, or commercial and cultural dimensions. Right. So that Americans are thinking about getting these bases in the Pacific to reach the Asian markets, to reach China. But there's certainly an enormous amount of sympathy. You could argue that The War of 1898 is the first U.S. humanitarian intervention. And it's the first thing in McKinley's war address in April 1898. It's this critical juncture for Americans sort of putting their blood and treasure where their mouths are about having some sympathy for other peoples and groups who are being ruled against their will and suffering and who want democracy and then stepping up. But of course, then the US holds Cuba as a protector for a few years. And there's a lot more to that story which we'll get into, I'm sure And then. But there is the. There is the empire piece too. Right. And so you have to hold the two, sort of like a double helix of DNA that they're wrapped around each other. There's the humanitarian impulse and the generosity, and then there's the empire and the world stage and world power.

[Christopher Nichols]

Did we have any colonies at the time? I forget?

[Don Wildman]

No, not officially, no. This is the first foray into colonies, although there were guano islands and guano access that the US had the ability to take and use, but not colonies in that sense.

[Christopher Nichols]

The geography is fascinating, even refreshing it for myself. You've got Cuba, which is right off the Florida coast, of course, and that's a huge island, but that lands with Hispaniola being the next one, which is, you know, split between Haiti and Dominican Republic. And then there's Puerto Rico, and it's all a one long line archipelago, really. And all of that will become part of this. Most of that will become part of this story. It's incredible. Another factor which I found fascinating in preparing for this was the oncoming Panama Canal, the plan for a canal across the isthmus of Central America. And if that was being done, which it of course took a long time to happen, then America would need to protect that because it would be the central feature. And so this becomes part of the thinking. There's just a lot of chess pieces in play.

[Don Wildman]

Yes. You know, and again, this goes back several generations. The sort of founders were thinking that the US would need to be part of that Isthmian Canal and that in order to control access to it and the importance of naval routes, you had to have some of these islands and deep water ports. And so that logic from the early 19th century holds in 1898 and is very much a part of the thinking moving forward into the next century.

[Christopher Nichols]

Yeah, the war happens, as I mentioned, in several theaters. This has always confused me. How much the US was. How much was the US prepared to fight this war, given the global preparations that had to have been made? I mean, to put a naval fleet, as we'll hear in a moment in Hong Kong and then have one ready in Tampa. This is a major. The geography is breathtaking.

[Don Wildman]

It is. On the one hand, the US is able to project power in multiple domains across the world in what has to be understood as a global conflict. At the same time, mobilization is terrible. Lots of troops die, more in the core of the year 1898 in the war with Spain, more troops die of non combat causes yellow fever.

[Christopher Nichols]

Right?

[Don Wildman]

Yellow fever, botulism, because the food is so bad. Influenza. You know, they don't have standardized weapons. You have these volunteers like the Rough Riders, and then you have a host of other kinds of units. You've got all black segregated units. So groups that haven't fought together side by side, you've got this sort of reconciliation of north and south, which is a piece of this. The generational change of Americans fighting together in a foreign conflict. But the broader thing is this had been gamed out. There was some sense that a war with Spain might happen. So there's some kind of myths that it's because Teddy Roosevelt sends this message to Dewey that he's ready to steam to Manila, but that's already in the strategic planning for the US Navy. He does activate that, and it happens that he's the most senior person in the office when it goes out. But that doesn't really matter. That's not Teddy Roosevelt being a more brilliant grand strategist than anyone else. The US had planned and thought about this again for generations because the US had been trying to negotiate to buy Cuba for years. It cost $100 million under James Polk in 1848. Then they went up to an offer of 130 under Pierce in the 1850s, and on and on and on. I could go with a long list of this.

[Christopher Nichols]

And that was based on that Monroe Doctrine thinking, isn't it?

[Don Wildman]

Exactly, yes. And so the ability to project that power then came right with that even before the American Civil War.

[Christopher Nichols]

The phrase that's most readily associated with this is, remember the Maine, which is referring to the USS Maine, which was posted in February of 1898 in response to the rioting and the problems that were resulting from this Cuban independence movement. We were projecting power in the Havana harbor with this. With this battleship, our cruiser, I suppose. And this was meant to remind people where this conflict sat, which is right off our coast. And then what happens?

[Don Wildman]

And then it blows up spectacularly in the harbor and sinks, killing almost Everybody on board.

[Christopher Nichols]

200 plus plus sailors.

[Don Wildman]

Yes.

[Christopher Nichols]

Yeah.

[Don Wildman]

And immediately everyone jumps to the conclusion that it was a mine. And you can see this in the private correspondence of your Teddy Roosevelt, your Henry Cabot Lodge Republican junior senator from Massachusetts, who was a arch expansionist and friend of Roosevelt. And on and on. We could make a long list. Everyone's jumping to this conclusion. And a minor investigation then concludes that the explosion must have come from outside the hull. Right, but.

[Christopher Nichols]

And they did this interestingly. It's almost like the airplane thing. They actually read the bending of the metal. They, you know, it's a It's a serious investigation. Eventually. There's many of them, but they. They kind of depend. It's a forensic investigation of where did this explosion come from. It's fascinating.

[Don Wildman]

Yes, you're exactly right. But the big. But there is who planted the mine, if that was what caused it? And, you know, obviously, if you think about the possibilities here, in order to generate the enthusiasm and the sympathy of the U.S. there is some thinking that it could have been Filipino revolutionaries, it could have been Cuban revolutionaries, it could have been others. And then, of course, there's the more common sort of conspiracy thinking here, that the Spanish did it because this was a projection of power, sending this new naval ship into Havana harbor. And, you know, it's important to take one step back. Why is it there? It's not just projecting power in the sense that we're maybe flippantly describing send your big vessel in there, but rather, there were some 8,000 or so Americans there, lots of American business. And that's a big part of this too, that the disruptions of all these revolutions are undercutting American trade and commerce and threatening American lives. And that's a new development as well. In the late 19th century, the US government is now protecting Americans abroad in a new way. And this gets the US into a lot of trouble in the 20th century, but also becomes an expectation that Americans have, and frankly, people of other countries do as well. If you get in trouble in another country, you think that you can have recourse to your diplomats, to your embassies. This is new for the US and the US Is the main. Is one of the first efforts like this that happen, usually involving ships.

[Christopher Nichols]

Sure. And along comes yellow journalism. I mean, the phenomenon of the late 19th century into the 20th century, the beginnings of these tabloid journalism, stoking the fires. William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer, those wars between those New York newspapers. And they wage this war through these sort of fabulous accounts of what this is all about. This is a kind of. This isn't new, of course, this goes back to the broadsides. But the level of media in the country has now reached a point where they can really inflame the populace and influence politics.

[Don Wildman]

Absolutely. It is one of the first modern media wars in some ways. There are journalists there on the ground. They're actually. They're in vessels. They're often armed. These journalists, they're in some ways partisans. They are interviewing folks. There's a woman, Evangelina Ecosnos, who becomes the sort of martyr figure for Cuban suffering, and they interview her regularly. There's photos of her in mourning gear. There's all kinds of accounts of the atrocities on the island of Cuba, in particular, fanning the flames of patriotism and of war and conflict. And there's some famous accounts, too, that Hearst and Pulitzer would say that they bought the war, that it was their war. Now, I think that's a little, you know, historians and political scientists push back on that. You know, the media did not cause this conflict, but was certainly part of fanning the flames.

[Christopher Nichols]

Sure, yeah. And the beginning of a whole new era in America as far as the media is concerned. President McKinley, I mean, the timing of this is fascinating because the USS Maine goes down, sinks in the Havana harbor in February. The war doesn't happen until April. What is that pause for what happens during that time? McKinley actually negotiates an armistice, doesn't he?

[Don Wildman]

Yes, yes. So let's run through that. So there's this publication in the yellow press of something called the delome letter. Enrique Deplay de l'Homme, the minister, the Spanish minister to the US had said in this private letter that McKinley was a bidder to the crowd and a weak man. And that started to upset folks in February of 1898. Obviously, McKinley, it made him less interested in negotiating. Then you have the main. There's a rapid push, so that's within a week. You have the main explosion just by mid February into March. Then it looks like there could be a war declaration in March. And what McKinley is trying to do through arbitration is to have a ceasefire, essentially, and to have the Spanish stop the reconcentration policies, which they agree to, and have some level of home rule, which they agree to. But it's unclear what the shape of that is going to be, because they still want to rule the island of Cuba. Sugar there is incredibly lucrative, and there's a lot of attempts to sort of save face in these negotiations. The Spanish don't want to give up their empire. At the end of the day, that's the critical juncture here. And another piece of this is that there have been revolutions in Spain in the 1820s. Lots of those folks left. They fled to places like Cuba and they fear another revolution in Spain, arguably because they lose this conflict. The next revolution in Spain doesn't happen until the 1930s, as we know, but there was incredible tumult in the Spanish government, too. And that's part of the problem here. Who is the US negotiation cheating with who's running the military, the navy. So you have in the Philippines, for instance, there's a sense that more Ships and more troops will be sent to save a beleaguered and besieged garrison in Manila and that no one ever is sent. And in fact, they changed the leadership several times there. I mean, it's a deeply problematic set of diplomacy and military strategy from the Spanish side. But McKinley is trying to negotiate some conclusion short of war that will help Cubans and not get the US into a conflict.

[Christopher Nichols]

Yeah, yeah. But on it comes, and this happens when Congress authorizes force in April of 1898. But it also passes what's called the Teller act, which will play out throughout and towards the end of this story, which articulates the complex view of Cuba versus the Philippines, which is not covered in this act. It's really all about Cuba. Define the Teller act, please.

[Don Wildman]

So I just grabbed the key section to it and it says that the U.S. hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over said island, Cuba, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people.

[Christopher Nichols]

Interesting.

[Don Wildman]

What does that mean? The US will not colonize Cuba.

[Christopher Nichols]

Wow, that's a big deal, especially for the 20th century, isn't it?

[Don Wildman]

Exactly at that key moment of engaging in the conflict.

[Christopher Nichols]

Yeah, exactly. But, but how does that reflect poorly on our view of the Philippines?

[Don Wildman]

Well, one, in that sense, the US Reserve no right pushed no anti imperialist goals there in the Philippines. But another element of that is that frankly, the U.S. u.S. Policymakers did not anticipate annexing or having a protectorate status over the Philippines. Famously, you know, McKinley is said to not have known where the Philippines were on a map. There's a great account, it's probably apocryphal. It's after his assassination it comes out, but that McKinley dropped to his knees and prayed to God to figure out what he should do with the Philippines. Should they be annexed, should they be saved? Could they be thrown back out for recolonization by another European power? And his conclusion was the US had to take it because of the strategic concerns and because of the sort of Christian mission dimensions of the importance of the US in the Philippines.

[Christopher Nichols]

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[Christopher Nichols]

Okay, so let's talk about the fighting which begins right in the beginning of May 1898. I mentioned before, this is fast and furious. This happens over a couple of months. Most wars we'd be talking about the preparations and aftermath and then leave the huge amount of the interview for all the events. This is so fast. It's only in four different places. The Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and most notably Cuba. Okay, so in the Pacific, undersecretary of Navy at the time we mentioned this, Teddy Roosevelt, he's not president. This is Teddy Roosevelt long before he's president and even vice president. To McGinley, this is the first term he has a battle ready fleet moved to Hong Kong, which is a British protectorate in those days, to prepare for an attack on the Philippines. It's a preemptive move. Basically, as it happens, Commodore George Dewey sails this, what's called the Asiatic Squadron into the bay of Manila and attacks the fleet that is basically at anchor in that bay. Correct?

[Don Wildman]

Yes. And so that's, as I said, it's part of the naval planning in case of likely hostilities with the Spanish. So that's, that's what was activated there. And of course, you know, it's a, some of the contemporaries call it a grab bag fleet, that the Spanish have lots of wooden vessels, very easily sunk, not well trained, but it's an enormous fleet. And one thing that's interesting in that moment is that German, British and other vessels are there on the horizon watching to see, you know, how this will unfold. And if you had been a betting, say, European navalist in 1898, you would not have bet that the US would so readily dispatch the entire Spanish fleet, even though they were there essentially at harbor. And this was a surprise. And if you're thinking about the big takeaways of this conflict, the US has now fought and won a war with Spain and the US Is a legitimate rising power, even if the Spanish were a waning power, not a great military power. But yes. So this, this takes, this takes Dewey by surprise. It takes European observers by surprise. Now they have to figure out, well, okay, how do we get troops to the Philippines? Right? So they only have the Navy there. They don't have a handful of Marines to bring on shore, and that's it. So they have to figure out how to ship out and mobilize from San Francisco enough troops to take at least the city of Manila. And then the thinking in that moment is, okay, we want the deep. The US Thinking is we want the deepwater harbor at Manila for trade and probably not none of the other, you know, hundreds and hundreds of islands across the Philippines. And that rapidly changes just in the course of this year.

[Christopher Nichols]

As you're, as you're saying, I hadn't considered the fact that there were also shore batteries that had to be knocked out. You know, that's that initial Marine attack that comes with the Navy. And all that has to be destroyed before they can then bring in the larger military force, which is about 15,000 troops who are sent in to take control of it. This successfully isolates the Philippines there. But meanwhile in Cuba, we attack from the south. We come up from below first, hitting Cienfuegos, which was an interesting little episode there. They have to cut communications to Spain. I didn't even know they had this. They had a cable, they had a couple of cables running from Cuba all the way back to Spain so they could literally telegraph to each other. The first step in the process is cut these cables, which is a very dangerous mission.

[Don Wildman]

Yes, yes. You know, I'm so glad that you brought that up. You know, we think about these, this sort of conflict as some antiquated moment in world and military history. But here you see a kind of strategic military operation for undersea cable cutting. You know, look, Edison, this is taped, this is filmed. You can see at the National Archives, there's Edison's footage of actual U.S. troops disembarking. You know, so this is a filmed conflict. It's one that relies on transatlantic and trans Pacific telegraphy. Another way to think about this too is McKinley has a war room set up in the White House. It's the first time that a president has sort of real time information about a conflict. He's getting the information, sending out communiques as a commander in chief in this kind of thing we think of today, right. So they have to cut the communications because they want to wage a series of surprise attacks. And one of the attempts here by the US military is to not allow the Spanish to regroup in one central place on the island of Cuba, but rather keep them isolated. They're essentially guarding a bunch of different cities on the coast. They've ceded most of the interior territory to the revolutionaries at this point.

[Christopher Nichols]

You know, it's funny, I don't even think of the Spanish as a major military force back then. It's interesting. I just think of it as a lot of colonies which of course had to have troops in them, but I never thought of them as a great military power after Cortez. It's so funny how we have this sort of image in our minds. But obviously they were. The attack then moves to Santiago. This is the famous attack that Teddy Roosevelt plays a part in. But interesting other players are involved. The Buffalo Soldiers, for one thing. This is a fascinating episode. There's so much here that plays out that just pops up because of the timing of all of this. Buffalo Soldiers were the black troops that were volunteered to fight in this war because they wanted recognition, because they saw it as A good way to fight Jim Crow, essentially. And they fight under Jack Pershing, who becomes the big supreme commander of World War I. Yeah.

[Don Wildman]

Pershing eventually becomes. Holds the highest command until Eisenhower in US Military history.

[Christopher Nichols]

Exactly.

[Don Wildman]

Pershing famously says in the Battle of San Juan Hill, this is the Rough Riders moment and all that, that it was this sort of glorious moment at the top of the hill where all these different units know, in a. In a rough shot, not. Not particularly well planned out manner, all mingle and you see Buffalo soldiers and Rough Riders who are volunteers and. And regular military and sort of new conscript types, new draftee types. You know, they're not. There isn't a draft in this moment, but. But people who just leapt up and decided to take up arms, but joined the. The Army. And so you had all the. And. And you had seasoned folks who had been in the Indian wars and much older officer corps, some of whom were in the Civil War. So it's this fascinating polyglot. And for someone like Pershing, it tells you what the US Military, what the US Society is capable of in a kind of pluralistic sense, to use a contemporary language. But also for many of those in that moment, it gives a sense of how problematic this decentralized kind of command could be, that you have a lot of improvisation. There's a moment in this. I mean, I don't know if you want to go through the blow by blow, but there's a moment in this where Teddy Roosevelt decides to head off because he sees another battle with about five of his soldiers and winds up depleting their ability to do anything and they have to be saved. There's a couple different accounts of whether or not, you know, it was one guy with a Gatling gun who saved them or whether or not they were just really drained from charging up and down hills for a while in ravines. So there's a whole lot of this kind of thing. So they're charging up the Battle of San Juan Hill. We should just say the obvious right into Spanish fire, right downward fire from the geographic heights. Not exactly. You know, certainly there's glory in facing. Facing that, but not exactly the kind of strategy that a Pershing type would want.

[Christopher Nichols]

The battle for San Juan Hill stands apart as a sort of autonomous event. Of course it's not. It's part of this whole campaign. But I want to identify why it becomes so famous, namely for Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Roosevelt, who actually deserves the praise for the courage and boldness of this maneuver. This is. They're called the Rough Riders. There's a lot of men on the foot. But it was a cavalry unit, right? Yeah.

[Don Wildman]

Yes.

[Christopher Nichols]

And so he organizes, first of all, backing up. The man resigns from his post as undersecretary of War, goes back to New York and organizes his own all volunteer unit, which is, I guess he calls the Rough Riders, or they are called and off they go as part of this whole, as you say, polyglot army. That's all these different kinds of things. By the way, this will result in a real reorganization of the American military. Right. I mean, they'll have to get their act together for the 20th century.

[Don Wildman]

Yes, for sure. And so one question here is, in terms of armaments, the US are using these Krag Krag rifles. They're not as fast repeating and not as reliable as what the Spanish have. For instance, there's the mobilization problem. There's incredible problems with food and canned food. Then obviously we talked about, you know, the disease. They. They're mustering in Florida in swamps, essentially. It's really horrible. The letters of Teddy Roosevelt, you know, he's, he's pleading and trying to get better food sent to his guys, actually paying out of pocket in some cases. Same with some of the other military commanders. He wanted a commission in the, in the army. He winds up going this route for a variety of reasons. And actually, you know, one of the other consequences here is he asked for the exact same thing again in World War I. He wants to be commission into the army or to put together a Rough Rider type regiment. But I think the bigger picture is, you're right, so when the troops are actually in the field, some of these engagements, while they're not as strategically thought out as one might want in the sense of charging uphill, the US military performs very well despite all these many myriad problems, and the Spanish don't. So another piece of this that you see in the reporting in the moment, the Spanish military, they have lots of regulars there, but many have been fighting this revolution for years. This is the latest one, just starting in 1895, but those were there and then they've got a lot of conscripts. And these conscripts are ready to put up the white flag pretty regularly.

[Christopher Nichols]

And that's why things happen pretty quickly. I mean, important to note, we come in at Guantanamo Bay, which to this day is a base. That's why it is our base, because it was made there by that arriving force. And we staked a flag even now while it's Cuba at the same time. So this is over in the middle of July. Hostilities really end there. But in August, something happens in Manila which is called the mock battle. What does that refer to? The mock battle of Manila.

[Don Wildman]

This is great. And I'm so glad that you brought this up. We've talked through Cuba. There's a series of these engagements mostly centering around cities. The US military performs pretty well. The Spanish hold out in the Philippines. There's really just one area left for Spanish hold in Manila. It's this area, the Intermuros, the heavily fortified interior of Manila, Manila Bay. And they're surrounded by Philippine revolutionaries. The Spanish there. And there's some issues with their leadership very rapidly with Dewey there. They're negotiating a separate peace with the Americans. They do not want to surrender to the Filipinos. Right. Underscore that the same thing is true for the Spanish in Cuba. They do not want to surrender to the. Their. What they see as these insurgents. And there's heavily racialized racist language about this. Right. They see them as little brown brothers or as no better than boys in the street, even though that we're talking about. Some of the leadership are great intellectuals and actually often have mixed heritage with Spanish in any case. So the mock battle is this attempt by the leadership there in negotiations with Dewey's camp. And then two different leaders of the Spanish and an army general by the name of Wesley Merritt, who brings in a lot of the San Francisco based troops that we were talking about earlier. And on the morning of August 13th, they have this mock battle where the British vessel fires off some initial salvos and then their band plays some music. Dewey fires on the oldest fort that the Spanish are very happy to have destroyed. And through some heavily orchestrated retreats and pushes forward with very few casualties. Suddenly the Americans are into the Intramuros. Those fortifications have been knocked down. And the Filipinos are looking at this and saying, oh, we see that this is mock. We see this was not actually a conflict. We see what has happened here now. Americans have taken the. Taken their glory essentially, and it sets up very well. What's the next step In February of 1899, when the Americans turned those guns on the Filipinos and vice versa, I.

[Christopher Nichols]

Thought that it was more of a face saving maneuver for the Spanish to not be defeated by the Filipinos, but rather by the white army. That was us.

[Don Wildman]

That's absolutely right. Yes.

[Christopher Nichols]

Yeah.

[Don Wildman]

And they are essentially defeated anyway. They're in this tiny place for about 10,000 people. 70,000 are there and they can't hold out that much longer. The Filipinos have turned off the water, so they need to move rapidly. And so it is face saving for sure. And the main intermediary, it's a really a fascinating little thing, the Belgian envoy is going back and forth between the Americans and the Spanish to try to figure out how to make this mock thing work. And there are some casualties because they hold very tightly the secret of the mock. And so American troops do fire on Spaniards and kill a bunch of them. And then there's some counter fire. And one battery, one artillery battery didn't get the word. And they're desperately trying to get the word to them to stop firing. So there are some casualties in this moment, but generally speaking, they're able to pull off this mock battle which then signs over the Philippines to the U.S. yeah.

[Christopher Nichols]

I'll be back with more American history after this short break.

[Matt Lewis]

I'm Matt Lewis. And I'm Dr. Eleanor Yanaga. And in God Medieval, we get into the greatest mysteries, the gobsmacking details, and latest groundbreaking research from the greatest millennium in human history. We're talking Vikings, Normans, kings and popes who were rarely the best of friends, murder, rebellions and crusades. Find out who we really were by subscribing to Gone Medieval from History, Hit on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Christopher Nichols]

And the Seafire is really takes hold in late summer in August, and from that time on, the negotiations begin. That's why we say this is such a splendid little war, according to at the time, because it's such a short amount of hostilities, really. The main show is the negotiation as to how we're going to dismantle this, these Spanish possessions, put them in the hands of the Americans. And now becomes the dilemma of what do the Americans do with this? And that is so much the theme of American military and diplomatic society for so long afterwards into the 20th century. It's incredible. So as a result, in the aftermath for Spain, this is a pivot point for this country. I mean, this is a war weary, you know, colony weary, guerrilla warfare weary country that has sort of gone to the fray and so as a result of losing their possessions, losing this war, a whole new kind of change happens in Spanish culture. And nationalism is a big part of that, leading to many events of the 20th century.

[Don Wildman]

Right, right. Yeah. You know, there's bitter disappointment, a sense that the government failed across the board, but it's a turning point. So, as I was saying, look, Spain is roiled with possible revolution. It looks like another civil war could happen after this moment. There's a kind of reconsolidation of power and culture and an effort to build a kind of Spanish cultural social movement that galvanizes people in the ways that we tend to think of the arts of the early 20th century. It is a turning point for the country they're giving up on, you could argue, sort of the last vestiges of an empire that they couldn't really control. That wasn't helpful to them. That was an albatross around their neck in terms of total cost and bases and all this kind of stuff. Right. Yes. It comes at this inflection point, which is no doubt a catastrophe for the country as well. So it's a little of both there.

[Christopher Nichols]

And here's another weird little fact that I know of that maybe you don't know. As a result of the preparations for the Spanish American war, which were tremendous, a big foreign war, huge amounts of supplies were made. Private enterprise was involved. Gigantic amounts of war goods became Army Navy surplus. This is the birth of the Army Navy store. Bannerman here in New York. I've covered this story for tv. Creates the first Army Navy surplus store in New York City and becomes very, very wealthy selling off the military wares that weren't used in the war. It's a fascinating, weird little obscure fact.

[Don Wildman]

Oh, I love it. Yeah. You know, one reason for that, too, is that the troops refused to wear some of the gear because it was too heavy.

[Christopher Nichols]

Yeah. Interesting.

[Don Wildman]

They didn't have tropical uniforms, so they refused. They stayed box. And I wonder if that's true for some of the other goods that the Army Navy stores and surplus.

[Christopher Nichols]

Oh, God. You could buy anything. You could get whatever you wanted. So America becomes a global power as a result of this, unlike it was before. Another aspect of this is the unity that happened because some Confederate soldiers. You mentioned this, that Confederate officers were suddenly fighting with ex Union officers. There's a sort of a unifying element to this as far as American society is concerned. The Marines have a new developed role in the military. African American soldiers have made themselves known. It's a really interesting long list of events that has to do with pushing us into the 20th century as a new kind of country?

[Don Wildman]

100%, yes. This is the first war to defeat European power other than the British. It comes at a pivotal moment in the US's rise to world power. Commercial and cultural engagement with the world military power. This is a fundamental altering of the political and diplomatic mix of how Americans think about their role in the world. The question after this is, should the US play a leadership role in the world? And what should that leadership role look like? It sets the stage for the US's entry into World War I, although that takes a long time as well. And then the long tail of this, however, is one to continue thinking about. Some of the elements of unity are also of a piece with disunity. There's the Anti Imperialist League that brings together Mark Twain and W.E.B. du Bois and Jane Addams and Andrew Carnegie, that Americans don't like the idea of ruling alien people against their will. This is the last of the annexations that the US has. So there's this burst of annexations, but then there's a real pushback, this countervailing force in American society. Was this worth it? What does it mean to have a humanitarian intervention? The early 20th century is full of these questions. As the US sends Marines to customs houses all across the Caribbean, you get a Roosevelt corollary where the US can now intervene more. You know, the addendum to the, to the Teller Amendment is the Platt Amendment, which is why the US has this sacrosanct right to Guantanamo Bay, which is still with the US today, still holding detainees from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, for instance, to the long tail is right up to our current moment.

[Christopher Nichols]

Exactly. The notion of an American empire. Was there a moment where we said, okay, we're not going to have that traditional empire, we don't want colonies to worry about, but we are going to have another kind of empire. Or did that develop and evolve more organically?

[Don Wildman]

It develops and evolves pretty organically here in this moment, the 1890s into the 1900s. There isn't a cohesive sense, if you look at the records of policymakers, Presidents, you know, McKinley and Roosevelt and others, that there's a vision, that there's a known sort of colonization strategy. And one piece of evidence for this is there's no consensus on what the people who are ruled will look like or be like. In other words, are these territories like the other territories, like Ohio was back in the Northwest Ordinance days, or Hawaii is in that moment when it becomes a territory, There isn't A sense if Filipinos are going to become American citizens or not, or for that matter, Puerto Ricans. And it's not until 1917 that there's a clarification of the citizenship status of those in Puerto Rico, for instance. And so you know this, this is halting steps of empire. It absolutely is empire and colonial. You have an insular kind of office in the way that the British did running these places, and governors. But. But it's an open question as to what the sort of shape of this empire will take. And. And Americans, from citizens who oppose it or don't even notice it, to the politicians, are slowly building a set of questions and expectations of this. And I think that's why your point is such a good one about the US holds a kind of protectorate status over the Philippines until 1946, after World War II. And one of my arguments always is not a single person annexing The Philippines in 1898 thought that that would be the case.

[Christopher Nichols]

It really is a continuum of the othering of the world, isn't it? And the way we have traditionally done that throughout all these conflicts and then in general, of course, even within our own country. But that progression of not othering the world kind of underscores all the changes that happen in terms of diplomacy and the way we behave in the world.

[Don Wildman]

I think that's right. The other critical sensibility about othering in the 1890s and turn of the 20th century is this sort of white man's burden element. This concept of Anglo Saxonism was everywhere and then it divided very unevenly across people who thought that those who were ruled, those alien or other people, had self capacity for government and could be, say, great American citizens in the future at some point. And those who thought that they were subjects and that this was some new form of ruling people, because that sort of Anglo Saxon empires, or in the US case Republican empire, knew better. And in some ways that sticks with the sort of political rhetoric for the rest of the century. This othering, it may not be as repugnant as the Anglo Saxon racism of the turn of the 20th century, but you get this othering of people as if they're not present when there's an intervention or they're less important.

[Christopher Nichols]

Yes, yes. The othering becomes marketplaces and we develop the marketplaces, which is a whole different kind of empire. Professor Christopher Nichols has been our guest today. He teaches and works at the Ohio State University. I said that wrong. The Ohio State University. His most recent book can be purchased ideology in U.S. foreign relations. It was a Pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much for joining us.

[Don Wildman]

Chris Great to be here with you. Don. Thanks so much.

[Christopher Nichols]

Hey, thanks for listening to American History hit. You know, every week we release new episodes, two new episodes dropping Mondays and Thursdays. All kinds of content from mysterious missing colonies to powerful political movements to some of the biggest battles across the centuries. Don't miss an episode by hitting like and follow. You help us out, which is great, but you'll also be reminded when our shows are on. And while you're at it, share it with a friend. American History hit with me. Don Wildman so grateful for your support.

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