After the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, neither the Far East nor the United States took the initiative to declare war. However, in fact, the two sides had already launched conflicts on sea and land. However, both sides seemed to have some kind of tacit understanding, because both sides were both at sea and on land.
It did not cause major casualties. Instead, both sides occupied one side, forming a major military confrontation between the north and the south.
The Battle of the Mediterranean in 1898 marked the complete decline of Italy, and the Spanish-American War marked the rise of the United States as a major military force. This short maritime conflict lasted only more than 100 days and killed 3,000 Americans.
The United States' involvement in complex issues in the Far East also served as a warning to European powers that dared to compete with U.S. military power, because for the Americans themselves, this war signaled that they would become more involved in world affairs.
Although the first major naval battle of the Spanish-American War took place in the Philippines in the Eastern Hemisphere, the cause of the conflict was the riots in Cuba, where years of resistance to Spanish tyranny culminated in the 1895 Revolution, in which the insurrectionists
The cruelty of the Spanish rulers was no less than that of the Spanish rulers. They formulated a policy of deliberate plunder. This policy stipulated that if Americans did not pay protection money, their property would not be protected. These protection funds were used to financially support the riots.
and conduct expanded publicity.
In fact, the main reason why the United States is involved in this matter is to protect the sugar cane plantations and sugar mills owned by Americans. The profits of these large plantations and sugar mills cannot be ignored. With an investment of US$50 million, the annual trade volume can be as high as
100 million US dollars, the Spanish government decided to end this intolerable situation in Cuba. In early 1896, the Spanish government sent Army General Velaire to Havana to take drastic measures. Velaire's method was to drive civilians into concentrated areas.
Preventing them from aiding the rebellion, poor sanitary conditions in the concentration areas killed thousands of people, mostly women and children.
Due to the clever incitement of the Cuban rebel regime in New York, the general public in the United States reacted strongly to the inhumane methods of "Executioner Velel". Some people demanded immediate recognition of the rebel "government." In response to public calls, the U.S. Congress passed
President Cleveland of the United States, who passed a resolution calling for the recognition of the rebel regime in Cuba and opposed imperialist policies, considered the resolution an interference with his executive power and ignored it. He declared that he refused to send troops to go to war with Spain. On the other hand,
He also made it clear to the Spanish government that the United States respects Spanish rule in Cuba.
In 1897, the Spanish cabinet recalled Veler, relaxed the work of driving civilians into concentration areas, and allowed Cubans a certain degree of autonomy. At this time, the Americans began to lose interest in the Cuban issue, but in February 1898
Two incidents that emerged triggered a storm of public outrage in the United States. One of the incidents was a letter, and the other was the explosion of the USS Maine.
The American public believes that the explosion came from external sabotage and must have been done by the Spanish with bombs. However, people in this era will never know something, that is, the USS Maine battleship caused an internal explosion by itself. However, Li Ningyu knew,
However, he did not say anything after the explosion. Instead, after the Far East Yellow Sea Fleet was intercepted by the British and French fleets, he handed over his analysis report and some data to representatives of the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Tsarist Russia at the same time.
Since a military conflict had already occurred between the United States and Spain at this time, this report did not attract much attention at the time. However, all countries knew that if the United States and Spain went to war, Cuba would be the first target of attack. Secondly,
It is Puerto Rico, because most of the U.S. Navy fleet is concentrated in the Atlantic Ocean. Later, in order to further enhance the military strength of this region, the "Oregon" set out from Puget Sound, bypassed South America and reached the Caribbean Sea.
At that time, the strength of the U.S. Atlantic Squadron had increased to five battleships, the "Iowa", the "Indiana", the "Massachusetts", the "Texas", and the "Oregon". In addition, the squadron also had
Two ironclad cruisers: "New York", "Brooklyn" and some other small ships.
The "Maine" incident also had an impact on the Spanish. After discussing with Far East Li Ningyu, Spain tried to calm the anger of the Americans. At the same time, it was also secretly preparing for war, because it had just received news of the explosion.
The Spanish Navy Minister issued an alert to the navy and warned Admiral Cervera, who was commanding the Home Fleet at the time, to prepare to destroy the American base in Key West and then blockade the American coast.
Cervera was not optimistic about this matter, because in his opinion, this order was extremely ridiculous, because his combat force only had 4 dilapidated cruisers and 2 destroyers. He believed that his navy could not compete with the U.S. Navy
To counteract this, Spain does not have a strong military base on the other side of the Atlantic, so its fleet is likely to not have adequate logistical support in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
He has repeatedly stated that in the event of a war, the most practical course of action for the Spanish Navy should be to preserve its strength to protect its homeland. Cervera emphasized that as long as Spain gathers a maritime alliance that can help with equipment and supplies, his
The fleet would make the U.S. coast a profitable military target.
The Spanish military cabinet revised its instructions accordingly, but insisted that naval power should at least defend Puerto Rico. Cervera still believed that his mission was hopeless, so he led his fleet to sail from Cadiz to the Cape Verde Islands and waited.
As the situation further developed, the news of the departure of the Spanish Home Fleet caused a war panic on the east coast of the United States.
However, during the subsequent Spanish-American War, the Spanish army did not cause any damage to the American mainland, and some nervous Americans also calmed down. This was because the government generously distributed a batch of old-fashioned American Civil War-era weapons to all along the coast.
guns, they aimed pointlessly across the vast Atlantic, but then the call for the fleet to protect every area of the east coast grew louder, because in terms of the mobility of the fleet, it was an offensive weapon, even if
The mission of the fleet is defense, and its ships will never degenerate into fixed forts.
The U.S. Navy is very clear that no matter what the circumstances, the North Atlantic Squadron must act as a whole. Even if Cervera does not attack in the Caribbean, where the Americans are waiting, but attacks other areas, this fleet can still
Its intact whole can give the enemy a tit-for-tat blow. If the fleet is deployed scattered along the coastline, it will be tantamount to self-destruction militarily.
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