The Attitudes and Events Leading To American Involvement In World War I

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THE ATTITUDES AND EVENTS LEADING TO AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT IN WORLD WAR I

INTRO

The U.S. emerged as a great power after the Civil War. Like newly industrializing great powers, the U.S. adopted protectionism, seized a colonial empire of its own (1898), and built up a powerful navy.

U.S. imperialism was marked by the reaffirmation of the Monroe Doctrine, formalized by the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904.

WAR WITH SPAIN

Spanish-American War is the conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898, resulting in the liberation of Cuba from Spanish rule. The war had its roots in the Cuban struggle for independence. The Spanish-American war also grew out of US economic and imperialistic ambitions.

On both humanitarian and economic grounds, a strong reaction to the conflict between Spain and Cuba developed in the United States. The brutal treatment of the Cubans by Spanish military forces received wide publicity. Concern was also aroused by the extensive damage to property caused by the conflict. Many US investments were affected, and all US trade with Cuba was halted. Popular demand for intervention on Cuba's behalf gained support in the US Congress, but both President Grover Cleveland and President William McKinley, during his first year in office, firmly opposed US action. In 1897 an attempt to settle the conflict was made by Spain and partial autonomy was to be granted to the Cubans, and the prison camps were to be abolished. The insurgents, however, continued to press for complete independence.


The conflict continued, and a series of incidents led to US intervention. Firstly, a letter written by de Lome, the Spanish minister to the United States, was stolen by Cuban surgents. In the letter, de Lome had criticized President McKinley. Secondly, in December 1897, the US battleship
Maine was sent to the port of Havana to protect US citizens and property. On the night of February 15, 1898, the ship was mysteriously blown up, and 260 lives were lost. Initial reports pointed to sabotage by Spain. All this had created anti –Spanish feelings among the Americans. On April 20, President McKinley approved a congressional resolution that called for immediate Spanish withdrawal from Cuba, and on April 24, war was declared by the Spanish government. Congressional resolutions affirmed Cuban independence and stated that the United States was not acting to secure an empire.

On May 1, 1898, the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay, in the Philippines, was attacked and destroyed by the US naval forces under Commander George Dewey. On July 1, US troops penetrated the outer defences of the city of Santiago, Cuba. And on July 3, a Spanish naval squad was destroyed while attempting to cross the US blockade of Santiago harbor. The Spanish in Santiago then surrendered to US forces on July 17. American forces occupied Puerto Rico after a week. The Spanish troops in the Philippines also surrendered by mid- August and the Spanish government requested a settlement with the United States.

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The Treaty of Paris, 1898

By the terms of the peace treaty, signed in Paris on December 10, 1898, Spain relinquished Cuba and ceded sovereignty of Puerto Rico, and the island of Guam, to the United States, while the Philippines were bought by the United States for the sum of $20,000,000. The war signaled the emergence of the United States as a world power with colonies overseas and a role in European politics. 

Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion was an uprising against Western commercial and political influence in China in 1900. This uprising was carried by secret organisations. They were ...

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