Reading in a single sitting 一口气读完这段历史

Beginning in 1492, Spain was the first European nation to sail westward across the Atlantic Ocean, explore, and colonize the Amerindian nations of the Western Hemisphere. At its greatest extent, the empire that resulted from this exploration extended from Virginia on the eastern coast of the United States south to Tierra del Fuego（火地岛）at the tip of South America excluding Brazil and westward to California and Alaska. Across the Pacific, it included the Philippines and other island groups. By 1825 much of this empire had fallen into other hands and in that year, Spain acknowledged the independence of its possessions in the present-day United States (then under Mexican control) and south to the tip of South America. The remnants that remained in the empire in the Western Hemisphere（西半球）were Cuba（古巴）and Puerto Rico（波多黎各）and across the Pacific in Philippines Islands, and the Carolina, Marshall, and Mariana Islands in Micronesia[密克罗尼西亚（西太平洋岛群）].

U.S. interest in purchasing Cuba had begun long before 1898. Following the Ten Years War, American sugar interests bought up large tracts of land in Cuba. Alterations in the U.S. sugar tariff favoring home-grown beet sugar helped foment the rekindling of revolutionary fervor in 1895. By that time the U.S. had more than $50 million invested in Cuba and annual trade, mostly in sugar, was worth twice that much. Fervor for war had been growing in the United States, despite President Grover Cleveland' s proclamation of neutrality on June 12, 1895.

The Spanish-American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States. On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine（“缅因号”）in Havana（哈瓦那）harbor on February 15, 1898. It ultimately ended with the Americans defeating the Spaniards. Revolts against Spanish rule had been endemic for decades in Cuba and were closely watched by Americans; there had been war scares before, as in the Virginius Affair（弗吉尼厄斯号事件）in 1873. By 1897-1898, American public opinion grew angrier at reports of Spanish atrocities . After the mysterious sinking of the American battleship Maine in Havana harbor, political pressures from the Democratic Party pushed the government of President William McKinley, a Republican, into a war McKinley had wished to avoid. Compromise proved impossible, resulting in an ultimatum sent to Madrid demanding it relinquish control of Cuba immediately, which was not accepted. First Madrid, then Washington, formally declared war.

Although the main issue was Cuban independence, the ten-week war was fought in both the Caribbean and the Pacific. A series of one-sided American naval and military victories followed on all fronts, owing to their numerical superiority in most of the battles and despite the good performance of some of the Spanish infantry units. The outcome was the 1898 Treaty of Paris——which was favorable to the U.S.——followed by temporary American control of Cuba and indefinite colonial authority over Puerto Rico, Guam（关岛）and the Philippines. The defeat and subsequent end of the Spanish Empire was a profound shock for Spain' s national psyche . The victor gained several island possessions spanning the globe and a rancorous new debate over the wisdom of imperialism .

With defeats in Cuba and the Philippines, and both of its fleets incapacitated, Spain sued for peace. Hostilities were halted on 12 August 1898, with the signing in Washington of a Protocol of Peace between the United States and Spain. After over two months of difficult negotiations, the formal peace treaty, the Treaty of Paris（巴黎和约）, was signed in Paris on December 10, 1898, and was ratified by the United States Senate on February 6, 1899. The United States gained almost all of Spain' s colonies in the treaty, including the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. The treaty came into force in Cuba April 11, 1899, with Cubans participating only as observers.

由于美国军舰“缅因号”在古巴哈瓦那港爆炸沉没（1898年2月15日），激起美国报刊的强烈反响和国内民众的愤怒。3月27日，美国通过驻西班牙公使提出要求西班牙在古巴停火和取消集中营法等条件。西班牙为了避免对美作战，于4月9日宣布休战。但美国国会发布决议：承认古巴独立，要求西班牙撤出古巴。同时授予总统使用武力的权利，并宣告美国无意兼并古巴。4月22日，美国海军封锁古巴港口。诺希维尔号军舰捕获到一艘西班牙商船。4月24日，西班牙向美国宣战，次日，美国宣战。

战争主要在古巴、波多黎各和菲律宾同时进行。

Key Words in History 历史关键词

1. The sinking of the Battleship Maine “缅因号”沉没

USS Mainewas the United States Navy' s second commissioned pre-dreadnought battleship. Maine had been sent to Havana, Cuba to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban revolt against Spain. On the evening of 15 February 1898, she suddenly exploded, and swiftly sank, killing nearly three quarters of her crew. Though then, as now, the cause and responsibility for her sinking were unclear; popular opinion in the U.S. blamed Spain, and the sinking (popularized in the phrase Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain!) was one of the precipitating events of the Spanish-American War. Her sinking remains the subject of speculation, with various authors proposing that she sank due to the results of an undetected fire in one of her coal bunkers, that she was the victim of a naval mine, and that she was deliberately sunk for the purposes of driving the U.S. into a war with Spain.

2. Teller Amendment 特尔勒修正案

The Teller Amendment was an amendment to a joint resolution of the United States Congress, enacted on April 20, 1898, in reply to President William McKinley' s War Message. It placed a condition of the United States military in Cuba. According to the clause, the U.S. could not annex Cuba but only leave "control of the island to its people."

After Spanish troops left the island in December 1898, the United States occupied Cuba until 1902, and as promised in the Teller Amendment did not attempt to annex the island. However, under the Platt Amendment, crafted in 1901 by U.S.Secretary of War Elihu Root to replace the Teller Amendment, important decisions of the government of Cuba remained subject to override by the United States. This suzerainty bred resentment toward the U.S.According to Gregory Weeks, "The Teller Amendment, authored by a Colorado Senator who wanted to make sure that Cuba' s sugar would not compete with his state' s crop of beet sugar, prohibited the president from annexing Cuba."

3. Treaty of Paris 《巴黎和约》

The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged.

The Treaty signaled the end of the Spanish Empire in America and the Pacific Ocean, and marked the beginning of an age of United States colonial power.

The Treaty of Paris provided that Cuba would become independent from Spain but the U.S.Congress made sure it would be under U.S. control through the Platt Amendment. Specifically, Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. Upon Cuba' s evacuation by Spain, it was to be occupied by the United States, and the United States would assume and discharge any obligations that under international law could result from the fact of its occupation.

The Treaty also assured that Spain would cede to the United States the island of Puerto Rico and other islands then under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, as well as the island of Guam in the Marianas or Ladrones.

The Treaty also specified that Spain would cede to the United States the archipelago known as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within a specified line.

Background Knowledge 背景知识补充

19世纪末，美国进入了帝国主义时期。美国垄断资本财团迫切需要开辟新的市场、投资场所和原料产地，于是各种宣传机器大造对外扩张的舆论。但是正当美国准备向海外扩张时，整个世界已为老牌殖民大国瓜分完毕。美国想重新瓜分世界殖民地，但因力量有限，还无力同英法等国相抗衡，只有老朽帝国西班牙是个好目标。这时的西班牙已是日薄西山，昔日的庞大帝国仅剩下古巴、波多黎各和亚洲的菲律宾。美国决定首先拿西班牙开刀，夺取这几个西班牙殖民地，以便控制中美洲和加勒比地区，并取得向远东和亚洲扩张的基地。这时，西属殖民地人民的斗争也给美国创造了有利环境。菲律宾和古巴先后爆发了反对西班牙殖民统治的武装起义。菲律宾起义军已解放了全国大部分地区，包围了马尼拉。古巴起义军则牵制了西班牙的20万大军。美国抓住这一“天赐良机”，借1898年2月15日的“缅因号”事件，大造战争舆论，于4月25日正式向西班牙开战。

美国早就为战争做好了准备——已经建立了一支号称世界第三的强大舰队，部署在世界各战略要点上，其中驻香港的亚洲舰队早已升火待发。国会已征兵20万，并拥有速射野战炮、电报、电话等先进装备。反之，西班牙毫无准备，在古巴的20万西军只有1.2万人能打仗，其余多是老弱病残。海军仅有一些旧式木壳军舰。在菲律宾也只有4.2万军队，而且西班牙政局一片混乱，军政界人士普遍认为同美国作战没有获胜希望。

1898年的美西战争标志着美国作为一个主要军事力量的崛起。这场历时仅100余天、致使3000美国人丧生的短暂的海上冲突使美国陷入了远东的复杂问题，也使敢于与美国军事力量抗衡的欧洲列强得到了警告。对美国人自己来说，这场战争则标志着它要更多地参与世界事务。 R+TWRB4EUTRByFKCqRZmouLgkN4K7E8a+3sIOl0Njm+jh6JPWUmt6+xEoCFgfVVy