“Remember the Maine. The Perfect American War
The current events related to Iran, give rise to recall the provocation that led to the US-Spanish war 1898 of the year and the subsequent US occupation of the Philippines. This war was another in a series of predatory campaigns of the American armed forces and the first test of force outside the American continent. History of war
The golden age of the Spanish Empire was long past. Already by the 1820 years, the Spaniards, mostly under pressure from the British, lost most of the colonies. So in Latin America, London provided insurgents with all-round support, both informational and military, transport, financial. Simon Bolivar (the national hero of Venezuela, the most influential and famous of the leaders of the war for independence of the colonies of Spain in South America), the British helped with finances and weapons at the very beginning of his work on the liberation of Latin America.
True, the “liberation” of Latin America did not lead to the creation of a single independent state, but to a whole group of weak states. Behind their republican or monarchical façade was the dictatorship of Great Britain (it was then ousted by the United States), the British and American monopolies. The majority of the population lived in complete poverty, groups of rich people mercilessly exploited slaves, peasant peasants, factory workers. The economy was completely colonial in nature. The only country that tried to get out of this "matrix" - Paraguay, was ruthlessly destroyed.
But Spain has a few “pearls” - Cuba, the Philippine Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico, these islands have various resources, besides they are located on important sea lanes.
By the end of the 19th century, the United States had already successfully solved a number of internal problems. They finally suppressed the resistance of Native Americans - Indian tribes, in 1860-1890-s of the earth, which still belonged to the Indians in the west of North America, were seized and became the property of farmers, various companies. And the Indians were destroyed, partially deported and herded into reservations. Solved the issue and the division of the country into the South and North. Large-scale capitalist production developed rapidly, protected by high protectionist tariffs.
Now, American capital needed a variety of cheap natural raw materials, markets for its products, sea routes covered by naval bases. The political superstructure of the United States has always fulfilled the order of the financial-industrial oligarchy - in the first half of the 19 century, the Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed. According to it, North and South America were proclaimed a zone closed to European colonization. The implication was that States would dominate it. At the end of the 19th century, the American government pursued a policy of expanding economic influence in Latin America and Asia.
The administration of US President William McKinley (4 in March 1897 - 14 in September 1901) believed that it was time for the United States to acquire its first colonies, which would simultaneously be sources of raw materials and markets. In addition, Spain was weak and could not defend its colonies by force, did great damage to the United States, and did not have powerful allies. The capture of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands solved the problem of strengthening the US strategic positions in the Caribbean, Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The United States carried out a successful preliminary work on preparing for war: an information campaign in the press about “Spanish atrocities, and in 1895 in the territory of Puerto Rico and Cuba, and in 1896 in the territory of the Philippine Islands, the national liberation struggle against the Spanish regime began. For example, the Cuban revolution began with the detachment of José Martí who landed in Cuba (he was helped to create the Cuban revolutionary party in the US in 1892). Cuban rebels differed ruthlessly, destroyed settlements, plantations, industrial enterprises. The Spanish governor-general responded to cruelty with cruelty. In Cuba, the uprising was almost able to suppress, the peasants were driven into concentration camps, thereby depriving the partisans of support.
The American press has been hysterical about the "bloody Spanish regime." The US Senate recognized the rebels as a belligerent and demanded that the Spanish side resolve the conflict peacefully. The Spaniards, in turn, said that the Cuban unrest is an internal affair of the empire (reading this, you understand that the current unrest in Libya, Syria, the situation around Iran, repeat the scenario more than a century ago).
William McKinley, 25 President of the United States of America (1897 — 1901) from the Republican Party.
Casus belli
The United States wanted to look like “liberators” in the eyes of the world community and American inhabitants, so a reason for war was needed. But the problem was that Spain did not want to fight.
At the end of January, the 1898 arrived in the Cuban Havana American armored cruiser "Men." Although the Americans claimed the friendly nature of the visit, it was clear that this was a challenge and a demonstration. The Spaniards were forced to allow this visit.
15 February 1898, a terrible explosion rang out and the ship was killed. The explosion occurred in the evening when the crew was on the ship and the sailors slept, so there were many casualties - 261 people died (the standard crew of the ship was 355 people). An interesting fact is that almost all the officers were on the shore, and the dead sailors were mostly blacks. The US blamed the explosion on the Spaniards, who let a mine under the ship. Although the Spaniards, who did not want to fight with the United States, did not need this action, there was no motive, unlike the Americans.
But almost immediately a number of questions arose that disproved the American version. According to experts, such an explosion, which broke the ship in half, could not occur from a mine (from it would be formed a hole in the underwater part of the cruiser). Therefore, the explosion, apparently, occurred inside the cruiser "Men". Other facts pointed to this: the absence of a stunned fish, which would have been with an underwater explosion, broken windows of the surrounding buildings.
In the 1910 year, when the ship was tried to rise to the surface, this version was confirmed, people learned that:
- The explosion occurred inside the armored cruiser, and not from a mine or a torpedo;
- steam boilers were intact, therefore the version of their explosion was excluded. In addition, the Americans in the 1911 year suddenly turned all the work to lift the ship, all documents related to the investigation of the death of the cruiser were classified. The bow of the ship disfigured by the explosion was cut and melted.
The American commission, contrary to the facts that indicated an internal explosion, quickly completed its affairs and left for home. The reason was created - "Vile Spaniards blew up our cruiser with a mine." They threw the slogan “Remember Maine!” Into society. On April 19, the USA demanded that Spain abandon Cuba, while mobilization of volunteers and deployment began fleet. Already on April 21, without declaring war, American ships began to capture Spanish transports sailing to Cuba. On April 22, US Rear Admiral Sampson's squadron opened fire on coastal fortifications near Havana.
War
The campaign was quick and with fairly few casualties. In general, it was a somewhat strange war. The first US soldiers died only two months after the start of the war. They fell from the side of the boat during the landing and drowned. Spanish soldiers, completely devoid of motivation for war, fighting spirit, saw a heavy burden in the colonies and dreamed of returning home.
The main fighting turned on the sea. The advantage of the American fleet was overwhelming: the Spaniards had 1 battleships, 7 armored cruisers, 5 heavy cruisers (with a displacement of more than 3 thousand tons) and 8 light cruisers (with a displacement of less than 3 thousand tons); the Americans had 4 armadillo, 3 armored cruisers, 11 heavy and 8 light cruisers. The USA had an advantage in terms of the overall displacement of the fleet - 116 thousand tons against 56 thousand tons. The American ships were more modern and surpassed the Spanish in almost all indicators - the artillery of the US Navy was 2,5 times more powerful and had a higher rate of fire, superior in armor protection. The Spaniards neglected combat training in the pre-war period: there were neither maps nor an action plan in case of war with the United States, ship artillerymen did not practice shooting, the general level of crew training was extremely low. US ships, except armored cruisers, had greater speed. In addition, the ships of the Spanish Navy in need of good repair, and the command made all the possible mistakes, showing the wonders of incapacity.
The financial capabilities of the States and the Spanish crown were not comparable. Spain did not even have enough money to buy coal for the needs of its Navy. An important role was played by the fact that the main theater of the war in the West Indies was 6 times closer to the Atlantic coast of the States than to the Spanish shores. On the day of the actual start of the war, 21 on April 1898, the main Spanish squadron under the command of Admiral Pasquale Servers was stationed on the islands of Cape Verde. The Spanish admiral did not even have maps of the Caribbean and was not aware of the features of the local ports. The server informed Madrid that he had to go to sea, without having any plan, that Spain should not “deceive itself with respect to the strength of our fleet”, “indulge in illusions”. He offered to come to Madrid to work out a strategy for action, but the military council immediately took a squadron of Servers to the West Indies, without waiting for the battleship under repair and three heavy cruisers to be back in service. The 4 armored cruisers and the 3 destroyer launched.
But the first major sea battle took place not in the Caribbean, but in the Pacific Ocean. Here, the Asian cruiser squadron of US Commodore George Dewey was already concentrated in April in Hong Kong. The Americans had stocked up on coal, food, ammunition, and were ready for war. The squadron had 4 armored cruisers (displacement from 3 to 6 thousand tons), 2 cruiser-type naval gunboats and 3 auxiliary vessels (the only Oregon battleship before the war was transferred to Atlantic before the war to the Atlantic. The Philippine front was considered auxiliary.) American ships had better artillery and speed. 25 April American squadron went to the Philippines.
Formally, the Spanish Navy had 12 warships in the Philippines, but much of it was not capable or partially combat-ready. In reality, the Spanish rear admiral Patricio Montejo-Pasaron had only 6 cruisers (2 Spanish non-armored ships with a displacement of 3 KT were considered “1-rank cruisers”, 4 of the rest in 1 - 1,1 KT, and 2 of the rest in 1 - 31 KT, and 160 of the rest in 53 - 11 Kt. rank ", only two of them had an armored deck) and 203 gunboat. The Spanish squadron had a medium caliber 5 gun (no more than XNUMX-mm) against XNUMX guns of large and medium caliber (including XNUMX guns with XNUMX-mm caliber). The Spaniards removed the guns from the XNUMX gunboats, strengthening the coastal defense, and from the ships remaining in the ranks, removed part of the guns.
The Spanish admiral moved with a squadron from Manila, in order not to expose the city to the danger of shelling, to the arsenal of Cavite. In addition, there were small, and the crews had more opportunities for rescue, the Spanish command from the very beginning considered their squadron doomed and thought only about measures to reduce losses.
1 May 1898, the battle took place (or rather beating) between the squadrons at Cape Cavite. It began at 5 hours of the 12 minutes of the morning, when the Spaniards opened fire from ships and shores at the American column. A little later, the Americans opened fire. By 8 hours in the morning, almost all Spanish ships were burning and the American commander announced a break for breakfast (it was reported that the ammunition ran out, then it turned out that this was a mistake). Then the shooting resumed. By noon, the American squadron destroyed all the Spanish ships. Spanish negligence led to the fact that all ships were lost, 161 people died, 210 were injured. The Americans had 9 wounded, the Spaniards made all 19 hits (only one pretty serious), against 145 hits on Spanish ships. The battle has had a tremendous psychological significance on the USA and the Spaniards.
After that, there were no major battles in the Philippines. The American squadron could not independently seize Manila, without disembarking the landing corps. The Spaniards kept her almost to the end of the war.
In the West Indies, American ships under the command of Admiral William Sempson blocked Havana and the entire northern coast of Cuba. The southern coast of Cuba with the ports of Cienfuegos and Santiago could not completely block the US fleet due to its remoteness from the bases of the US Navy. May 19 in Santiago came after a long transition of the Spanish squadron Admiral P. Servers. The Spaniards were going to rest, load with coal and move on - to Havana (this was the main center of resistance on the island). August 27 Spaniards blocked the "Flying Squadron" Commodore Winfeld Shleya, and 1 August approached the squadron of Vice Admiral William Sampson.
The server decided to defend itself in Santiago, reinforced the coastal defense with new coastal batteries, installed mines in the passage to the bay. The Americans made an unsuccessful attempt to flood the Brander to block the fairway. Without risking to attack the Spanish squadron in the bay, where the American ships met not only the fire of the Spanish ships, but also coastal batteries, they decided to land the landing corps and take the port from land. The landing was poorly organized, stretched in time, but since the Spaniards did not dare to counter-act (and they could lead to significant losses among the troops), the Americans were able to land 27-thousand. landing corps. 25 June American forces, along with the Cuban rebels tried to take Santiago, but repulsed their attack.
At the same time, a new Spanish squadron consisting of 2 battleships, 2 steamers and 3 destroyers under the leadership of Admiral Kamera advanced from Cadiz. In the United States, they feared that she would go to the West Indies, but the Spanish squadron moved to Port Said, intending to continue on to the Philippine Islands. But after she received the news of the destruction of the Spanish squadron in Manila Bay, the squadron of the Camera, after wandering around the Mediterranean Sea, returned to her native shores, without taking part in the hostilities.
Realizing that the sea battle will lead to the defeat of the squadron, Server planned to use the resources of his squadron for the land defense of Santiago. But in the end he was forced to go for a breakthrough. In Santiago, there was an acute shortage of food, and the city commandant asked the admiral to leave the port. In addition, Server received an order from Marshal Blanco, the commander-in-chief of the Spanish forces in Cuba. 2 July Blanco demanded to break through to Havana. The admiral executed this order. Although he believed that his execution would entail the death of the squadron and the crews of the ships.
The Spaniards had 4 armored cruisers: three of the same type - Infanta Maria Teresa, Admiral Oquendo and Biscay (7 thousand tonnes of displacement, a turn to 20 units, each having two 280-mm and ten 140-mm guns), Cristobal Colon (6,7 thousand tons, 20 nodes, ten 152-mm and six 120-mm guns). The Americans have armored cruiser “Brooklyn” (more than 9 ths. Tons, 22 knot, eight 203-mm and twelve 127-mm guns), 3-class 1 battleship: “Iowa” (11,4 thousand. Tons, speed 16 nodes, four 305-mm, eight 203-mm and six 102-mm guns), "Indiana" and "Oregon" (10,3 thousand tons, 15 speed nodes, four 330-mm, eight 203 and four 152-mm guns ), Texas class battleship 2 (6,1 thousand tons, 17 speed nodes, two 305-mm and six 152-mm guns). The only chance of the Spaniards was a breakthrough, and part of the squadron would have to sacrifice. But in reality, the matter turned out to be impossible: the Spanish cruisers could not develop full speed due to machine breakdowns, poor coal, and the gunners put up decent resistance. In addition, the ammunition was of poor quality, many guns are defective.
The result was sad: 3 July 1898, in the battle of Santiago de Cuba, the Spanish squadron was completely destroyed. The Spaniards lost all the ships, 323 people killed, 151 wounded, 1,6 thousand people, led by Admiral Server prisoners. And this is despite the fact that the Americans showed a rather low accuracy - with more than 7 thousand shots, only 163 falling into Spanish ships.
Having lost their main fleet, the Spaniards asked for peace, the war was lost. The US lost only about 500 people killed during the whole war (much more died - about 6 thousand people), Spaniards have more than 2,1 thousand people (there is no information about the number of people who died of diseases in the Spanish forces, but than Americans).
Results of the war
- 13 August 1898 was signed the Paris Peace Treaty. The Spanish side was forced to abandon all its colonies in Asia and Latin America - the Philippine Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and Cuba. The first three territories became American possessions, for which the United States paid 20 million dollars in compensation to the Spanish crown. And Cuba was proclaimed an independent republic, but in reality it became a “banana republic” and a “brothel” of the USA. Her foreign policy, economics, and finance were under complete American control. An American naval base was established in Guantanamo Bay.
- The United States brilliantly tested the scenario of its future wars: information war (the enemy is mixed with mud before the start of the “hot war”, turning into a “bloody monster” in the eyes of the world community), brilliant use of public discontent, the organization of “people's liberation” movements ”, provocation, "pirate" war (control over communications, actions of the Navy, landing forces, etc.).
- Spain finally lost the status of an important colonial and maritime power.
- The war gave the United States the status of a great maritime power; after the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, the US Navy was recognized as one of the leading fleets of the planet.
- The Spanish-American war demonstrated to the entire world community the strength of a young predator, a new great power appeared on the world map. The war opened a new era stories U.S.A.
- In the Philippines, the Americans had to tinker. Filipinos decided to become free and started a war against the United States. The Philippine-American war continued until the 1902 year (active phase), while individual units resisted until the 1913 year. The United States had to throw an army against the Filipinos 125 thousand. Americans did not hesitate to use the most brutal methods (which was typical of European colonialists), so if Filipino warriors killed about 20 thousand people, then civilians 200 thousand Americans starved villages, committed massacres of peasants. For example, only in the area of Balangiga on the island of Samar, brave American warriors in 1901 killed about 10 thousand people, and killed according to the ancient principle of nomadic wars - “kill everyone above the taller axis”. Here all people over the age of 10 were shot or bayoneted. Naturally, the press of the USA and the “world community” were not particularly interested in these acts of terror and genocide (they can).
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