On April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain, beginning the Spanish-American War. The conflict followed rising tensions over Cuba’s struggle for independence and the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor. Many Americans supported intervention on both strategic and humanitarian grounds. The war was brief but decisive, with U.S. forces defeating Spain in the Caribbean and the Pacific. As a result, the United States gained control of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and Cuba became nominally independent. The war marked the emergence of the U.S. as a colonial and global power.
