ABSTRACT
A revolt against Spanish rule began in Cuba in 1895. American opinion was inflamed when the Spaniards reacted with harsh repression. Tension between Spain and the USA grew, and the blowing up of an American battleship in Santiago harbour led to war. Another Spanish colony, the archipelago of the Philippines, was in revolt during the closing years of the nineteenth century. From the Marxist point of view the wars in Cuba and the Philippines were typical colonial wars: wars waged by a colonial power for colonial conquest, or for the defence of colonial possessions. The wars with Spain and with the Filipinos were not universally popular in the USA. The Cuban campaign was too short to produce lasting controversy; besides, it ended Spanish colonial rule and gave the islanders some independence, which pleased American liberal opinion. The socialist movement in the United States was too weak to play a significant part in the anti-war campaign.
