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from Part I - From Backwater to Great Power
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 January 2024
Domestic political pressure drove William McKinley to launch the Spanish-American War after an internal explosion sank the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor. As usual, the US wasn’t prepared for the war, but Spain proved no match for American military power. The US fought for Cuban independence but also joined the imperial powers by securing colonial possessions such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The US also annexed Hawaii. The US soon faced an unexpected war in the Philippines for which it was also unprepared, and eventually won. Theodore Roosevelt succeeded the assassinated McKinley, secured land for the Panama Canal, and launched the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. William Howard Taft followed Roosevelt to the White House and launched a failed “Dollar Diplomacy” grand strategy. American involvement in Latin America and the Caribbean intensified, particularly in Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
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