Spanish-American War & WWI Isolationism

In the 1890s, a Cuban independence movement emerged.
Spain responded to the rebels by:
- Exiling rebel leaders like Jose Marti (compared to Sam Adams of the American Revolution).
  - Exiling means expelling or throwing someone out.
  - Exiled leaders went to the United States, particularly New York City, where they:
    - Riled up American people and members of Congress against Spain.
The Spanish then started gathering the rebels and putting them in concentration camps.
- The exact number of Cuban deaths in these camps is unknown.
- American newspapers of the time, like the New York Journal and New York World, were practicing yellow journalism.
  - This means they exaggerated stories and presented guesses as confirmed facts to make them more entertaining.

By the late 1890s, there was pressure on President McKinley and Congress to go to war with Spain.
- The U.S. did not want a Spanish colony so close to its coast, echoing concerns about the "Maduro vacuum".
This pressure led to the declaration of the Spanish-American War.
The U.S. defeated Spain in Cuba and the Philippines within three months.
Under the treaty that ended the war:
- Spain gave up control of Cuba.
  - Cuba gained its independence, at least nominally.
- The U.S. acquired three territories from Spain:
  - Philippines: Paid for by the U.S. for $20,000,000$ (or a similar amount).
  - Guam
  - Puerto Rico
- Cuba: not technically a U.S. territory but a protectorate.
  - The U.S. constantly intervened in Cuban affairs under the Platt Amendment.

The Spanish-American War was important because it marked the beginning of the U.S. as a colonial empire in 1898.
The U.S. also acquired the Hawaiian Islands in 1898.
1898 marked the rise of American imperialism around the turn of the 20th century.
By the time World War I broke out in 1914, the U.S. was a world power.

World War I began in 1914, but the U.S. did not get involved until 1917.
Factors that led to U.S. involvement:
- Zimmerman Telegram: Intercepted communication from Germany to Mexico, trying to get Mexico to join the war against the U.S. if the U.S. entered on the Allied side.
- Sinking of the Lusitania: A British ship torpedoed by a German U-boat; 128 Americans died.
  - The sinking was one of many ship incidents involving German submarines.
  - The U.S. opposed Germany declaring the entire North Atlantic a war zone.
President Wilson's war message to Congress in 1917 argued for war not only to protect American interests and lives and due to the Zimmerman telegram but also:
- "To make the world safe for democracy."
  - The idea was that a German victory would be terrible for democracy worldwide.
  - Americans were led to believe that involvement in World War I was about protecting democracy around the world.

The Allies won World War I, but:
- Democracy did not seem safer after the war.
  - Mussolini came to power in Italy (1922).
  - Stalin rose to power in the Soviet Union (around 1925).
  - Hitler rose to power in Germany (late 1920s).
  - Franco controlled Spain (mid-1930s).
  - Military dictators rose to power in Japan (1930s).
Many Americans concluded that World War I had been a waste of lives (30,000 American lives lost, 300,000 wounded).
- Even if it had made the world safe for democracy.
This led to isolationism in the U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s.
- U.S. foreign policy during this period can be summarized quickly because the U.S. was not heavily involved in world affairs.
- The logic was that involvement in world affairs had led to being dragged into World War I so to avoid future wars is to abstain involvement.