Spanish-American War

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Spanish-American War (1898) Conflict fought in the Caribbean and the Pacific, between Spain and the USA. The immediate cause was the sinking of the US battleship Maine at Havana. Fighting lasted ten weeks (April–July). The US Navy destroyed Spanish fleets in the Philippines and Cuba. Spanish troops in Cuba surrendered after defeat at San Juan Hill, where Theodore Roosevelt led the ‘Rough Riders’. The USA also seized Guam and Wake Island, annexed Hawaii and the Philippines. The Treaty of Paris forced Spain to cede Puerto Rico.

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