REMEMBER THE MAINE

SEEDS OF IMPERIALISM ?

The USS Maine, commissioned on the 17th September 1895, sank in the harbour at Havana, Cuba 113 years ago today at 21:40 hours on the 15th February 1898, after only three years service. It just exploded in the harbour.

Investigation revealed that more than 5 long tons of powder charges for the ships six and ten inch guns had detonated, obliterating the forward third of the ship. What was left rapidly settled to the bottom of the harbour. 284 men lost their lives. The explosion was a precipitating cause of the Spanish-American War that began in April 1898. The rallying cry became "Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!"

Although various explanations for the explosion were put forward, no satisfactory account was published in the press. Indeed, the press were clamouring for war. Political pressure from the Democratic Party pushed the government of Republican President McKinley into a war he apparently wished to avoid. Ultimatums were eventually sent to Madrid, which were not accepted. First Madrid and then Washington formally declared war.

There had been rumblings throughout Spanish territory in the Caribbean, as well as the Pacific Ocean, and American public opinion, fuelled by the Hearst press, grew angrier at reports of Spanish atrocities. All over the Spanish main people were seeking their independence, and the US Monroe Doctrine was flourishing. Cuban independence in particular was the stated reason for the conflict, which in the end was pretty one sided. The war lasted ten weeks and ended with the Treaty of Paris 1898.

JohnHay, Secretary of State, signing the memorandum of ratification on behalf of the United States

This treaty was very favourable to the United States. It left the Americans with temporary control of Cuba and indefinite colonial authority over Puerto Rico, Guam and the Phillipines. The defeat and subsequent end of the Spanish Empire was a profound shock for Spain's national psyche. The victor gained several Island possessions spanning the globe and a bitter new debate over the wisdom of imperialism.

This 'land grab' by the United States was an inevitable result of the Monroe Doctrine, a policy introduced 75 years earlier in 1823. It was first stated by President Monroe in his state of the Union Address to Congress, but the author of the policy was the then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams.

The doctrine stated that further efforts by European countries to colonise land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention. The doctrine asserted that the Western Hemisphere was not to be further colonised by European countries, but that the United States would neither interfere with existing European Colonies nor meddle in the internal concerns of European countries. (Ho, Ho.)

This doctrine was issued at a time when many Latin American countries were on the verge of becoming independent from the Spanish Empire, and the U.S., apparently reflecting concerns raised by Great Britain, hoped to avoid having any European power take over Spain's colonies.

Clearly, the only way to do that was to interfere with the internal affairs of those colonies or former colonies That is what the U.S. has been doing ever since, e.g. Chile in 1973, which is another reason for viewing the current demonstrations in the middle east and U.S. support of certain powers in Egypt and elsewhere , with a certain degree of caution. "REMEMBER THE MAIN!" and everything that went with it.