The main theatres of combat in the Spanish-American War were the Philippines and Cuba. Fighting centred on Manila, where U.S. Commodore George Dewey destroyed the Spanish Pacific fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay (May 1, 1898), and on Santiago de Cuba, which fell to U.S. forces after hard fighting in July.
Where did the Spanish-American War take place?
What were the causes of the Spanish-American War?
The immediate cause of the Spanish-American War was Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain. Newspapers in the U.S. printed sensationalized accounts of Spanish atrocities, fueling humanitarian concerns. The mysterious destruction of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana’s harbour on February 15, 1898, led to a declaration of war against Spain two months later.
