Spanish–American War American Civil War and Cuba's Ten Years' War, U.S. businessmen began monopolizing the devalued sugar markets in Cuba. In 1894, 90% of Cuba's total exports went to the United States, which also provided 40% of Cuba's imports. Cuba's total exports to the U.S. were almost twelve times larger than the export to her mother country, Spain. U.S. business interests indicated that while Spain still held political authority over Cuba, economic authority in Cuba, acting-authority, was shifting to the US. The U.S. became interested in a trans-isthmus canal either in Nicaragua, or in Panama, where the Panama Canal would later be
United States declaration of war upon Spain on Cuba, with which it had extensive economic ties. Historians have long debated America's intentions in becoming involved in the conflict. For a significant period during and after the war, selfless humanitarian interest in the fate of the Cuban people was accepted as the major impetus for the declaration of war. A supporting argument for this line of thinking is that yellow journalism created an inflammatory mood in the country and swayed public opinion to sympathize with Cuba. Recently this school of thinking has grown less popular. Many historians now believe that the United States was acting more out of Propaganda of the Spanish–American War set up by Lawson in nearby Key West in order to keep a close eye on the Cuban conflict. However, the focus of midwestern newspapers on particular facts served in the end as another cause of the war. Since the events occurring in Cuba were not always credible many midwestern newspaper owners shifted their content towards domestic issues, namely the effect of Cuba on the American economy. American interests in the trade with Cuba were significant, and through the papers' coverage of these matters, much of the readership in the midwest soon came to believe that protecting these interests was Spanish–American War future news reporting. The idea of American imperialism changed in the public's mind after the short and successful Spanish–American War. Due to the United States' powerful influence diplomatically and militarily, Cuba's status after the war relied heavily upon American actions. Two major developments emerged from the Spanish–American War: one, it greatly enforced the United States' vision of itself as a "defender of democracy" and as a major world power, and two, it had severe implications for Cuban–American relations in the future. As historian Louis Pérez argued in his book "Cuba in the American Imagination: Metaphor and the Imperial Ethos", the Cuba–United States relations known as the Ostend Manifesto was devised by U.S. diplomats, interested in adding a slave state to the Union. The Manifesto proposed buying Cuba from Spain for $130 million. If Spain were to reject the offer, the Manifesto implied that, in the name of Manifest Destiny, war would be necessary. When the plans became public, because of one author's vocal enthusiasm for the plan, the manifesto caused a scandal, and was rejected, in part because of objections from anti-slavery campaigners. The Cuban rebellion 1868-1878 against Spanish rule, called by historians the Ten Years' War, gained wide sympathy in the U.S. Cold War (1953–1962) African nations on how to escape the clutches of imperialism. After all, Cuba had thrown off an oppressive dictatorship and with stood a U.S. backed invasion of the island. Cuba's focuses on Africa stemmed from the belief that the decolonization provided an arena for the struggle between socialism and capitalism. Another reason for Cuba's support of African socialist movements was for the shared link between Cuba and Africa. About one- third of Cuban citizens had at least some African heritage. As such, many Cubans were motivated to help liberate Africans from colonialism and imperialism and to help spread the Cuban Ostend Manifesto 1856. Although he remained committed to Cuban annexation, he was hindered by popular opposition and the growing sectional conflict. It was not until thirty years after the Civil War that the so-called Cuban Question again came to national prominence. Footnotes Citations Sources Ostend Manifesto The Ostend Manifesto, also known as the Ostend Circular, was a document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain while implying that the U.S. should declare war if Spain refused. Cuba's annexation had long been a goal of U.S. slaveholding expansionists, and was supported by a faction History of Cuban nationality camps, where they worked and were starved. This furthered their nationalism even more because they couldn't take what was being done to their own people. The stories of the rebels' bravery and nationalism eventually reached the United States, who sent aid which soon became the Spanish–American War. However, the Spanish control of Cuba soon became replaced with a large American influence in Cuba's affairs. Once again Cuban nationalism was an at an all-time high since they had just fought for their own independence, and now they had another country in their affairs. Between 1780 and 1867, over 780 000 slaves Afro-Cuban occurred during the 17th century where ex-slaves from both Cuba and Brazil were offered the same opportunity. Angola also has communities of Afro-Cubans, Amparos. They are descendants of Afro-Cuban soldiers brought to the country in 1975 as a result of the Cuban involvement in the Cold War. Fidel Castro deployed thousands of troops to the country during the Angolan Civil War. As a result of this era, there exists a small Spanish-speaking community in Angola of Afro-Cubans numbering about 100,000. Haitian Creole and culture first entered Cuba with the arrival of Haitian immigrants at the start of the 19th century. Foreign interventions by Cuba provide military support to revolutionary movements during the Portuguese Colonial War beginning in the 1960s and into the 1970s. Following the Congo Crisis, Cuba was supporting the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde during the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence.As the Angolan Civil War broke out, Cuban intervention in Angola was a large-scale intervention to support the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). Cuba had provided military support to MPLA since the early 1960s, while they combatted Portuguese forces and in 1963 provided military training to guerrillas in Algeria during the Sand War. In late-1974, Spanish–American War have, is masked at the Dry Tortugas. In his autobiography, Theodore Roosevelt gave his views of the origins of the war: Our own direct interests were great, because of the Cuban tobacco and sugar, and especially because of Cuba's relation to the projected Isthmian [Panama] Canal. But even greater were our interests from the standpoint of humanity. ... It was our duty, even more from the standpoint of National honor than from the standpoint of National interest, to stop the devastation and destruction. Because of these considerations I favored war. In the 333 years of Spanish rule, the Philippines developed History of Cuban nationality more and more obsolete, and holding Cuba back from economic and political success. The dissatisfaction with Spain's inept administration, their lack of representation in the government, and high taxes sparked the beginning of the 10 years war in which over 200,000 lives were lost. Being crushed by the Spanish army only fueled their nationalism even more. It caused a uniting of all the Cuban people, with an emphasis on former slaves, who were freed shortly after the war. However, when the Cubans rose up again, Spain implemented their policy of Reconcentration. This forced hundreds of thousands of Cubans into labor Cuba–Spain relations Spain is the largest foreign investor in Cuba from the European Union; Cuba is Spain’s 42nd largest trading partner globally and 4th largest from Latin America (after Mexico, Brazil and Chile). Cuba–Spain relations Cuba–Spain relations refer to the bilateral relations between the Republic of Cuba and the Kingdom of Spain. Relations date back more than five centuries. Cuba had been a colony from 1492 until 1898 when the United States took over the territory in the Spanish–American War. Many Cubans have ancestry dating back from Spain. Many Spaniards escaped the first Spanish Civil War and went to Cuba, and other History of slavery in Virginia people of color. In Cuba by contrast, there were 213,167 free people of color, or 39% of its black population of 550,000. Cuba had not developed a plantation system in its early years, and its economy supported the Spanish empire from urbanized settlements. With a shortage of white labor, blacks had become deeply involved in urban trades and businesses. In this setting, slaves were able to buy their way out of slavery. Southern states had economies dependent on slavery, but sentiment for abolition grew in the North. Slavery was a source of growing conflict between the states as the new Propaganda of the Spanish–American War a filibustering effort by John A. Quitman to acquire Cuba received the tentative support of the president. Pierce backed off, however, and instead renewed the offer to buy the island, this time for $130 million. When the public learned of the Ostend Manifesto in 1854, which argued that the United States could seize Cuba by force if Spain refused to sell, this effectively killed the effort to acquire the island. The public now linked expansion with slavery; if Manifest Destiny had once enjoyed widespread popular approval, this was no longer true. The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1860 History of Cuba U.S. embassy in Havana was formally reopened in August 2015. History of Cuba The island of Cuba was inhabited by various Mesoamerican cultures prior to the arrival of the Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. After Columbus' arrival, Spain conquered Cuba and appointed Spanish governors to rule in Havana. In 1762, Havana was briefly occupied by Great Britain, before being returned to Spain in exchange for Florida. A series of rebellions during the 19th century failed to end the Spanish rule. However, the Spanish–American War resulted in a Spanish withdrawal from the island in 1898, and following three-and-a-half years of Actuality film by law. Recreations of various kinds typify early kinds of news coverage; as the camera could not be brought to so many events of public significance or interest, the events were brought before the cameras, with actors and/or models of various kinds employed. This was especially common during the Spanish–American War; although cameras were dispatched to the front in Cuba, the footage sent back was often disappointing, so it was more effective to find a setting in New Jersey and to restage the battle scenes with actors. These films were often promoted to exhibitors and the public alike as the History of Cuban nationality for profit or consumed. Many people quickly seized upon the potential of this and began raising as many pigs as possible, even feeding them from their own rations to keep them growing. The pigs would then be sold to either the plantation owner or someone else, and a profit would be made. These profits would sometimes parlay into the ownership of a horse, which implied a certain degree of freedom and mobility. Worker mobility was also important in spreading information (concerning revolution, property rights, etc.) to other interested communities. After slavery was phased out by 1888, many former slaves had Cuba–United States relations the following 20 years the United States repeatedly intervened militarily in Cuban affairs: 1906–09, 1912 and 1917–22. In 1912 U.S. forces were sent to quell protests by Afro-Cubans against discrimination. By 1926 U.S. companies owned 60% of the Cuban sugar industry and imported 95% of the total Cuban crop, and Washington was generally supportive of successive Cuban governments. However, internal confrontations between the government of Gerardo Machado and political opposition led to his military overthrow by Cuban rebels in 1933. U.S. Ambassador Sumner Welles requested U.S. military intervention. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, despite his promotion of the Good Neighbor policy History of Cuba former slaves joined the ranks of farmers and urban working class. Most wealthy Cubans lost their rural properties, and many of them joined the urban middle class. The number of sugar mills dropped and efficiency increased, with only companies and the most powerful plantation owners owning them. The numbers of campesinos and tenant farmers rose considerably. Furthermore, American capital began flowing into Cuba, mostly into the sugar and tobacco businesses and mining. By 1895, these investments totalled $50 million. Although Cuba remained Spanish politically, economically it became increasingly dependent on the United States. These changes also entailed the rise of Ten Years' War cause gained strength, favoring a gradual emancipation of slaves with financial compensation from Spain for slaveholders. Additionally, some planters preferred hiring Chinese immigrants as indentured workers and in anticipation of ending slavery. Before the 1870s, more than 125,000 were recruited to Cuba. In May 1865, Cuban creole elites placed four demands upon the Spanish Parliament: tariff reform, Cuban representation in Parliament, judicial equality with Spaniards, and full enforcement of the slave trade ban. The Spanish Parliament at the time was changing; gaining much influence were reactionary, traditionalist politicians who intended to eliminate all liberal reforms. The power of military tribunals Corruption in Cuba product of the colonial heritage of Cuban politics and the financial aid provided by the United States that favoured international sugar prices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the Second World War, the level of corruption in Cuba, among many other Latin American and Caribbean countries, was said to have risen significantly. Some scholars, such as Eduardo Sáenz Rovner, attribute this to North America's increased involvement in Cuba after the First World War that isolated Cuban workers. Cubans were excluded from a large sector of the economy and unable to participate in managerial roles that were taken Cuban military internationalism covert activity and espionage to the open commitment of combat troops on a large scale. The Cuban military presence in Africa was especially notable, with up to 50,000 troops being deployed to Angola alone. Castro justified the use of the armed forces on the African continent as a result of the debt Cuba owed Africa due to its participation in the Atlantic slave trade and the contributions patriotic black Cubans had made to the Cuban War of Independence. Internationalist missions were perceived by the Cuban government as one means of combating the global influence of the United States by proxy, Propaganda of the Spanish–American War Propaganda of the Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April–August 1898) is considered to be both a turning point in the history of propaganda and the beginning of the practice of yellow journalism. It was the first conflict in which military action was precipitated by media involvement. The war grew out of U.S. interest in a fight for revolution between the Spanish military and citizens of their Cuban colony. American newspapers fanned the flames of interest in the war by fabricating atrocities which justified intervention in a number of Spanish colonies worldwide. Several forces within the United States were pushing for Cuban Revolution transformed Cuba's relationship with the United States, although efforts to improve diplomatic relations have gained momentum in recent years. In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, Castro's government began a program of nationalization and political consolidation that transformed Cuba's economy and civil society. The revolution also heralded an era of Cuban intervention in foreign military conflicts, including the Angolan Civil War and the Nicaraguan Revolution. In the decades following United States' invasion of Cuba in 1898, and formal independence from the U.S. on May 20, 1902, Cuba experienced a period of significant instability, enduring a number of revolts, coups and How Few Remain Battle of Camp Hill as a result of Lincoln diverting key troops there to Pennsylvania (who did not arrive in time to fight at Camp Hill), joins the eleven original Confederate states after the war's conclusion, and the Confederacy is also given Indian Territory (our timeline's state of Oklahoma, later the State of Sequoyah in the SV timeline). But, as a compromise, the United States retained Missouri (despite proposals to divide it) and West Virginia. The Spanish island of Cuba is purchased by the Confederate States in the late 1870s for $3,000,000, thus also becoming a Confederate state. Abraham Lincoln History of Cuba History of Cuba The island of Cuba was inhabited by various Mesoamerican cultures prior to the arrival of the Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. After Columbus' arrival, Spain conquered Cuba and appointed Spanish governors to rule in Havana. In 1762, Havana was briefly occupied by Great Britain, before being returned to Spain in exchange for Florida. A series of rebellions during the 19th century failed to end the Spanish rule. However, the Spanish–American War resulted in a Spanish withdrawal from the island in 1898, and following three-and-a-half years of subsequent US military rule, Cuba gained formal independence in 1902. Cuba during World War II Cuba during World War II The history of Cuba during World War II begins in 1939. Because of Cuba's geographical position at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, Havana's role as the principal trading port in the West Indies, and the country's natural resources, Cuba was an important participant in the American Theater of World War II, and subsequently one of the greatest beneficiaries of the United States' Lend-Lease program. Cuba declared war on the Axis powers in December 1941, making it one of the first Latin American countries to enter the conflict, and by the war's end in Gabriel García Márquez May 1958, disagreeing with the owner of "Momento", he resigned and became shortly afterwards editor of the newspaper "Venezuela Gráfica". García Márquez was a "committed Leftist" throughout his life, adhering to socialist beliefs. In 1991, García Márquez published Changing the History of Africa an admiring study of Cuban activities in the Angolan Civil War and the larger South African Border War. García Márquez maintained a close but "nuanced" friendship with Fidel Castro, praising the achievements of the Cuban Revolution, but criticizing aspects of governance and working to "soften (the) roughest edges" of the country. García Márquez's political and ideological views Cuban immigration to the United States and sometimes their lives to the cause of "Cuba Libre". After the Spanish–American War, some Cubans returned to Cuba, but others chose to stay in the U.S. due to the physical and economic devastation caused by conflicte on the island. Several other small waves of Cuban emigration to the U.S. occurred in the early 20th century (1900–59). Most settled in Florida and the northeast U.S. The majority of the 100,000 Cubans came for economic reasons due to (the Great Depression of 1929, volatile sugar prices, and migrant farm labor contracts). Others included anti-Batista refugees fleeing the military dictatorship, which had Havana With this, Cuba became the fifth country in the world to have a railroad, and the first Spanish-speaking country. Throughout the century, Havana was enriched by the construction of additional cultural facilities, such as the Tacon Teatre, one of the most luxurious in the world. The fact that slavery was legal in Cuba until 1886 led to Southern American interest, including a plan by the Knights of the Golden Circle to create a 'Golden Circle' with a 1200 mile-radius centered on Havana. After the Confederate States of America were defeated in the American Civil War in 1865, many former slaveholders Cuban military internationalism and Cuba's opponents during these efforts were often decried as American pawns. Likewise, the US government and its allies perceived the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) as a Soviet proxy, and the use of internationalist missions as a means to indirectly increase Soviet military influence worldwide. There were also more practical reasons for deploying Cuban troops abroad, such as giving the relatively inexperienced armed forces combat experience across a wide range of theaters. By the mid 1980s, a quarter of Cuba's total military strength was committed to its internationalist missions, fighting with socialist governments or factions in various civil conflicts. Cuba–Spain relations Cuba–Spain relations Cuba–Spain relations refer to the bilateral relations between the Republic of Cuba and the Kingdom of Spain. Relations date back more than five centuries. Cuba had been a colony from 1492 until 1898 when the United States took over the territory in the Spanish–American War. Many Cubans have ancestry dating back from Spain. Many Spaniards escaped the first Spanish Civil War and went to Cuba, and other countries, around 1820-1825. The first contact between Spain and the island of Cuba was in October 1492 when explorer Christopher Columbus arrived to Cuba. The first permanent Spanish settlement on the Spanish–American War enunciated the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that the United States would not tolerate further efforts by European governments to retake or expand their colonial holdings in the Americas or to interfere with the newly independent states in the hemisphere; at the same time, the doctrine stated that the U.S. would respect the status of the existing European colonies. Before the American Civil War (1861–1865), Southern interests attempted to have the United States purchase Cuba and convert it into a new slave territory. The pro-slavery element proposed the Ostend Manifesto proposal of 1854. It was rejected by anti-slavery forces. After the Military history of Cuba Military history of Cuba The Military history of Cuba begins with the island's conquest by the Spanish and its battles afterward to gain its independence. Since the Communist takeover by Fidel Castro in 1959, Cuba has been involved with many major conflicts of the Cold War in Africa and Latin America where it had supported Marxist governments and rebels from liberation movements who were opposed to their colonial masters and/or allies of the United States. The Ten Years' War was the first of three wars that Cuba fought against Spain for its independence. The Ten Years' War began when Carlos John Aaron Rawlins had recently gone through the Civil War. Also at stake was negotiations for settlement of the Alabama Claims, that included the claim the British had recognized Confederate belligerency during the Civil War. The recognition of Cuban belligerency would have jeopardized negotiations between Britain and the United States. Secretary Rawlins, however, was strongly in favor of the recognition of Cuban belligerency and even advocated war with Spain, if necessary. Rawlins went to the press and stated reasons why the United States needed to aid the Cuban rebels. Rawlins himself had accepted $28,000 in Cuban War bonds that would have been given Angola–Cuba relations community teamed up with military forces from their previous foe to oust UNITA. With superior training and bushwar tactics from the South Africans coupled with the impressive Soviet military weaponry still in stock, the MPLA were able to eventually drive UNITA back. The eventual defection of one of Savimbi's senior generals also helped to corner and eradicate Savimbi. Angola–Cuba relations Angola-Cuba diplomatic relations refers to the historical and current bilateral relationship between Angola and Cuba. During Angola's civil war, Cuban forces fought alongside the Marxist–Leninist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) government; against the Western-backed National Union for Virginius Affair Spain. The "Virginius" Affair started a resurgence in the US Navy following the American Civil War; its fleet had been heretofore inferior to the superior warships of Spain. After the American Civil War, the island country of Cuba under Spanish rule was one of the few Western Hemisphere countries in which slavery remained legal and was widely practiced. On October 10, 1868 a revolution broke out, known as the Ten Years' War, by Cuban landowners, led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. The Spanish, led initially by Francisco Lersundi, used the military to suppress the rebellion. In 1870, Secretary of State Slavery in Cuba writers were a part of the "negrista" or "negrismo" literary movement of the 20th century. This was a Hispanophone effort to reclaim Cuban blackness and connections to African culture, while expressing a new sensibility (similar to the flowering of the American Harlem Renaissance). In this effort, Guillén, Cabrera, and their contemporaries revisited and tried to make sense of slavery and the crimes against the Afro-Cuban people. Slavery in Cuba Slavery in Cuba was associated with the sugar cane plantations and existed on the territory of the island of Cuba from the 16th century until it was abolished by royal decree History of Havana the Tacon Teatre, one of the most luxurious in the world, the Artistic and Literary Liceo (Lyceum) and the theater Coliseo (Colosseum). The fact that slavery was legal in Cuba until 1886 led to Southern American interest, including a plan by the Knights of the Golden Circle to create a 'Golden Circle' with a 1200 mile-radius centered on Havana. After the Confederate States of America were defeated in the American Civil War in 1865, many former slaveholders continued to run plantations by moving to Havana. In 1863, the city walls were knocked down so that the metropolis could be enlarged. Cuban Americans New York City, about 3,000 in New Orleans, and 2,000 in Key West. The causes of these movements were both economic and political, which intensified after 1860, when political factors played the predominant role in emigration, as a result of deteriorating relations with the Spanish metropolis. The year 1869 marked the beginning of one of the most significant periods of emigration from Cuba to the United States, again centered on Key West. The exodus of hundreds of workers and businessmen was linked to the manufacture of tobacco. The reasons are many: the introduction of more modern techniques of elaboration of Timeline of the Spanish–American War Timeline of the Spanish–American War The timeline of events of the Spanish–American War covers major events leading up to, during, and concluding the Spanish–American War, a ten-week conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States of America. The conflict had its roots in the worsening socio-economic and military position of Spain after the Peninsular War, the growing confidence of the United States as a world power, a lengthy independence movement in Cuba and a nascent one in the Philippines, and strengthening economic ties between Cuba and the United States. Land warfare occurred primarily in Cuba and to a much Cuba–United States relations than Spanish settlements. Between 1878 and 1898 American investors took advantage of deteriorating economic conditions of the Ten Years' War to take over estates they had tried unsuccessfully to buy before while others acquired properties at very low prices. Above all this presence facilitated the integration of the Cuban economy into the North American system and weakened Cuba's ties with Spain. As Cuban resistance to Spanish rule grew, rebels fighting for independence attempted to get support from U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. Grant declined and the resistance was curtailed, though American interests in the region continued. U.S. Secretary of State Foreign interventions by Cuba means. In July 1964, the Organization of American States sanctioned Cuba after a cache of weapons destined for the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional was discovered on Venezuela's shores. In May 1967, the Machurucuto Incident saw Cuban troops attempting to make their way into the Andes to train Venezuelan guerrillas, but they were captured by the Venezuelan Army and National Guard. Ties between Cuba and Venezuela resumed in 1974 after guerrilla activity decreased in Venezuela. When Cuba began to enter its Special Period which saw domestic economic collapse, it once again became motivated to take control of Venezuela's oil wealth. Spanish occupation of the Dominican Republic U.S. Civil War in 1865 and the re-assertion of the Monroe Doctrine by the United States (no longer involved in internal conflict and possessing enormously expanded and modernized military forces as a result of the war) prompted the evacuation of Spanish forces back to Cuba that same year. By 1862, the Spaniards were contending with a limited insurgency and losing hundreds of soldiers to guerrillas and the devastation of yellow fever. A major uprising began in earnest in August 1863, motivated by the Spanish government's attempts to impose strict Catholicism and the Hispanization of most government and military positions. On Foreign relations of Cuba transportation issues for the Caribbean region. Following a meeting in November 2004, several leaders of South America have attempted to make Cuba either a full or associate member of the South American trade bloc known as Mercosur. Prior to achieving its independence, Cuba was a colony of Spain. Prior to the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, Cuba maintained strong economic and political ties to the United States. From 1902 until its abrogation in 1934, the Platt Amendment authorized the US to use military force to preserve Cuba's independence. In 1917, Cuba entered World War I on the side of the Cuba has conducted a foreign policy that is uncharacteristic of such a minor, developing country. Under Castro, Cuba was heavily involved in wars in Africa, Central America and Asia. Cuba supported Algeria in 1961–1965, and sent tens of thousands of troops to Angola during the Angolan Civil War. Other countries that featured Cuban involvement include Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Yemen. Lesser known actions include the 1959 missions to the Dominican Republic. The expedition failed, but a prominent monument to its members was erected in their memory in Santo Domingo by the Dominican government, and they feature prominently at the country's History of Cuba Britain Florida in exchange for Cuba on France's recommendation to Spain, The French advised that declining the offer could result in Spain losing Mexico and much of the South American mainland to the British. This led to disappointment in Britain, as many believed that Florida was a poor return for Cuba and Britain's other gains in the war. In the early 19th century, three major political currents took shape in Cuba: reformism, annexation and independence. In addition, there were spontaneous and isolated actions carried out from time to time, adding a current of abolitionism. The Declaration of Independence by the Cuba–United States relations in Havana harbor, led to the Spanish–American War. In Cuba the war became known as "the U.S. intervention in Cuba's War of Independence". On 10 December 1898 Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris and, in accordance with the treaty, Spain renounced all rights to Cuba. The treaty put an end to the Spanish Empire in the Americas and marked the beginning of United States expansion and long-term political dominance in the region. Immediately after the signing of the treaty, the U.S.-owned "Island of Cuba Real Estate Company" opened for business to sell Cuban land to Americans. History of Cuban nationality were brought to Cuba. This was more than all the rest of Spanish America combined. Slavery was leaned upon heavily by the owners of the highly profitable sugar plantations. By 1886, people of colour – the majority being ex-slaves – made up 1/3 of the population of Cuba. The issue of integration was a complex and highly contentious issue. Rights were hard to come by for many former slaves and also for those who lived and worked in rural communities. Emancipation was a slow process that started in 1868 and continued until 1886. As a preliminary step, the Moret Law Propaganda of the Spanish–American War the media, such as William Randolph Hearst, and of the military were calling for intervention by the United States to help the revolutionaries in Cuba. American opinion was overwhelmingly swayed and hostility towards Spain began to build. American newspapers ran stories of a sensationalist nature depicting fabricated atrocities committed by the Spanish. These stories often reflected on how thousands of Cubans had been displaced to the country side in concentration camps. Many stories used depictions of gruesome murders, rapes, and slaughter. During this time there was a riot in Havana by those sympathetic to the Spanish. The printing presses of Afrocubanismo progressive change after Cuba’s War of Independence against Spain, where the majority of Cuba’s armed forces consisted of black and mixed-race soldiers, many of whom were slaves and former slaves. In spite of their efforts in the War of Independence, Afro-Cubans were outraged at the failure of Cuban legislature to enact policies that would benefit the black population. It wasn’t until the establishment of universal male suffrage that White Cubans had to acknowledge the value of the Afro-Cuban citizen, since the black population now made up 30 percent of Cuba’s total voting population. In addition to the political and economic History of the United States (1865–1918) the labor base necessary for the expansion of industry and agriculture, as well as the population base for most of fast-growing urban America. By the late nineteenth century, the United States had become a leading global industrial power, building on new technologies (such as the telegraph and steel), an expanding railroad network, and abundant natural resources such as coal, timber, oil, and farmland, to usher in the Second Industrial Revolution. There were also two very important wars. The U.S. easily defeated Spain in 1898, which unexpectedly brought a small empire. Cuba quickly was given independence, as well as the Philippines Cuban War of Independence Cuban War of Independence The Cuban War of Independence (, 1895–98) was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). The final three months of the conflict escalated to become the Spanish–American War, with United States forces being deployed in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands against Spain. Historians disagree as to the extent that United States officials were motivated to intervene for humanitarian reasons but agree that yellow journalism exaggerated atrocities attributed to Spanish forces against Cuban civilians. During the years The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil oil industry experts and political activists, including Matthew Simmons and James Howard Kunstler. The Cuban economy, heavily dependent on economic aid from the Soviet Union, suffered tremendously following the end of the Cold War. The nation lost half of its oil imports, and 85 percent of its international trade economy. Director Faith Morgan, together with the non-profit group The Community Solution, seeks to educate audiences about peak oil and the impact it will have on transportation, agriculture, medicine, and other industries. The idea for a film based on the Cuban recovery first arose in August 2003 when Morgan traveled to Cuba as the Ten Years' War. Two thousand Cuban Chinese joined the rebels. Chinese had been imported as indentured laborers. A monument in Havana honours the Cuban Chinese who fell in the war. The United States declined to recognize the new Cuban government, although many European and Latin American nations did so. In 1878, the Pact of Zanjón ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba. In 1879–1880, Cuban patriot Calixto García attempted to start another war known as the Little War but did not receive enough support. Slavery in Cuba was abolished in 1875 but the process was Cuba–Mexico relations importance of the United States and the USSR in these relations will be discussed since it had a large impact on the relations between Mexico and Cuba. Especially during the Cold War era, the US believed that their relations with Mexico should help dictate, to an extent, how Mexico could treat Cuba and how public or private they needed to be with opinions towards Cuba. After the Spanish–American War, the United States gained control of Cuba and slowly gave the country its independence in a limited form. Under the Platt Amendment, the country was given independence with a few conditions. Republic of Cuba (1902–1959) head of the armed forces in 1933, colonel Fulgencio Batista played a dominant role in Cuban politics over the next decades. The Cuban Revolution of 1953–1959 massively changed Cuban society, creating a socialist state and ending US economic dominance in Cuba, as it aligned the country with the Soviet Union. The Republic of Cuba has been regarded as a client state of the United States. From 1902–1932 Cuban and United States law included the Platt Amendment, which guaranteed the US right to intervene in Cuba and placed restrictions on Cuban foreign relations. In 1934, Cuba and the United States signed History of Cuban nationality sought to reassert control in the Americas, these elite positions were greatly weakened, much to the anger of those who had enjoyed the collateral benefits of authority. In the early 19th century, Cuban nationalist movement lagged behind its counterparts in the rest of Latin America. Maintaining good relations with Spain was essential for the health of Cuba's primarily agrarian economy, as the island nation was heavily dependent at the time upon exporting its sugar to European markets. Cuba, as one of the last outposts of slavery, also relied on Spain for protection against any potential slave uprisings. As compared to Slavery in Cuba Slavery in Cuba Slavery in Cuba was associated with the sugar cane plantations and existed on the territory of the island of Cuba from the 16th century until it was abolished by royal decree on October 7, 1886. More than a million African slaves were brought to Cuba as part of the Atlantic slave trade; Cuba did not end its participation in the slave trade until 1867. As the slaves outnumbered the European Cubans, a large proportion of Cubans are descended from these African slaves, perhaps as many as 65% of the population. Slavery in Cuba was particularly profitable for History of civil affairs in the United States Armed Forces of the Caribbean and Latin American nations before and after World War I. After the Spanish–American War ended in 1898, Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood restored order in Cuba with CA forces. The Army returned to Cuba in 1905, again in 1912, and starting in 1917, was there for a period of many years. The Marine Corps was called upon to protect American interests by military intervention in the Dominican Republic (1916–1924), Haiti (1915–1934), and Nicaragua (1926–1934). The Army was also called to Panama in 1903 to ensure the birth of that nation when it broke away from Colombia to become Florida Cracker Horse this type was the predominant horse in the southeastern United States. During the American Civil War (1861–1865), both belligerents purchased large amounts of beef from Florida, and the Spanish horses bred there were highly desired as riding horses. During this time, there was also a continual introduction of new Spanish blood from Cuba, as horses were traded between the two areas. During the Dust Bowl (1930–1940), large western cattle were moved into Florida, bringing with them the parasitic screwworm. Cattle with this parasite needed to be treated frequently. The cowboys found that the Florida Cracker horses, bred for working smaller Southern United States literature transcends these geographical boundaries. Southern literature occupies a liminal space within American culture. On the one hand, the South has been marginalized within U.S. since the 18th century, because its reliance on plantation agriculture and African slavery made it seem too British in the post-Revolutionary war era. On the other hand, the white South has historically thrown its support behind American capitalist endeavors and imperial ambitions (for instance, through the enthusiastic participation of many white southerners in the Mexican-American war). At the same time, southern racial history has come to be seen as emblematic of, rather than exceptional to, U.S. History of the United States (1865–1918) and educate them to new ideas. Spain had once controlled a vast colonial empire, but by the second half of the 19th century only Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and some African possessions remained. The Cubans had been in a state of rebellion since the 1870s, and American newspapers, particularly New York City papers of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, printed sensationalized "Yellow Journalism" stories about Spanish atrocities in Cuba. However, these lurid stories reached only a small fraction of voters; most read sober accounts of Spanish atrocities, and they called for intervention. On February 15, 1898, the battleship History of Cuba statutes enabled the United States to gain a foothold in Cuba, they presented obstacles for American businesses to acquire land and permits. Eventually, Cornelius Van Horne of the Cuba Company, an early railroad company in Cuba, found a loophole in "revocable permits" justified by preexisting Spanish legislation that effectively allowed railroads to be built in Cuba. General Leonard Wood, the governor of Cuba and a noted annexationist, used this loophole to grant hundreds of franchises, permits, and other concessions to American businesses. Once the legal barriers were overcome, American investments transformed the Cuban economy. Within two years of entering Cuba, Cuban military internationalism called Operación Carlota ("Operation Carlota"), to support the communist government and participate in the Angolan Civil War and the South African Border War. 1977-1988: During the Ethiopian Civil War and the Ogaden War, Cuban troops entered into Ethiopia to support the Ethiopian socialist government and fight the Somali national liberation movement of the Ogaden. 1979-1990: In the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua, the Cuban State sent military personnel who took control of the Nicaraguan military security and intelligence services. 1959: Failed expedition to Panama in order to start a revolutionary movement in the country. They were arrested after a skirmish with Tourism in Cuba Tourism in Cuba Tourism in Cuba is an industry that generates over 4.5 million arrivals in 2017, and is one of the main sources of revenue for the island. With its favorable climate, beaches, colonial architecture and distinct cultural history, Cuba has long been an attractive destination for tourists. "Cuba treasures 253 protected areas, 257 national monuments, 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 7 Natural Biosphere Reserves and 13 Fauna Refuge among other non-tourist zones." Having been Spain's closest colony to the United States until 1898, in the first part of the 20th century Cuba continued to benefit from big investments, Cuban Americans of Cubans, which went from 720 inhabitants in 1880 to 5,532 in 1890. However, the second half of the 1890s marked the decline of the Cuban immigrant population, as an important part of it returned to the island to fight for independence. The War accentuated Cuban immigrant integration into American society, whose numbers were significant: more than 12,000 people. In the mid- to late 19th century, several cigar manufacturers moved their operations to Key West to get away from growing disruptions as Cubans sought independence from Spanish colonial rule. Many Cuban cigar workers followed. The Cuban government had even established Cuban Revolution of the Soviet Union into Europe after the 1917 Russian Revolution, Castro immediately sought to "export" his revolution to other countries in the Caribbean and beyond, sending weapons to Algerian rebels as early as 1960. In the following decades, Cuba became heavily involved in supporting Communist insurgencies and independence movements in many developing countries, sending military aid to insurgents in Ghana, Nicaragua, Yemen and Angola, among others. Castro's intervention in the Angolan Civil War in the 1970s and 1980s was particularly significant, involving as many as 60,000 Cuban soldiers. Following the American embargo, the Soviet Union became Cuba's main ally. Ten Years' War peaked in the years 1872 and 1873, but after the deaths of Agramonte and Céspedes, Cuban operations were limited to the regions of Camagüey and Oriente. Gómez began an invasion of Western Cuba in 1875, but the vast majority of slaves and wealthy sugar producers in the region did not join the revolt. After his most trusted general, the American Henry Reeve, was killed in 1876, Gómez ended. Spain's efforts to fight were hindered by the civil war (Third Carlist War) that broke out in Spain in 1872. When the civil war ended in 1876, the government sent more Spanish Cuban sugar economy the Spanish–American War in 1898 and its formation of a republic in 1902 led to investments in the Cuban economy from the United States. The doubling of sugar consumption in the United States between 1903 and 1925 further stimulated investment in Cuba to develop the infrastructure necessary for sugar production. Most of the subsequent development took place in the rural, eastern region of Cuba where sugar production grew the most. In 1920, US banks gave large loans to finance Cuban efforts to profit from a speculative boom in world sugar prices. The boom collapsed shortly thereafter, however, and the banks History of Cuban nationality of 1870 granted freedom to children and those over the age of sixty but offered little else. As the skirmishes continued and losses compounded during the 10 Years’ War, the anti-colonial forces spoke more openly about the idea of a free Cuban citizen. Even though there was still a strong racial divide, many slaves joined up with the revolutionaries. Although this initial rebellion did not force any significant changes, the participation of slaves did not go unnoticed. By the early 1890s, Spain was willing to offer fairly considerable civil rights and voting rights to many former slaves in a vain Spanish–American War Libre" movement and the fact that many Americans had drawn parallels between the American Revolution and the Cuban revolt, seeing the Spanish Government as the tyrannical colonial oppressor. Historian Louis Pérez notes that "The proposition of war in behalf of Cuban independence took hold immediately and held on thereafter. Such was the sense of the public mood." At the time many poems and songs were written in the United States to express support of the "Cuba Libre" movement. At the same time, many African Americans, facing growing racial discrimination and increasing retardation of their civil rights, wanted to take part Origins of the American Civil War Abolitionists also attacked slavery as a threat to the freedom of white Americans. Defining freedom as more than a simple lack of restraint, antebellum reformers held that the truly free man was one who imposed restraints upon himself. Thus, for the anti-slavery reformers of the 1830s and 1840s, the promise of free labor and upward social mobility (opportunities for advancement, rights to own property, and to control one's own labor), was central to the ideal of reforming individuals. Controversy over the so-called Ostend Manifesto (which proposed the U.S. annexation of Cuba as a slave state) and the Fugitive Slave Act History of Cuba blacks, slave traders looked for others sources of cheap labour, such as Chinese colonists and Indians from Yucatán. Another feature of the population was the number of Spanish-born colonists, known as "peninsulares", who were mostly adult males; they constituted between ten and twenty per cent of the population between the middle of the 19th century and the great depression of the 1930s. Black unrest and British pressure to abolish slavery motivated many Creoles to advocate Cuba's annexation by the United States, where slavery was still legal. Other Cubans supported the idea due to their desire for American-style economic development and Bay of Pigs Invasion Cuba and the Soviet Union. This eventually led to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The invasion was a major failure for US foreign policy; Kennedy ordered a number of internal investigations across Latin America. Since the middle of the 18th century Cuba had been the crown jewel of the Spanish colonial empire. In the late 19th century, Cuban nationalist revolutionaries rebelled against Spanish dominance, resulting in three liberation wars: the Ten Years' War (1868–1878), the Little War (1879–1880) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898). The United States government proclaimed war on the Spanish Empire, resulting Cuban-American lobby organizations within the intellectual wing of the Cuba lobby advocate for travel as a human right, and have affected change on U.S. travel policies towards Cuba. Business interest lobbies often advocate for lifting the embargo so as to increase trade between the two nations. They believe trade with Cuba would be beneficial for the U.S. economy, and usually point more to financial than humanitarian reasons for their stance. Lobbies outside the Cuban-American community have also advocated for liberalization of trade between the two nations, most notably the agribusiness lobby. In the 1980s, most Cuban expatriate interest groups were only active Cuba–Namibia relations Cuba–Namibia relations Cuba–Namibia relations refer to the current and historical relationship between Cuba and Namibia. Cuba politically, militarily and diplomatically supported the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) during the Namibian War of Independence. Cuba provided military training for the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), SWAPO's armed wing. As a result of this involvement Namibia usually supports Cuban policies on the international level, like in the case of the requested release of the Cuban Five. Since independence in 1990, Namibia and Cuba have held joint meetings every two years for economic, scientific-technical and commercial cooperation. In 2005, it was Legacy of Che Guevara immortal warrior they want to project." Despite the formal adulation, Guevara's legacy is less pronounced on a national policy front. In Cuba, Guevara's death precipitated the abandonment of guerrilla warfare as an instrument of foreign policy, ushering in a "rapprochement" with the Soviet Union, and the reformation of the government along Soviet lines. When Cuban troops returned to Africa in the 1970s, it was as part of a large-scale military expedition, and support for insurrection movements in Latin America and the Caribbean became logistical and organizational rather than overt. Cuba also abandoned Guevara's plans for economic diversification and rapid industrialization Cuba during World War II worked with five years before during the Spanish Civil War. The effort was unsuccessful, however, and Hemingway soon turned his attention to fighting the German U-boats operating in the Caribbean Sea. Just three weeks after receiving permission from Ambassador Spruille Braden to form the "Crook Factory," Hemingway asked Braden for permission to arm his fishing boat, the "Pilar", for patrols against U-boats off of the Cuban coast. Surprisingly, Baden gave Hemingway permission, and so the latter proceeded with arming the "Pilar" and the crew with machine guns, bazookas, and hand grenades. Hemingway's plan was similar to that of the Q-ship History of Cuba with any foreign ships. The resultant stagnation of economic growth was particularly pronounced in Cuba because of its great strategic importance in the Caribbean, and the stranglehold that Spain kept on it as a result. As soon as Spain opened Cuba's ports up to foreign ships, a great sugar boom began that lasted until the 1880s. The island was perfect for growing sugar, being dominated by rolling plains, with rich soil and adequate rainfall. By 1860, Cuba was devoted to growing sugar, having to import all other necessary goods. Cuba was particularly dependent on the United States, which bought 82 Republic of Cuba (1902–1959) Republic of Cuba (1902–1959) The Republic of Cuba (Spanish: "República de Cuba") of 1902 to 1959, referred by the current Cuban government as the Neocolonial Republic (Spanish: "República Neocolonial"), and as Free Cuba (Spanish: "Cuba Libre") by Cuban dissidents, refers to the historical period in Cuba from 1902, when Cuba seceded from US rule in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War that took Cuba from Spanish rule in 1898, until communist revolutionaries took power in 1959. The official form of government was representative democracy though at times it was controlled by a military junta or otherwise unelected government. After becoming Spanish–American War to its independence, and even annexation was considered for a time, which historian Louis Pérez explored in his book "Cuba and the United States: Ties of Singular Intimacy". The Cubans harbored a great deal of discontent towards the Spanish Government, due to years of manipulation on the part of the Spanish. The prospect of getting the United States involved in the fight was considered by many Cubans as a step in the right direction. While the Cubans were wary of the United States' intentions, the overwhelming support from the American public provided the Cubans with some peace of mind, because Ten Years' War as a leading Latin American intellectual and Cuba’s foremost national hero, its primary architect of the 1895–98 Cuban War of Independence. After some initial victories and defeats, in 1868 Céspedes replaced Gomez as head of the Cuban Army with United States General Thomas Jordan, a veteran of Confederate States Army in the American Civil War. He brought a well-equipped force, but General Jordan's reliance on regular tactics, although initially effective, left the families of Cuban rebels far too vulnerable to the "ethnic cleansing" tactics of the ruthless Blas Villate, Count of Valmaceda (also spelled Balmaceda). Valeriano Weyler, known as the Spanish–American War of '98 originated as a response to this trauma, marking a renaissance in Spanish culture. Economically, the war benefited Spain, because after the war large sums of capital held by Spaniards in Cuba and the United States were returned to the peninsula and invested in Spain. This massive flow of capital (equivalent to 25% of the gross domestic product of one year) helped to develop the large modern firms in Spain in the steel, chemical, financial, mechanical, textile, shipyard, and electrical power industries. However, the political consequences were serious. The defeat in the war began the weakening of the fragile Cuba under Fidel Castro evening's reception for Castro, attended by Allen Ginsberg, Langston Hughes, C. Wright Mills and I. F. Stone. Castro returned to Cuba on 28 September. He feared a U.S.-backed coup and in 1959 spent $120 million on Soviet, French and Belgian weaponry. Intent on constructing the largest army in Latin America, by early 1960 the government had doubled the size of the Cuban armed forces. Fearing counter-revolutionary elements in the army, the government created a People's Militia to arm citizens favorable to the revolution, and trained at least 50,000 supporters in combat techniques. In September 1960, they created the Committees for Music of African heritage in Cuba Music of African heritage in Cuba Clearly, the origin of African groups in Cuba is due to the island's long history of slavery. Compared to the USA, slavery started in Cuba much earlier and continued for decades afterwards. Cuba was the last country in the Americas to abolish the importation of slaves, and the second last to free the slaves. In 1807 the British Parliament outlawed slavery, and from then on the British Navy acted to intercept Portuguese and Spanish slave ships. By 1860 the trade with Cuba was almost extinguished; the last slave ship to Cuba was in 1873. Interwar period far-left volunteers. The civil war did not escalate into a larger conflict, but did become a worldwide ideological battleground that pitted all the Communists and many socialists and liberals against Catholics, conservatives and fascists. Worldwide there was a decline in pacifism and a growing sense that another great war was imminent, and that it would be worth fighting for. The changing world order that the war had brought about, in particular the growth of the United States and Japan as naval powers, and the rise of independence movements in India and Ireland, caused a major reassessment of British imperial policy. Cold War (1953–1962) Cuba was to nationalize American assets on the island without compensation. Before the fall of the pro-U.S. Batista regime, U.S. interests had owned four-fifths of the stakes in the island's utilities, nearly half of its sugar, and nearly all of its mining industries. The U.S. could manipulate the Cuban economy at a whim by tinkering with the island's financial services or by tampering with government quotas and tariffs on sugar–the country's staple export commodity. In response to these acts, the U.S. government refused to recognize Castro as the leader of Cuba, the U.S. government made the first of several attempts Cuba española is connected with liberal and autonomist ideas that coexisted throughout the nineteenth century with the ideal of independence. The entry of the United States in the Spanish–American War and its support for separatist Spaniards, changed the destiny of the island, which in 1898 came under American influence. Current historical research tints Manichean positions developed by Marxist doctrine in Cuba, aimed to prove the inevitability of the revolutionary movement that started in 1868 with the Grito de Yara, and concluded a hundred years later with the seizure of power by Fidel Castro, offering a more balanced interpretation of the events leading Golden Circle (proposed country) Knights of the Golden Circle that the Southern United States should secede in their own confederation and invade and annex the area of the golden circle to vastly expand the power of the South. European colonialism and dependence on slavery had declined more rapidly in some countries than others. The Spanish possessions of Cuba and Puerto Rico and the Empire of Brazil continued to depend on slavery, as did the Southern United States. In the years prior to the American Civil War, the rise of support for abolition of slavery was one of several divisive issues in the United States. Hadley Cantril Free conducted a poll of Cuba during 1960 demonstrating great support for Fidel Castro, which was overlooked during the presidential transition between Eisenhower and Kennedy and read only after the Bay of Pigs Invasion fiasco. Cantril's most-cited work is "The Pattern of Human Concerns," notable for the development of the self-anchoring scale (also known as "Cantril's Ladder"). Cantril and Free also first discovered the paradox that American voters tend to oppose "big government" in general while supporting many specific liberal social programs. During the late 1950s, Cantril served on the International Objectives and Strategies panel of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund's Angola–Cuba relations South Africa had invested in the Caluque Hydro Scheme in Southern Angola (which fed into Namibia) and had a natural fear of the effects of instability in Angola – thus South Africa initially sent troops to protect the Hydro Scheme (and later intervened in the civil war). The government of the Soviet Union, well aware of South African activity in southern Angola, flew Cuban soldiers into Luanda one week before November 11, the declared date of independence. While Cuban officers led the mission and provided the bulk of the troop force, 60 Soviet officers in the Congo joined the Cubans Spanish–American War built (1903–1914), and realized the need for naval protection. Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was an especially influential theorist; his ideas were much admired by future 26th President Theodore Roosevelt, as the U.S. rapidly built a powerful naval fleet of steel warships in the 1880s and 1890s. Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897–1898 and was an aggressive supporter of an American war with Spain over Cuban interests. Meanwhile, the "Cuba Libre" movement, led by Cuban intellectual José Martí until his death in 1895, had established offices in Florida. The face of the Cuban revolution in the U.S. Cuban intervention in Angola soon failed due to the spread of war with UNITA. According to Cubatecnica, the government office for non-military foreign assistance, there were more Cuban volunteers than could be accepted and long waiting lists. Cuba's engagement laid the foundations for Angola's social services. In the following years, Cuba kept itself engaged in a number of other African countries. In 1978, Cuba sent 16,000 troops to the Ethiopian Ogaden War, but this time in close coordination with the Soviets. Smaller military missions were active in the People's Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Benin. Cuban technical, educational and medical staff José Martí crisis it was experiencing, and the media was talking about the purchase of Cuba from Spain. Cuba was a profitable, fertile country with an important strategic position in the Gulf of Mexico. Martí felt that the interests of Cuba's future lay with its sister nations in Latin America, and were opposite to those of the United States. Another trait that Martí admired was the work ethic that characterized American society. On various occasions Martí conveyed his deep admiration for the immigrant-based society, "whose principal aspiration he interpreted as being to construct a truly modern country, based upon hard work and History of Cuba were followed by a reactionary governor, Francisco Lersundi, who suppressed all liberties granted by the previous governors and maintained a pro-slavery regime. On 10 October 1868, the landowner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes declared Cuban independence and freedom for his slaves. This began the Ten Years' War, which lasted from 1868 to 1878, and eventually contributed to the abolition of slavery in 1886. During the time of the so-called "Rewarding Truce", which encompassed the 17 years from the end of the Ten Years' War in 1878, fundamental changes took place in Cuban society. With the abolition of slavery in October 1886, Angola–Cuba relations Angola–Cuba relations Angola-Cuba diplomatic relations refers to the historical and current bilateral relationship between Angola and Cuba. During Angola's civil war, Cuban forces fought alongside the Marxist–Leninist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) government; against the Western-backed National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) guerrillas who were aided by the South-African army. The present day outcome of the war resulted in the MPLA changing from a Marxist–Leninist party to a multi-party democratic system based on Neoliberal principles (the MPLA also dropped the "Labour Party" extension to its name as Finca Vigía in for over 20 years. In the fall of 1960, the Cuban government expropriated a great deal of foreign property, including the Hemingway house "Finca Vigía". As a result, the U.S. government broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in October 1960 and imposed a partial financial embargo. After the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961 and Cuba's announcement that it was a Communist state in May, relations between Cuba and the U.S. deteriorated further. Hemingway was being treated for severe depression in the U.S. through the first half of 1961, and the Hemingways could not return to Cuba due Military history of Cuba Manuel de Céspedes and his followers of patriots from his sugar mill La Demajagua began an uprising. The war ended with the signing of the Pact of Zanjón. The Cuban War of Independence was the last major uprising by Cuban Nationalists against the Spanish Colonial Government. The conflict culminated with American intervention during the Spanish–American War. The Spanish–American War was a major war fought by the United States and the Kingdom of Spain in the Spanish territories of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The war was triggered with the sinking of the USS "Maine" in Havana Harbor. Cuban rebels History of Cuba In December 2014, after a highly publicized exchange of political prisoners between the United States and Cuba, U.S. President Barack Obama announced plans to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba after over five decades of severance. He stated that the U.S. government intended to establish an embassy in Havana and improve economic ties with the country. Obama's proposal received both strong criticism and praise from different elements of the Cuban American community. In April 2015, the U.S. government announced that Cuba would be removed from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, on which it had been included since 1982. The