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 lesser extent in the Philippines. Little or no fighting occurred in Guam, Puerto Rico, or other areas.

Although largely forgotten in the United States today, the Spanish–American War was a formative event in American history. The destruction of the USS Maine, yellow journalism, the war slogan "Remember the Maine!", and the charge up San Juan Hill are all iconic symbols of the war. The war marked the first time since the American Civil War that Americans from the North and the South fought a common enemy, and the war marked the end of strong sectional feeling and the "healing" of the wounds of that war. The Spanish–American War catapulted Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency, marked the beginning of the modern United States Army, and led to the first establishment of American colonies overseas.

The war proved seminal for Spain as well. The loss of Cuba, which was seen not as a colony but as part of Spain itself, was traumatic for the Spanish government and Spanish people. This trauma led to the rise of the Generation of '98, a group of young intellectuals, authors, and artists who were deeply critical of what they perceived as conformism and ignorance on the part of the Spanish people. They successfully called for a new "Spanish national spirit" that was politically active, anti-authoritarian, and generally anti-imperialistic and anti-military. The war also greatly benefited Spain economically. No longer spending large sums to maintain its colonies, significant amounts of capital were suddenly repatriated for use domestically. This sudden and massive influx of capital led to the development for the first time of large, modern industries in banking, chemicals, electrical power generation, manufacturing, ship building, steel, and textiles.

The war led to independence for Cuba within a few years. The United States imposed a colonial government on the Philippines, quashing the young Philippine Republic. This led directly to the Philippine–American War, a brutal guerilla conflict that caused the deaths of about 4,100 Americans and 12,000 to 20,000 Filipino guerilla and regular troops. Another 200,000 to 1,500,000 Filipino civilian deaths occurred. However, the conflict brought William Howard Taft to the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt, and led to Taft's ascension to the U.S. presidency in 1908. The American presence in the Philippines still existed at the beginning of World War II. Along with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the American experience in the Philippines at the start of the war (the Philippines Campaign, the Bataan Death March, the Battle of Corregidor) became another formative episode in the American experience and rehabilitated the career of General Douglas MacArthur.