Reaction Paper Crucible OF Empire PDF

Preview

Summary

Download Reaction Paper Crucible OF Empire PDF

Description

REACTION PAPER CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE: THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE: THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR was narrated by award-winning actor Edward James Olmos. It explores the lively characters and historical events around this 100-year-old conflict and its significance to the 20th century. With the use original footage and period photos, newspaper headlines, more than a dozen popular songs from the 1890s, and interviews with some of America's most influential historians, Crucible of Empire tells how problems of race, economy, technology, yellow journalism, and public opinion have driven America into this battle. The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, the result of American intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. American attacks on Spain's Pacific possessions led to involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately to the Philippine–American War. The Spanish-American War was the first "media war." Crucible of Empire examines the role of hyperbolic journalism in the war and makes a significant contribution to William Randolph Hearst. Hearst, then the upstart editor of The New York Journal, realized that a war with Spain over Cuba would not only sell newspapers, but would also make him a national figure. In the late 1890s, American public opinion was agitated by anti-Spanish propaganda led by journalists such as Joseph Pulitzer and William Hearst which used yellow journalism to criticize Spanish administration of Cuba. After the mysterious sinking of the American battleship Maine in Havana harbour in 1898, Hearst had the perfect pretext for war, the Hearst press saw to it that Spain shouldered the blame. Political pressures from the Democratic Party and certain industrialists pushed the administration of Republican President William McKinley into a war he had wished to avoid. Compromise was sought by Spain, but rejected by the United States which sent an ultimatum to Spain demanding it surrender control of Cuba. First Madrid, then Washington, formally declared war. Although the main problem was Cuban independence, the ten-week battle was waged in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The U.S. naval strength proved decisive, enabling U.S. military forces to disembark in Cuba against the Spanish garrison, which had already been brought to its knees by nationwide Cuban militant attacks and further squandered by yellow fever. Numerically superior Cuban, Filipino, and American forces obtained the surrender of Santiago de Cuba and Manila despite the strong performance of some Spanish infantry units and the bloody fight for positions such as San Juan Hill. With two obsolete Spanish squadrons sunk in Santiago de Cuba and Manila Bay, and a third, more modern fleet called home to defend the Spanish coast, Madrid sued for peace. The result was the 1898 Paris Treaty, signed on terms favorable to the United States, which permitted temporary American control of Cuba, and ceded indefinite colonial power over Puerto Rico, Guam, and transferred $20 million of sovereignty over the Philippines to the United States. The loss and fall of the Spanish Empire was a profound shock to Spain's national psyche and provoked a thorough philosophical and artistic revaluation of the Spanish culture known as the Generation of '98. The United

States has accumulated a number of island territories spanning the globe and a gruesome new debate on the wisdom of expansionism. The intervention in Cuban affairs continued until 1934, leaving a remnant of anti-Americanism. Months after the Spanish defeat, America waged its own colonial war against the Filipino rebels. Philippine insurgents who had fought against Spanish rule soon turned their guns against their new occupiers. The Philippine-American War began in February of 1899 and lasted until 1902. Ten times more U.S. troops died suppressing revolts in the Philippines than in defeating Spain. The Spanish-American War was an important turning point in the history of both antagonists. Spain’s defeat decisively turned the nation’s attention away from its overseas colonial adventures and inward upon its domestic needs, a process that led to both a cultural and a literary renaissance and two decades of much-needed economic development in Spain. The victorious United States, on the other hand, emerged from the war a world power with farflung overseas possessions and a new stake in international politics that would soon lead it to play a determining role in the affairs of Europe and the rest of the globe. This documentary is a great film for students, particularly those who are engrossed in war histories. The film provides a thorough explanation of the events with the aid of original footage and period photographs, newspaper headlines, and interviews with some of America's most prominent historians. As for the conclusion, I realized in this film that there are two reasons to have a war, first is to be the center power of the world, and the second is the independence of your country. The Filipinos took their courage to fight with their new occupiers, the Americans, and fought hard for the freedom of their country, even at the cost of their lives....