tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post6785096481430714016..comments2024-03-16T01:00:19.876-05:00Comments on The Mad Monarchist: The Spanish War with the United StatesMadMonarchisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083008336883267870noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-69558518169273592462017-05-22T08:30:33.675-05:002017-05-22T08:30:33.675-05:00Some say that the loss of Cuba and the Philippines...Some say that the loss of Cuba and the Philippines was good for Spain as repatriation of capital fuelled spanish banking and industry. Spanish economy grew and society evolved between 1914 and 1929 as never before.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15880380503347723720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-91661690175219359752017-05-12T03:25:27.098-05:002017-05-12T03:25:27.098-05:00Cara al Sol ... I admire Franco too.
As a politic...Cara al Sol ... I admire Franco too.<br /><br />As a politician and ruler, he had some bad sides, but as a general, both Rif and 36-39, he's inspirational.<br /><br />If US had not taken Cuba and Philippines in this war, he would probably have been in the Spanish Marine.Hans Georg Lundahlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055583255516264955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-45430702005780114292017-05-11T02:06:49.845-05:002017-05-11T02:06:49.845-05:00I didn't know that point but I can tell you th...I didn't know that point but I can tell you that this kind of insane and hopeless resistance is one of the most characteristic patterns of spanish behaviour. <br />I' ll tell you something not related to this topic but that I think you may find interesting. Louis XX of France was actually my classmate back in the 80's and I can assure you that he was much more impressed by his great grandfather who was some not very tall spanish general you may know, than by all his Bourbon ancestry. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15880380503347723720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-50498396553366887932017-05-10T03:05:06.458-05:002017-05-10T03:05:06.458-05:00The "Black Legend" (which is exactly tha...The "Black Legend" (which is exactly that, a legend and not a fact) never had much of an impact on me but it is disturbing how widespread the effects of it still are. As for the siege of Baler, that was indeed a heroic stand but I did not include it here as that was really an engagement of the Filipino rebellion rather than the war with the United States though eventually they did overlap on the timeline. It does fit though as the performance of the Spanish was so impressive to the U.S. military that an American general wrote a translation of the Spanish commander's diary and gave copies to all of his officers so they could learn from his example.MadMonarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08083008336883267870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-1988715100355743752017-05-10T01:36:38.737-05:002017-05-10T01:36:38.737-05:00Congratulations for your blog and your post, wich ...Congratulations for your blog and your post, wich is a fresh breeze far away from the traditional Black Legend pamphlets Spaniards are used to find everywhere when Anglos or even French approach our History.<br />However, I miss in your summary of the Spanish-American war the most quintessentially spanish proof of heroism in the whole war: the Baler siege, known in Spain as the Last of the Philipines. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15880380503347723720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-76076348445994844152017-05-05T15:40:32.667-05:002017-05-05T15:40:32.667-05:00The U.S. was able to 'project power' suffi...The U.S. was able to 'project power' sufficiently to take The Philippines and Guam in the first place so, obviously, their possession was not a necessity. The USA had already surpassed the British, economically, by the 1870's, long before gaining any outlying possessions.<br /><br />Still, I feel like we're going in circles here as you keep pointing to what use these islands had in future wars which advanced America above other countries whereas I am arguing that such a position itself, such wars themselves, have not necessarily been beneficial. The U.S. possessed The Philippines in 1941, the Japanese conquered them, this had no impact on the USA and America was able to take them back even though doing so wasn't absolutely necessary to defeat Japan. America became strong enough to take what island possessions it needed to defeat Japan, it was not prevented from doing so by not being in control of such islands in the first place. <br /><br />In all you've said I have yet to hear one actual concrete benefit these islands have had on the USA. It's all been rather abstract things, or to further a cause that you presume is ultimately beneficial without pointing out exactly how this is so.MadMonarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08083008336883267870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-61846629760867995162017-05-03T22:17:36.794-05:002017-05-03T22:17:36.794-05:00That's true, but those events didn't make ...That's true, but those events didn't make the United States a superpower in and of itself. Superpower status is dependent on the ability to project power globally, which requires a navy and the infrastructure necessary to maintain it. That's why Imperial Germany was never a superpower despite it's strong economic base and land strength, because Britain had control of the seas. The Germans under Wilhelm tried to circumvent British sea power through the Berlin-Baghdad railway, but that never panned out. <br /><br />Furthermore, I disagree that Guam is only of minor convenience. Guam is the only island between Japan and Hawaii with a sheltered harbor and an airstrip, making it a strategic nexus for any nation wishing to control the Western Pacific. The Philippines is in an equally advantageous position. If anything I'd argue that we didn't go far enough in our land acquisitions, since allowing Spain to retain the Mariana Islands allowed Germany and eventually Japan to obtain them instead, but I digress.<br /><br />Anyways, I'm not attempting to make the case for or against the efficacy of maintaining Pax Americana; You and I probably have different views on that issue so I'm happy to allow that to be a point of divergence between us. My point is simply that, in actuality, the land ceded from Spain to the United States was immensely valuable to American strategic interests due to their position. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06031952505863505913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-9006748621836481262017-05-02T02:56:27.617-05:002017-05-02T02:56:27.617-05:00Woah, that's much too big of a leap for me. Gu...Woah, that's much too big of a leap for me. Guam and The Philippines didn't make the USA the world's undisputed superpower, that was accomplished by economic growth (which the former Spanish colonies hindered rather than helped) and the suicide of the other great powers in two world wars. In fact, in the time that the USA has been the world's undisputed superpower, it has had no bases in The Philippines and Guam had been no more than an occasional minor convenience. This is why the USA was recently dealing with Australia about making use of ports there for operations in the South China Sea, which the PRC warned Australia not to do, because the American bases in Japan are too far away and there are no American bases in The Philippines. <br /><br />And, again, I know a number of people who would dispute whether this superpower status has been of benefit to America anyway. As the numerous trade imbalances show, with a country of 300 million hyper-consumers, the USA imports far more than it exports so keeping trade routes to America open is more important to countries such as China than it is to America. If the 'free flow of trade' was interrupted, other countries would lose far more than America would.MadMonarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08083008336883267870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-20019723682598052182017-05-01T22:05:29.433-05:002017-05-01T22:05:29.433-05:00It's allowed the United States to become the w...It's allowed the United States to become the worlds undisputed superpower, a title which the US has been able to maintain due to the size of her navy. Without sea power, the United States would be nothing, and to maintain sea power the United States must secure control of the oceans and the trade routes contained therein. When seen from this perspective, those naval bases in Guam, Manila and Diego Garcia become much more important, since their positions within the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia give America a forward operating base with which to dominate the trade lanes in the South China Sea and the Straight of Malacca, through which a substantial amount of the worlds energy and raw resources pass through annually.<br /><br />Choke points are another matter entirely. Losing the Panama Canal was blow to national pride, but with the advent of International maritime law, the need to exclusively own trade lanes and canals is much less important than it was in the past. It's much more prudent to enforce existing freedom of navigation laws while ensuring that nations such as Iran and China don't interfere with the free flow of trade. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06031952505863505913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-16573115549999439512017-04-30T12:14:55.621-05:002017-04-30T12:14:55.621-05:00Without question there seemed to be great value to...Without question there seemed to be great value to these places but I suppose the point I was making was more fundamental. These places had strategic value for "US power projection" as you say but, what I cast doubt on was how that power projection benefited America in the long term. So, Guam is important as a stepping stone to going somewhere else but if there is nowhere else to go to, it becomes rather useless. The Philippines could only be regarded as an important ally in terms of their geography assuming someone like China is America's enemy. Otherwise, The Philippines has not the wealth nor the military power to be a helpful ally at all nor can even their geography be counted on since so many oppose any US military presence in the country at all. So, yes, they could be a useful base for operations against China but then, why would operations against China be beneficial for the United States?<br /><br />The need for coaling stations was real once upon a time but strategic "choke points" are forever. Other than the Panama Canal (which was given up and no one seems to notice) the USA never possessed any vital global "choke points" most of which were held previously by the British and before them, the Dutch or Portuguese.MadMonarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08083008336883267870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-88364937501644097242017-04-30T05:15:41.476-05:002017-04-30T05:15:41.476-05:00A very well written article as usual. I'd like...A very well written article as usual. I'd like to offer a point in response to the question you raised about the value of the outcome of the Spanish-American War: While the land concessions the United States obtained may seem insignificant in terms of size, they were none the less extremely significant in terms of their strategic value. Guam is a crucial stopover point for ships heading towards the Western Pacific, and the Philippines, while independent, remain an important strategic ally for US power projection in the South-Eastern Pacific. The importance of islands and coaling stations may not be obvious to the 21st century man, but when examined within the context of overall US grand-strategy their value becomes apparent.<br /><br />Alfred Mahan was a contemporary of the Spanish-American War and actually touches upon this topic in his book ''The Influence of Sea Power Upon History'' Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06031952505863505913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-90684263189666090692017-04-14T03:07:33.976-05:002017-04-14T03:07:33.976-05:00"They blamed a Spanish mine for the sinking o...<i>"They blamed a Spanish mine for the sinking of the ship. In truth, while there has been some debate about what caused the sinking, we do know for a fact that it was certainly *not* a Spanish mine but was, rather, the result of some internal accident."</i><br /><br />I am reminded about the story of Oradour sur Glâne.Hans Georg Lundahlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055583255516264955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-79036106914704869792017-04-14T03:05:22.526-05:002017-04-14T03:05:22.526-05:00"He saw plenty of Cubans who were loyal to th...<i>"He saw plenty of Cubans who were loyal to the Spanish Crown and he saw the rebels behaving as bandits, making life worse for the Cuban people and then blaming it all on “Spanish oppression”."</i><br /><br />Che Guevara famously recommended Ho Chi Minh for this tactic (with a twist : Ho Chi Minh was not relying on US and so had to estrange the people, which he did by provoking conflicts by extortion).<br /><br />Was Che shy about taking the Cuban example?Hans Georg Lundahlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055583255516264955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8783969302315257415.post-90532175821872535332017-04-14T03:02:25.819-05:002017-04-14T03:02:25.819-05:00"Almost the only voice on the world stage spe...<i>"Almost the only voice on the world stage speaking up for Spain was the German Kaiser Wilhelm II."</i><br /><br />As "Austrian born", counting place not nationality, wondering : where did Franz Joseph stand?<br /><br />After all, Spain had previously been Habsburg ruled and there was some legitimist interest in Vienna (our last rightful king of the older dynasty - I am Swedish by nation of parents - was guest in Schönbrunn).Hans Georg Lundahlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055583255516264955noreply@blogger.com