The Spanish American War followed Spain's declaration of war due to intervention in which crisis?

• A. The Spanish/Cuba crisis
• B. The Mexico-City crisis
• C. The Cuban Missile Crisis
• D. The Gulf Crisis

Answer: (A)

Intervention in Cuba’s fight for independence from Spain is what pulled the United States into the conflict, setting the stage for the Spanish-American War. Cuba’s struggle against Spanish rule created a crisis in which the U.S. chose to support Cuban rebels, helped along by sensational press coverage and the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor. That combination of tensions over Cuba and American involvement is the trigger that led Spain to declare war on the United States, and then for the broader war to begin. The other events listed belong to different times and contexts—The Cuban Missile Crisis happened in the 1960s, and there isn’t a well-known Mexico-City or Gulf Crisis tied to this sequence—so the Cuban crisis is the correct reference.