{{Short description|1898–1902 U.S. military occupation and administration of Cuba}} {{See also|Second Occupation of Cuba|Sugar Intervention|Guantánamo Bay Naval Base}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}} {{More citations needed|date=June 2016}} {{Infobox country | native_name = {{native name|es|Gobierno Militar de Cuba}} | conventional_long_name = Military Government of Cuba | era = Modern Era | status = United States military occupation | year_start = 1898 | year_end = 1902 | event_start = Treaty of Paris | date_start = 10 December | event_end = Independence | date_end = 20 May | event1 = Platt Amendment | date_event1 = 2 March 1901 | event2 = | date_event2 = | event3 = | date_event3 = | event4 = | date_event4 = | event_pre = Teller Amendment | date_pre = 20 April 1898 | event_post = | date_post = |common_languages=Cuban Spanish<br>Haitian Creole | religion = Roman Catholicism<br>Santería<br>Judaism | p1 = Captaincy General of Cuba | flag_p1 = Flag of Spain (1785-1873 and 1875-1931).svg | p2 = Republic of Cuba in Arms | flag_p2 = Céspedes flag.svg | p3 = | flag_p3 = | p4 = | flag_p4 = | p5 = | flag_p5 = | s1 = Republic of Cuba (1902–1959){{!}}Republic of Cuba | flag_s1 = Flag of Cuba.svg | s2 = | flag_s2 = | s3 = | flag_s43 = | s4 = | flag_s4 = | image_flag = US flag 45 stars.svg | flag = Flag of the United States | flag_type = Flag | image_coat = Coat of arms of the United States occupation of Cuba.svg | symbol = Coat of arms of Cuba | symbol_type = Coat of arms | other_symbol = {{center|80px}} | other_symbol_type = Great Seal of the USA: | image_map = CUB orthographic.svg | image_map_caption = | capital = Havana | capital_exile = | national_motto = {{lang|la|E Pluribus Unum}}<br/>"Out of Many, One" | national_anthem = {{lang|la|Salve, Columbia}}<br/>"Hail, Columbia"<br/>{{center|File:Four Ruffles and Flourishes and Hail Columbia.ogg}} | currency = | title_leader = Military-Governor | leader1 = John R. Brooke | leader2 = Leonard Wood | year_leader1 = 1898–1899 | year_leader2 = 1899 | year_leader3 = 1899–1902 | legislature = | house1 = | type_house1 = | house2 = | type_house2 = | footnotes = <!--- Accepts wikilinks ---> | today = Cuba | demonym = | area_km2 = | area_rank = | GDP_PPP = | GDP_PPP_year = | HDI = | HDI_year = }} {{History of Cuba}} The '''Military Government of Cuba''' ({{langx|es|Gobierno Militar de Cuba}}) was a provisional military government in Cuba that was established in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War in 1898 when Spain ceded Cuba to the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wood |first=Leonard |date=1903 |title=The military government of Cuba |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1009912 |journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.1177/000271620302100201 |jstor=1009912 |hdl=2027/miun.agy6954.0021.002 |s2cid=220849377 |language=en |format=PDF |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lane |first=Jack C |title=Instrument for Empire: The American Military Government in Cuba, 1899–1902 |publisher=Science & Society |year=1972 }}</ref> Cuba obtained its independence from the United States in May 1902.
This period was also referred to as the '''First occupation of Cuba''',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Logan |first=E. L. |date=2008-12-01 |title=The 1899 Cuban Marriage Law Controversy: Church, State and Empire in the Crucible of Nation |url=https://academic.oup.com/jsh/article-lookup/doi/10.1353/jsh.0.0140 |journal=Journal of Social History |language=en |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=469–494 |doi=10.1353/jsh.0.0140 |issn=0022-4529|url-access=subscription }}</ref> to distinguish it from a second occupation from 1906 to 1909, after Cuba had gained its independence. United States Army forces involved in the garrisoning of the island during this time were honored with the Army of Cuban Occupation Medal after its establishment in 1915.
==Timeline== ;1898 * 15 February: The USS ''Maine'' explodes in Havana harbor.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-15 |title=Today in History: February 15, USS Maine explodes in Havana Harbor |url=https://apnews.com/today-in-history/february-15 |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> * 20 April: President McKinley signs a congressional joint resolution declaring war against Spain. It includes the Teller Amendment asserting U.S. intentions in declaring war on Spain exclude exercising "sovereignty, jurisdiction or control" over Cuba, "except for pacification thereof".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The War of 1898 and the U.S.-Filipino War, 1899-1902 |url=https://peacehistory-usfp.org/1898-1899/ |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=Peace History |language=en-US}}</ref> * 10 December: Spain and the United States sign the Treaty of Paris. Spanish–American War officially ends.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-12-10 |title=Spanish-American War ends, Dec. 10, 1898 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2008/12/spanish-american-war-ends-dec-10-1898-016367 |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref>
;1899 * 1 January: Military government installed by the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pavey |first=Frank D. |date=1901 |title=The Independence of Cuba |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25105140 |journal=The North American Review |volume=172 |issue=532 |pages=403–415 |jstor=25105140 |issn=0029-2397}}</ref> * 11 April: Spain relinquishes sovereignty over Cuba.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Documents - Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1898/d712a |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=history.state.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Avalon Project - Treaty of Peace Between the United States and Spain; December 10, 1898 |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/sp1898.asp |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=avalon.law.yale.edu}}</ref> '''1900'''
* 16 June: Cuban local elections.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Rowe |first=L. S. |date=1905 |title=The Reorganization of Local Government in Cuba |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1009794 |journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=109–119 |doi=10.1177/000271620502500208 |jstor=1009794 |issn=0002-7162|url-access=subscription }}</ref> * 1 July: Municipal officials installed by the military governor were replaced with elected officials.<ref name=":0" /> ;1901 * 21 February: Constitution of the Republic of Cuba is adopted.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Republic of Cuba {{!}} Cuban history [1902–1959] {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Republic-of-Cuba-1902-1959 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260303044630/https://www.britannica.com/place/Republic-of-Cuba-1902-1959 |archive-date=2026-03-03 |access-date=2026-04-27 |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> * 31 December: Estrada Palma is elected the first president of the Republic of Cuba.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tomás Estrada Palma {{!}} Cuban Independence, Revolutionary & Statesman {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tomas-Estrada-Palma |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260421100331/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tomas-Estrada-Palma |archive-date=2026-04-21 |access-date=2026-04-27 |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tomás Estrada Palma {{!}} History {{!}} Research Starters {{!}} EBSCO Research |url=https://www.ebsco.com/ |access-date=2026-04-27 |website=EBSCO |language=en}}</ref>
;1902 * 20 May: The 1901 constitution takes effect. Birth of the Republic of Cuba.<ref>[http://historyofcuba.com/history/time/timetbl2d.htm History of Cuba]. Retrieved 30 June 2015.</ref>
==Platt Amendment== The Platt Amendment defined the terms by which the United States would cease its occupation of Cuba. The amendment, placed into an army appropriations bill was designed to give back control of Cuba to the Cuban people. It had eight conditions to which the Cuban government needed to adhere before full sovereignty would be transferred. The main conditions of the amendment prohibited Cuba from signing any treaty allowing foreign powers to use the island for military purposes. The United States also maintained the right to interfere with Cuban independence in order to maintain a certain level of protection of life, though the extent of this intrusion was not defined. Most significant, the amendment forced the Cuban government to sign a treaty officially binding the amendment to law.
The United States reasoning behind the amendment was based on the significant commercial interests held on the island. Spain had previously been unable to preserve U.S. interests and maintain law and order. At the end of military occupation, the amendment served as the primary method of ensuring a permanent presence. Due to the previously enacted Teller Amendment, the United States was forced to grant Cuba its independence after Spanish rule ended. Since the Platt Amendment was successfully incorporated into the constitution in Cuba, influence was maintained without direct U.S. involvement in the country.<ref>[https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/platt The United States, Cuba, and the Platt Amendment, 1901] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423105708/http://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/platt |date=23 April 2015 }}. Office of the Historian. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 30 June 2015.</ref>
==See also== * American imperialism
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Cuba-United States relations|state=collapsed}} {{United States intervention in Latin America}}
Category:1898 establishments in Cuba Category:Cuba–United States relations Category:United States involvement in regime change Cuba Category:Banana Wars Category:Presidency of William McKinley Category:Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt Category:Provisional governments