Part of the answer, mentioned frequently, is that the U.S. Navy was in better shape than the Spanish one (the consequence of Mahan’s influence). But another part, too often ignored, is that the United States was not the only adversary Spain was fighting. The war is usually called the Spanish-American War and is said to have started in 1898. Yet a more accurate name would be the Spanish–Cuban–Puerto Rican–Philippine–American War. Cubans call it the War of 1895, Filipinos date its start at 1896—and neither of those counts the many earlier uprisings and wars. The United States was, in other
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