Why did the Secretary of State refer to the Spanish-American War as a splendid little war?

Answer 1

It was called a Splendid Little War because when the USS Maine was destroyed the US went to war with Spain. The war only lasted 100 days and only 460 soldiers were killed.. they gained Guam, Puerto Rico, the Phillipines, and Cuba. It was a short war and the US gained a lot of territory and then they became a World Power.

U.S. victory in Cuba came so quickly and easily.

Answer 2

It was called a Splendid Little War because when the USS Maine was destroyed the US went to war with Spain. The war only lasted 100 days and only 460 soldiers were killed.. they gained Guam, Puerto Rico, the Phillipines, and Cuba. It was a short war and the US gained a lot of territory and then they became a World Power.

U.S. victory in Cuba came so quickly and easily.

Answer 3

It is always a good war when: * Casualties are non-existent or nominal. * They are short in duration. * Your Citizens support the effort. * The war was begun and completed for a just cause. * Military and Political objectives ar met. * You win. It is asways a bad war when: * Casualties are high. * They seem to linger on forever. * Your Citizens fail to support the effort. * The war lacked moral justification and righteous cause. * Military and Political objectives are not met. * You lose. Since winners write the History books, only winning is an essential part of warfare. A splendid war must therefore be one where it is over before it began, where almost no one is hurt, just cause is apparent and the political and military objectives are met. The Spanish-American war was exactly that.
It was "splendid" (for the Americans anyway) in that it was a complete victory for the United States. The battle losses were comparatively quite light for the Americans compared to Spanish losses, and the United States made considerable territorial gains at Spanish expense and all in 109 days.

Answer 4

Because the poor Spaniards didn't want to fight the Americans to begin with. They were practically forced into it with the accidental explosion of the battle USS Maine in Havana Harbor. An accident, which the US (the press primarily) blamed upon the Spanish government as an intentional act of sabotage. This caused the declaration of war against Spain.

Secondly, the war was quick, with minimal US casualties, and with more Spanish surrendering than actually fighting. The press dubbed it, the "Splendid Little War." The actual phrase however is credited to Secretary of State John Milton Hay who penned it in a letter to Theodore Roosevelt who began to use the term himself.

The US acquired holdings throughout the world, from Puerto Rico to the Philippines. All for less then four months of war & and less than 400 US battle deaths. The only fly in the ointment was that the war ended quickly and quietly only to be followed almost instantly by the Philippine American War which involved another 20 years of "blood, sweat and tears". Between 12,000 and 20,000 Filipino combatants and perhaps as many as a million civilian deaths can be added as well as 4,165 US deaths and another 3,000 wounded. With those figures added into the tally, it becomes a genocide instead of a "Splendid Little War".

Answer 5

The war lasted only four months. John Hay (the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom), writing from London to his friend Theodore Roosevelt declared that from start to finish it had been "a splendid little war."

Answer 6

Because it was short, had a low cost in casualties and material, was a stunning victory and changed the image of the US.

Answer 7

He had a witty way with words.

Answer 8

John Milton Hay.