Home » Dangerous Nation: another look at the Spanish-American War (Part I)

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<i>Dangerous Nation</i>: another look at the Spanish-American War (Part I) — 7 Comments

  1. My info about the Spanish American war was similar to yours. Although I have often wondered why Spanish imperialism has never received the same scrutiny as that of other European countries, I never suspected camps.
    I guess I have to add another book to my “to read” stack. Thanks for the thought-provoking post.

  2. I have wondered how much the situation in Cuba is considered to be improved, now we are past the century mark. I personally think the present is better than the former but, the present is still bad, very bad.

  3. “I have wondered how much the situation in Cuba is considered to be improved, now we are past the century mark.” (Ed on WestSlope)

    Let me dig deeper, Ed. Why has Cuba endured such a calamitous political history? Can someone supply basic reasons, perspective, or sources?

  4. jng.
    Somebody, Prescott, or P. J. O’Rourke, opined that Latin America was settled by the turbulent spirits who had nobody to fight once the Reconquista ended (1492).
    The English Civil War ended and downsized the armies. Those unemployed soldiers didn’t go to the Colonies. They went to Ireland.
    Latin America was settled by people whose economy went sour when they threw out the Jews (1492), with an obsolete, crusading religion, and with the labor management skills of conquistadores..
    Culture, culture, culture, and it has inertia.

  5. Why has Cuba endured such a calamitous political history?

    They experienced Marxist-revolutionaries personally. That tends to crap on anyone’s day, in any century.

  6. “Latin” means Catholic. And Catholicism was historically rather totalitarian in its spirit and never was able to counterbalance totalitarian movements, both Marxist and fascist. All anti-totalitarian elements in Christian culture embraced Reformation, it had more appeal for them. So the political results were fairly predictable.

  7. To impose democratic political system on a nation that never had adequate political culture means create Weimar Republic situation, inherently instable and prone to degeneration into fascist regime. This was done with Germany after WWI. After WWII Allies knew better and attempted much more deep and ambitious society transformation: they taught Germans democratic culture in all its important issues, staying there as imperial, occupational force for decades. This is long and costly effort. Real choice is not between imperialistic conquest and liberation: the former is a necessary prerequisite for the latter, if you want any long-standing results.

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