Bay of Pigs Invasion - Background

Background

For centuries a part of the Spanish Empire, in the late 19th century, Cuban nationalist revolutionaries rebelled against Spanish dominance, resulting in three liberation wars: the Ten Years' War (1868–1878), the Little War (1879–1880) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898). Supportive of the cause of independence and eager to extend their influence in the Caribbean, the United States government proclaimed war on the Spanish Empire, resulting in the Spanish-American War (1898). The U.S. subsequently invaded the island, and forced the Spanish army out. On 20 May 1902, a new independent government proclaimed the foundation of the Republic of Cuba, with U.S. Military governor Leonard Wood handing over control to President Tomás Estrada Palma, a Cuban-born American citizen. Subsequently, large numbers of U.S. settlers and businessmen arrived in Cuba, and by 1905, 60% of rural properties were owned by non-Cuban North Americans. Between 1906 and 1909, 5000 U.S. Marines were stationed across the island, and returned in 1912, 1917 and 1921 to intervene in internal affairs, sometimes at the behest of the Cuban government.