Cuba–Spain relations Poet José Martí who died in May 1895 at the Battle of Dos Ríos. The war lasted until 1898 when the United States deployed forces to the island. That same year, American naval ship, USS Maine (ACR-1) exploded and sank in the Havana Harbor and resulted in the United States blaming the incident on Spain. This resulted in the Spanish–American War which began in April 1898 until August 1898. At the end of the war, the United States came out as the victors in the war and obtained Cuba as a possession and it resulted in the defeat and collapse
French immigration to Cuba Cuba were allowed to return to the island. They, together with new French immigrants, formed a second wave of French immigration to Santiago de Cuba. This second wave promoted an increase in economic activity in the city, and resulted in Santiago becoming a prime exporter of coffee. Sugarcane-raising expanded in the surrounding savannas, while new roads and aqueducts were built to encourage the settling of the Sierra Maestra. Between 1818 and 1835 a third wave of immigration to Santiago de Cuba occurred, prompted by a royal order from the Spanish Crown intended to increase the proportion of whites in the