Chronology of Colonial Cuba American battleship, USS "Maine", was sunk under strange circumstances in the Havana Harbor. This brought about American intervention in the war, which became the Spanish–American War that ended with the Treaty of Paris on December 10, within which Spain ceded Cuba and Puerto Rico to the United States. Thus, a new stage in Cuban history was begun. Chronology of Colonial Cuba The chronology of the colonial time of Cuba is about the Spanish colonial period in Cuba, and the efforts to obtain independence from the Spanish Empire and includes history from the "discovery" of the island by Christopher Columbus to
Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city of Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains the communities of Antonio Maceo, Bravo, Castillo Duany, Daiquirí, El Caney, El Cobre, El Cristo, Guilera, Leyte Vidal, Moncada and Siboney. Historically Santiago de Cuba has long been the second-most important city on the island after Havana, and still remains the second-largest. It is on a bay connected to the Caribbean Sea and is an