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The Spanish Empire had been established in the aftermath of Columbus 's discovery of the New World. The resources of the Americas allowed the kingdom of Spain to become a global power. Until the mid-seventeenth century, Spain was the leading European power. The struggle for supremacy in Europe weakened Spain and it was increasingly impoverished and militarily weak. Despite this, the Spanish were able to maintain an empire, which included most of Central and Latin America, the Philippines, and some enclaves in Africa. Napoleon conquered Spain in 1806 and this weakened its hold over Latin America and by 1830 it had lost all its possessions in Central and Latin America. However, despite this, the Spanish kingdom still controlled Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Marianas, and the Philippines <ref>Hendrickson, Kenneth E., Jr, The Spanish–American War (Greenwood, Greenwood Publishing, 2003), p. 67</ref>.  These overseas possessions were very important to the Spanish economy and Madrid concentrated on the development of these colonies. Spain was convulsed by a series of civil wars in the nineteenth century but it was still able to hold its remaining empire together. From the late nineteenth century, there was growing resistance to Spain in its remaining colonies. In Cuba and the Philippines, there were nationalist revolts. Many international observers were sympathetic to these rebels as they believed that Spain was no longer fit to have an Empire. The Spanish army brutally repressed the rebels, especially in Cuba, where the Spanish governor establish a system of concentration camps in a bid to quell the rebellion. American public opinion was appalled by the behaviour behavior of the Spanish and there were demands for a war with Spain to liberate Cuba.  The controversial Spanish tactics in Cuba played into the hands of those in Washington D.C. and elsewhere who wanted the US to become an Imperial power. America was well prepared for expansion after 1898 because it already had experience in expanding beyond its borders in the 19th century <ref> Hendrickson, p.113</ref>. For example, it had secured the lands of the Indian and Mexican territory in what is now the South-West of the United States. The American political class and public believed in the concept of Manifest Destiny. This was the belief that that the Republic had a right to expand in the name of progress and it persuaded the public to support overseas expansion. Furthermore, the economy and industry had made such progress that they allowed American Americans to intervene beyond its border<ref> Hendrickson, p. 11</ref>.  In 1898, those American Imperialists were given an excuse to attack Spain. The USS Maine was docked in Santiago de Cuba (Cuba) when it exploded and sank with the loss of hundreds of sailors and marines. This was probably an accident but the popular press used it as a pretext to invade Cuba and attack other Spanish possessions<ref> Paterson, Thomas G. "United States Intervention in Cuba, 1898: Interpretations of the Spanish–American–Cuban–Filipino War," The History Teacher, Vol. 29, No. 3 (May 1996), pp. 341–361</ref>.

The Spanish Empire effectively came to an end with the American defeat in 1898. Spain lost extensive territories, including the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico and assorted Pacific Islands. The country was no longer an Imperial power. The ‘disaster’ added to the political instability of the country but it also offered an opportunity for political reform which was not taken by the political elite, who were too partisan and ineffective. The end of the Imperial pretensions of the country forced many in Spain to seek to regenerate the country. The business class invested in their own country instead of the colonies and this led to the partial industrialization of Spain.  This helped to modernize the nations, but many parts of the peninsula remained mired in poverty. The defeat by the US forced the nation to reconsider its identity and many increasingly saw Spain as a European country which should become more integrated with the continent. In the aftermath of the 1898 defeat the culture of Spain changed and was no longer preoccupied with the past but urged people to engage with the modern world and to embrace change. In this sense, the war of 1898 liberated Spain from the shackles of the past and initiated the process whereby it became a modern, democratic state.