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 How European History merged into World History 585 could boast that the sun never set on her empire, had been in decline since the days of Philip II. After losing her colonies on the American continents in the early nineteenth century (862ff.) she made no compensating gains in the other parts of the world. In the meantime there was rising to predominance in North America a nation that was destined to deal the final blow to the Spanish empire. In the universal search for trade American busi- ness men were in no respect behind their European competitors. The natural resources of the United States and the skill of the American people placed that country among the first commercial powers of the whole world. At the same time the American terri- torial possessions were increased in the Atlantic and the Pacific. In 1867 Alaska was purchased from Russia. In 1878 a coaling station was secured in the Samoan Islands, and twelve years later one of the islands was formally brought under our flag. In 1898 the Hawaiian Islands were annexed. In that same year came the clash between the United States and Spain, which put an end to Spanish dominion in the New World. 1067. The Spanish- American War (ISQS). The cause of this war was the chronic disturbance which existed in Cuba under Spanish government and which led the United States to decide upon the expulsion of Spain from the Western Hemisphere. In 1895 the last of many Cuban insurrections against Spain broke out, and sympathy was immediately manifested in the United States. In February, 1898, the battleship Maine was mysteriously blown up in the harbor of Havana, where it had been sent in American interests. Although the cause of this disaster could not be discovered, the United States, maintaining that the conditions in Cuba were intolerable, declared war on Spain in April. The war was brief, for the American forces were everywhere victorious. Cuba and Porto Rico were lost to Spain, and by the capture of the city of Manila in May the Philippine Islands also fell to the United States. Peace was reestablished in August, and representatives were shortly sent to Paris to arrange the final terms. Cuba was declared independent ; Porto Rico and the