The Spanish American War: Explained (Short Animated Documentary) · History Matters
解析美西战争爆发原因及过程，适合练习历史背景与战争相关词汇。
When William McKinley became the President of the United States in 1897, he presided over a country that was getting a little bit upset.
1897年，威廉·麦金莱成为美国总统时，他领导着一个开始出现动荡的国家。
What was it upset about?
到底是什么让事情变得不顺利（或令人不满）的呢？
Well, it was the island to its south, Cuba, which at this point was a Spanish colony, and was also rebelling against said Spanish rule.
嗯，问题出在其南面的那个岛屿——古巴。当时古巴是西班牙的殖民地，同时也在反抗西班牙的统治。
This rebellion kicked off in 1895 and had some pretty unfortunate timing.
这场叛乱始于 1895 年，而且发生的时间实在非常不幸（即正值某些关键或灾难性事件发生的时期）。
I mean, rebellions are always pretty badly timed for those being rebelled against, but it coincided with the spectacular rise in American nationalism.
我的意思是，对于那些遭到反抗的人来说，叛乱的发生时机总是非常糟糕的；不过这次叛乱恰好与美国民族主义情绪的急剧上升同时发生。
When these ideas were combined with the stories about Spanish cruelties in Cuba, the American people got upset.
当这些观点与关于西班牙人在古巴实施暴行的故事结合起来时，美国民众感到非常愤怒。
As such, the people in the press wanted to do something about it, but McKinley wasn't too keen.
因此，媒体人士希望对此采取一些行动，但麦金利并不太愿意这样做。
It wasn't until the Spanish ambassadors' criticisms
直到西班牙大使们提出批评意见之后，情况才有所改变。
of McKinley were made public that he opted to send a warship the USS Maine to Cuba in order to protect American interests.
麦金莱的相关决策被公开披露后，人们得知他决定派遣军舰“缅因号”（USS Maine）前往古巴，以保护美国的利益。
In February 1898, whilst in Havana Harbor, the main exploded in a respect of what the cause of the explosion was,
1898年2月，当该舰停泊在哈瓦那港时，舰体发生了爆炸。关于爆炸的原因，目前尚无明确结论。
the American people wanted blood.
美国人民渴望看到鲜血（即希望看到暴力的发生或惩罚）。
So bad was the public fervor and pressure from opponent politicians that McKinley knew war couldn't be avoided.
公众的强烈情绪以及反对派政客们的压力实在太大，以至于麦金利意识到战争已不可避免。
And so, on April 21st 1898, America did just that and declared war in Spain under the slogan of Remember the Maine to Hell with Spain.
于是，在1898年4月21日，美国果然这么做了——在“记住‘缅因号’事件；让西班牙见鬼去吧”（Remember the Maine; Hell with Spain）的口号下，向西班牙宣战。
Now, Spain knew it wasn't going to defeat the United States in a war, but chose to fight it anyway.
现在，西班牙明白自己在战争中无法击败美国，但仍决定继续抗争。
Why?
为什么呢？
Well, there were two main reasons.
嗯，主要有两个原因。
The first was that Cuba, along with the also revolting Philippines, were the last major vestiges of the once glorious Spanish Empire.
首先，古巴与同样处于革命中的菲律宾一样，是曾经辉煌的西班牙帝国最后剩下的两大重要据点。
And the second reason was that the dishonor of immediately surrendering to the US was too much for Spain to bear.
第二个原因是，立即向美国投降这种耻辱感对西班牙来说实在难以承受。
Its leaders preferred to go down fighting and lose with its honor intact.
该组织的领导者们宁愿战斗到最后一刻，即使失败也要保持自己的荣誉不受玷污。
So how did said fighting go?
那么，那场战斗到底是怎么进行的呢？
It went amazingly well for America.
对美国来说，一切进展得非常顺利。
You see, America opted to fight the
你看，美国选择与……作战。
war on two fronts, one in the South in Cuba and one in the East or to the West technically in the Philippines.
这场战争在两个战场上同时进行：一个是在南方的古巴，另一个是在东方的菲律宾（严格来说，也可以算作西方的战场）。
This was where Commodore George Dewey decisively defeated the Spanish fleet there at the Battle of Manila Bay.
正是在这里，乔治·杜威海军上将率领的舰队在马尼拉海战中彻底击败了西班牙舰队。
The US Army then landed and brought over the exiled Filipino revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo who promptly declared Filipino independence.
随后，美国陆军登陆菲律宾，并将流亡在外的菲律宾革命领袖埃米利奥·阿吉纳尔多接回国内。阿吉纳尔多立即宣布菲律宾独立。
To bring the Philippines back into the fold, the Spanish launched a major fleet hoping to dislodge the Americans.
为了将菲律宾重新纳入自己的统治范围，西班牙派出了一支庞大的舰队，企图将美国军队赶出该地区。
It was shortly after this that the US captured Guam, and by captured I mean they turned up and gave up a warning shot.
就在这件事发生不久之后，美国占领了关岛。所谓“占领”，其实是指美军突然出现在关岛附近，并发射了一枚警告性炮弹后，关岛方面便投降了。
Now traditionally when nations were at peace they would fire off a salute to each other.
按照传统，当各国处于和平状态时，它们会互相发射礼炮以表示友好。
The Spanish garrison there didn't have any ammunition, so the governor who didn't know he was at war promptly apologized for not returning the salute.
驻扎在那里的西班牙军队没有弹药；因此，那位并不知道自己正处于战争状态的总督立即为没有回敬礼致歉。
The island was captured with no fighting.
该岛屿在没有任何战斗的情况下就被占领了。
As for the Caribbean theatre, the US started by seizing someplace in southern Cuba called Guantanamo Bay.
至于加勒比地区的局势，美国首先占领了古巴南部的一个地方——关塔那摩湾。
It later landed an expeditionary force here and pushed inland.
后来，一支远征军被派到这里，并向内陆推进。
The Spanish retreated but were extremely adept at defensive tactics and so American progress was slow until the primary American force landed on July 1st.
西班牙军队虽然撤退了，但他们非常擅长防守战术；因此，美军的进攻进展十分缓慢，直到美国主力部队于7月1日登陆为止。
This was the force that contained the famous rough riders volunteer army led by a certain Theodore Roosevelt.
这支部队负责管辖由西奥多·罗斯福（Theodore Roosevelt）领导的著名“粗野骑士”志愿军（Rough Riders Volunteer Army）。
The Americans advanced inland and fought a small Spanish force at the infamous Battle of San Juan Hill.
美军向内陆推进，并在臭名昭著的圣胡安山战役中与一小支西班牙军队交战。
Here the Spanish were able to inflict many more casualties on the Americans than they then self suffered before retreating.
在这里，西班牙军队给美国人造成了远比他们自己撤退前所遭受的伤亡更多的损失。
And in case you're wondering it was this battle that made Theodore Roosevelt a household name.
如果你想知道的话，正是这场战役让西奥多·罗斯福成为了家喻户晓的人物。
July 3rd saw the largest naval battle of the war, the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, during which the Americans obliterated the Spanish fleet there.
7月3日，这场战争中规模最大的海战——圣地亚哥-德古巴海战爆发。在这场战役中，美国军队彻底摧毁了西班牙的海军舰队。
It was after this that the aforementioned
正是在这件事之后，上述情况才发生了。
relief force that was being sent to the Philippines was promptly turned around because the Spanish coast now lay undefended.
原本被派往菲律宾的援军立即被调回，因为西班牙的海岸此时已处于无人防守的状态。