Had the Spanish-American war never happened, how long could Spain remain relevant on the world stage?

RandomFloridian

Banned
The Spanish-American war in the late 19th century marked the end of the Spanish empire and put the final nail in the coffin for Spanish colonial possessions.

Spain would start to go on a downward spiral after this with rising government instability and nearly 40 years later in the early 20th century Spain would suffer a deadly and decisive civil war.

However what if that all changed with one event?

What if the USS Maine never blew up in Havana harbor and its crew competed their mission without incident preventing an casus belli for an American declaration of war against Spain?

What effects would this have on Spanish relevance in the 20th century and (assuming events like WW1 aren't butterflied away) could Spain potentially join a side in WW1?
 

mrmandias

Honestly I would say Spain had ceased to be relevant on the world stage since the Napoleonic Wars. I don't think keeping Cuba and Puerto Rico changes that much. The fighting in Cuba was already an enormous drag.
 
AltoRegnant

AltoRegnant

mrmandias said:
Honestly I would say Spain had ceased to be relevant on the world stage since the Napoleonic Wars. I don't think keeping Cuba and Puerto Rico changes that much. The fighting in Cuba was already an enormous drag.
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Yeah. Spain was out of the game with the lost of Mexico and Peru. The rest of the empire was negotiable, the money there was not
 

riggerrob

The explosion onboard USS Maine was just an excuse to finish off the fading Spanish Empire.
The point of departure needs to be a century or so earlier with Spain or Cuba or Mexico investing heavily in industrialization to compete in the industrial revolution.
 

Wendell

Spain was in decline anyway. It might keep PR and Micronesia longer, maybe keeping the latter in the long term.
 

rfmcdonald

Spain at the end of the 19th century, after the reduction of its empire to scattered islands and archipelagos, might have been able to be something like the contemporary Netherlands. It would not be a great power, but it would be a notable minor power. It was too small to do otherwise: It was somewhat richer per capita than the Italy that was the arguable least of the great powers of Europe, but it had barely more than half the population (18 million versus 32).
 

WanderingProfessor

Banned
Spain lost so much of it's territory in Latin America that they were lower mid-tier power in the sociopolitical climate of the 19th century. Even if there was no Spanish-American War, they were going to lose control of their remaining possessions in the Caribbean and the Philippines whether it was a peaceful or violent revolution.
 
Metempsychosis

Metempsychosis

We were already in rebellion before America intervened, and Spain had long ceased to be important by then. After the Latin American independence wars, Spain was a spent power.
 

Nivek

According to a Prussian in the spanish throne,the sexenio democrático ( six years of democracy) was Spanish last shoot and missed it
 

Alternator

Spain wasn't relevant on the world stage even before the Americans finished off the colonial empire. It had neither the population nor the wealth to project power meaningfully, and its military was third-rate at best; that the American victory was a surprise had everything to do with the perceived weakness of the US Army and Navy, and nothing to do with Spanish strength.
 

Aphrodite

Banned
Even after the Spanish American War, Spain remains relevant because of her geographical position. With the ability to shut down the Mediterranean, she is highly courted especially by the Franco-Russian alliance.

The Anglo-French Entente puts an end to this.

The Queen Regent of Spain was a Hapsburg so her sympathies we're with the Central Powers. She can't join because of her isolated position . She very well might if Italy joins the Central Powers
 
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