On this day 126 years ago, on April 11, 1899 (March 2, 1899 lunar calendar), the United States occupied the Philippines. On April 25, 1898, the US government declared war on Spain over the bombing of the warship "Maine" in the port of Havana, and the Spanish-American War broke out. When the Spanish Navy sailed into the Caribbean Sea and stationed in Santiago, the US Navy attacked Santiago with the army to capture Guantanamo Bay in Cuba as a base, surrounded and attacked the Spanish army. The Spanish fleet was completely destroyed, Santiago was occupied by the US, and the Spanish army surrendered, thus ending the Cuban campaign. At the same time, the US ordered the fleet anchored in Hong Kong to attack the Spanish fleet in Manila. On April 30, 1898, the US Navy destroyed the Spanish fleet and occupied Manila, ending the Philippine campaign. Spain was unable to fight again and asked France to mediate. On December 10, 1898, the United States and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris. The main content of the peace treaty was that Spain allowed Cuba to become independent; agreed to cede the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States, and the United States "compensated" Spain 20 million dollars. According to the peace treaty, on April 11, 1899, the United States occupied the Philippines, making the United States a transcontinental imperialist.