Cuba History American occupation, 1906-1909

The Provisional Government of Cuba (Spanish: Gobierno Provisional de Cuba) lasted from September 1906 to February 1909. This period was also referred to as the Second occupation of Cuba. When the government of Cuban President Tomás Estrada Palma collapsed, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt ordered U.S. military forces into Cuba. Their mission was to prevent fighting between the Cubans, to protect U.S. economic interests there, and to hold free elections in order to establish a new and legitimate government. Following the election of José Miguel Gómez in November 1908, U.S. officials judged the situation in Cuba sufficiently stable for the U.S. to withdraw its troops, a process that was completed in February 1909. An earlier occupation lasted from 1898 to 1902, from the conclusion of peace between the United States and Spain at the end of the Spanish–American War until the inauguration of the Republic of Cuba.