What was the name of country against which Americans use the rally cry "Remember Maine"?

Spain-remember the maine, the rallying cry that led the united states into a war with spain, was intoned once again yesterday as more than a hundred gathered to mark the 100th anniversary of the ships sinking in havana harbor.this time, the words were a mournful cry in memory of the 266 american sailors and marines who perished in the explosion and sinking.in february 1998, beneath a bright blue sky, secretary of the navy john h. dalton and descendants of the ships crew members walked to a hilltop in arlington national cemetery where the mast of the sunken ship is the centerpiece of the uss maine memorial. the name of each victim is etched on the stone of the memorial. the graves of 228 maine crew members are nearby.we are gathered at a location which few americans even know exists, retired rear admiral morton e. toole said. but in its day, this was as sacred as the vietnam memorial wall is today.the uss maine, bristling with heavy guns that made it one of the premier battleships in the navy, was dispatched to cuba in january 1898, ostensibly on a goodwill visit. but it was also to protect americans on the island in the wake of increased friction between the united states and spain. cuba, then part of the spanish empire, had been the scene of some insurgency by cuban rebels.on february 15, 1898, at 9:41 p.m., as the 319-foot-long maine lay moored in the harbor, havana was illuminated by a burst of bright light. the maine was shattered by a prolonged explosion that sent debris into the air and filled the sky with black smoke. less than one-fourth of the 350 crew members on board survived the explosion; the rest were blown apart, crushed, drowned or suffocated.public opinion fixed blame for the explosion on spain, and remember the maine soon became the cry of american newspapers, particularly william randolph hearsts new york journal. the united states declared war on spain in april 1898. american victories in cuba and the philippines marked the emergence of the united states as a world power.but there were always doubts that the sinking of the maine was anything but an accident. an inquiry ordered by admiral hyman rickover and conducted by historians and engineers in the mid-1970s concluded that a mine or torpedo could not have been responsible for the blast. the likely cause was a coal bunker fire that ignited the ships magazine. some still insist that the maine was a victim of sabotage.