Science has demonstrated that the same bacterium, Yersinia yersi, caused both outbreaks, bolstering arguments that, like the Black Death, the Justinianic Plague also caused significant historical events during the period, such as the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Islam.
Answer: there were two immediate ones: America's support the ongoing struggle by Cubans and Filipinos against Spanish rule, and the mysterious explosion of the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor.
