The Ten Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Diez Años; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
's fight for independence from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. On 10 October 1868, sugar mill owner
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillo (18 April 1819, Bayamo, Spanish Cuba – 27 February 1874, San Lorenzo, Spanish Cuba) was a Cuban revolutionary hero and First President of Cuba in Arms in 1868. Cespedes, who was a plantation owner ...
and his followers proclaimed independence, beginning the conflict. This was the first of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the
Little War (1879–1880) and the
Cuban War of Independence
The Cuban War of Independence (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). The final three months ...
(1895–1898). The final three months of the last conflict escalated with United States involvement, leading to the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
.
Background
Slavery
Cuban business owners demanded fundamental social and economic reforms from Spain, which ruled the colony. Lax enforcement of the slave trade ban had resulted in a dramatic increase in imports of Africans, estimated at 90,000 slaves from 1856 to 1860. This occurred despite a strong
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
movement on the island, and rising costs among the slave-holding planters in the east. New technologies and farming techniques made large numbers of slaves unnecessary and prohibitively expensive. In the economic crisis of 1857 many businesses failed, including many sugar
plantations
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
and sugar refineries. The abolitionist cause gained strength, favoring a gradual emancipation of slaves with financial compensation from Spain for slaveholders. Additionally, some planters preferred hiring Chinese immigrants as indentured workers and in anticipation of ending slavery. Before the 1870s, more than 125,000 were recruited to Cuba. In May 1865, Cuban creole elites placed four demands upon the Spanish Parliament: tariff reform, Cuban representation in Parliament, judicial equality with Spaniards, and full enforcement of the slave trade ban.
Colonial policies
The Spanish Parliament at the time was changing; gaining much influence were reactionary, traditionalist politicians who intended to eliminate all liberal reforms. The power of military tribunals was increased; the colonial government imposed a six percent tax increase on the Cuban planters and businesses. Additionally, all political opposition and the press were silenced. Dissatisfaction in Cuba spread on a massive scale as the mechanisms to express it were restricted. This discontent was particularly felt by the powerful planters and hacienda owners in Eastern Cuba.
The failure of the latest efforts by the reformist movements, the demise of the ''"Information Board,"'' and another economic crisis in 1866/67 heightened social tensions on the island. The colonial administration continued to make huge profits which were not re-invested in the island for the benefit of its residents. It funded military expenditures (44% of the revenue), colonial government's expenses (41%), and sent some money to the Spanish colony of
Fernando Po (12%). The Spaniards, representing 8% of the island's population, were appropriating over 90% of the island's wealth. In addition, the Cuban-born population still had no political rights and no representation in Parliament. Objections to these conditions sparked the first serious independence movement, especially in the eastern part of the island.
Revolutionary conspiracy
In July 1867, the ''"Revolutionary Committee of Bayamo"'' was founded under the leadership of Cuba's wealthiest plantation owner,
Francisco Vicente Aguilera. The conspiracy rapidly spread to Oriente's larger towns, most of all
Manzanillo, where
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillo (18 April 1819, Bayamo, Spanish Cuba – 27 February 1874, San Lorenzo, Spanish Cuba) was a Cuban revolutionary hero and First President of Cuba in Arms in 1868. Cespedes, who was a plantation owner ...
became the main protagonist of the uprising in 1868. Originally from Bayamo, Céspedes owned an estate and sugar mill known as ''La Demajagua''. The Spanish, aware of Céspedes’ anti-colonial intransigence, tried to force him into submission by imprisoning his son Oscar. Céspedes refused to negotiate and Oscar was executed.
History
Uprising
![Carlos Manuel de Cespedes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Carlos_Manuel_de_Cespedes.jpg)
Céspedes and his followers had planned the uprising to begin 14 October, but it had to be moved up four days earlier, because the Spaniards had discovered their plan of revolt. In the early morning of 10 October, Céspedes issued the cry of independence, the "10th of October Manifesto" at
La Demajagua, which signaled the start of an all-out military uprising against Spanish rule in Cuba. Céspedes freed his slaves and asked them to join the struggle. 10 October is now commemorated in Cuba as a national holiday under the name ''Grito de Yara'' ("Cry of Yara").
During the first few days, the uprising almost failed: Céspedes intended to occupy the nearby town of
Yara Yara may refer to:
People
* YARA (girl group), a Filipino girl group
* Yara (given name)
* Yara (surname), a Japanese surname
* Yara (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese pop singer
* Yara (footballer) (born 1964), Brazilian footballer
Locations
* Y ...
on 11 October. In spite of this initial setback, the uprising of Yara was supported in various regions of the Oriente province, and the independence movement continued to spread throughout the eastern region of Cuba. On 13 October, the rebels took eight towns in the province that favoured the insurgency and acquisition of arms. By October's end, the insurrection had enlisted some 12,000 volunteers.
Military responses
That same month,
Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez y Báez (November 18, 1836 – June 17, 1905) was a Dominican Generalissimo in Cuban War of Independence, Cuba's War of Independence (1895–1898). He was known for his controversial Scorched earth, scorched-earth policy, whic ...
taught the Cuban forces what would be their most lethal tactic: the ''
machete
Older machete from Latin America
Gerber machete/saw combo
Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...
charge''. He was a former cavalry officer for the Spanish Army in the Dominican Republic. Forces were taught to combine use of firearms with machetes, for a double attack against the Spanish. When the Spaniards (following then-standard tactics) formed a square, they were vulnerable to rifle fire from infantry under cover, and pistol and carbine fire from charging cavalry. In the event, as with the
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt ...
, the European forces suffered the most fatalities due to
yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
because the Spanish-born troops had no acquired
immunity
Immunity may refer to:
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* Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease
* ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press
Biology
* Immune system
Engineering
* Radiofrequence immunity desc ...
to this endemic tropical disease of the island.
10th of October Manifesto
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes called on men of all races to join the fight for freedom. He raised the new flag of an independent Cuba, and rang the bell of the mill to celebrate his proclamation from the steps of the sugar mill of the manifesto signed by him and 15 others. It cataloged Spain's mistreatment of Cuba and then expressed the movement's aims:
Escalation
![Federico Fernández Cavada](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Federico_Fern%C3%A1ndez_Cavada.jpg)
After three days of combat, the rebels seized the important city of Bayamo. In the enthusiasm of this victory, poet and musician
Perucho Figueredo composed Cuba's national anthem, "
La Bayamesa
"" (, ) is the national anthem of Cuba. It was first performed in 1868, during the . Perucho Figueredo, who took part in the battle, wrote and composed the song. The melody, also called "" (), was composed by Figueredo in 1867.
Overview
On Oct ...
”. The first government of the Republic in Arms, headed by Céspedes, was established in Bayamo. The city was retaken by the Spanish after 3 months on 12 January, but the fighting had burned it to the ground.
The war spread in Oriente: on 4 November 1868,
Camagüey
Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 321,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province.
It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by S ...
rose up in arms and, in early February 1869,
Las Villas
Las Villas is a natural region and ''comarca'' in Andalusia, southern Spain. It is located in the mountainous area at the eastern end of Jaén Province. The main town is Villacarrillo.
Together with the Sierra de Cazorla and Sierra de Segura ...
followed. The uprising was not supported in the westernmost provinces of
Pinar del Río
Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 139,336 (2004) in a municipality of 190,332, it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños'' ...
,
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. and
Matanzas
Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...
. With few exceptions (Vuelta Abajo), resistance was clandestine. A staunch supporter of the rebellion was
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...
who, at the age of 16, was detained and condemned to 16 years of hard labour. He was later deported to Spain. Eventually he developed as a leading Latin American intellectual and Cuba's foremost national hero, its primary architect of the 1895–98
Cuban War of Independence
The Cuban War of Independence (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). The final three months ...
.
After some initial victories and defeats, in 1868 Céspedes replaced Gomez as head of the Cuban Army with United States General
Thomas Jordan, a veteran of
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
in the American Civil War. He brought a well-equipped force, but General Jordan's reliance on regular tactics, although initially effective, left the families of Cuban rebels far too vulnerable to the "
ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...
" tactics of the ruthless
Blas Villate
Blas Villate y de la Herra, count of Valmaseda (February 3, 1824, in Sestao – January 8, 1882, in Madrid) was a Spanish general. He was several times governor of Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba ...
, Count of Valmaceda (also spelled Balmaceda).
Valeriano Weyler
Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, 1st Duke of Rubí, 1st Marquess of Tenerife (17 September 1838 – 20 October 1930) was a Spanish general and colonial administrator who served as the Governor-General of the Philippines and Cuba, and later as S ...
, known as the "Butcher Weyler" in the 1895–1898 War, fought along the Count of Balmaceda.
After General Jordan resigned and returned to the US, Cespedes returned Máximo Gómez to his command. Gradually a new generation of skilled battle-tested Cuban commanders rose from the ranks, including
Antonio Maceo Grajales
Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales (June 14, 1845December 7, 1896) was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence.
Fellow Cubans gave Maceo the nickname “The Bronze Titan" ( es, El Titán de Bronce, links=no), ...
,
José Maceo,
Calixto García
Calixto García Íñiguez (August 4, 1839 – December 11, 1898) was a Cuban general in three Cuban uprisings, part of the Cuban War for Independence: the Ten Years' War, the Little War, and the War of 1895, itself sometimes called the Cuban ...
,
Vicente Garcia González and
Federico Fernández Cavada
Federico Fernández-Cavada (July 8, 1831July 1, 1871) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a diplomat, as well as commander-in-chief of all the Cuban forces during Cuba's Ten Years' War. Because of his artistic talen ...
. Raised in the United States and with an American mother, Fernández Cavada had served as a colonel in the Union Army during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. His brother
Adolfo Fernández Cavada
Adolfo Fernández Cavada (May 17, 1832 – December 18, 1871) was a soldier and diplomat, an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War who served as captain in the Philadelphia 23rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, a regiment of th ...
also joined the Cuban fighting for independence. On 4 April 1870, the senior
Federico Fernández Cavada
Federico Fernández-Cavada (July 8, 1831July 1, 1871) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a diplomat, as well as commander-in-chief of all the Cuban forces during Cuba's Ten Years' War. Because of his artistic talen ...
was named Commander-in-Chief of all the Cuban forces.
[The Latino Experience in U.S. History"; publisher: Globe Pearson; pp. 155–57; ] Other war leaders of note fighting on the Cuban
Mambí side included
Donato Mármol Donato may refer to:
People
*Donato (surname)
As a given name
* Donato Bilancia (1951–2020), Italian serial killer
* Donato Bramante (1444–1514), Italian architect
* Donato da Cascia (fl. c. 1350 – 1370), Italian composer of trecento ma ...
,
Luis Marcano-Alvarez,
Carlos Roloff
Karol Rolow-Miałowski or Carlos Roloff Mialofsky, better known simply as Carlos Roloff, (4 November 1842 – 17 May 1907) was a Polish-born Cuban general and liberation activist, who fought against Spain in the Ten Years' War and the Cuban War o ...
,
Enrique Loret de Mola,
Julio Sanguily
Julio Sanguily Garritte was a Cuban independence activist and patriot. He was a Major General of the Cuban Liberation Army during the Cuban War of Independence. He was appointed head, in commission, of the division of Cuba and Bayamo . Major ...
,
Domingo Goicuría,
Guillermo Moncada
Guillermo Moncada (nicknamed "Guillermón" since his childhood, due to his large size) was one of 29 Cuban generals in the Cuban War of Independence.
He was born in Santiago, Cuba, on June 25, 1841. A former carpenter, he later became a black fo ...
,
Quentin Bandera,
Benjamín Ramirez, and
Julio Grave de Peralta.
Because of the escalating violence, after the first year of the war, around 100,000 Cubans fled the country. Generally speaking, those rich enough settled in Europe or else in northern cities in America like New York, Philadelphia, or Boston. Meanwhile, the poorer workers moved to south
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, first settling in
Key West
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
, and then in
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
.
Constitutional assembly
On 10 April 1869, a constitutional assembly took place in the town of Guáimaro (Camagüey). It was intended to provide the revolution with greater organizational and juridical unity, with representatives from the areas that had joined the uprising. The assembly discussed whether a centralized leadership should be in charge of both military and civilian affairs, or if there should be a separation between civilian government and military leadership, the latter being subordinate to the first. The overwhelming majority voted for the separation option. Céspedes was elected president of this assembly; and General
Ignacio Agramonte
Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz (1841–1873) was a Cuban revolutionary, who played an important part in the Ten Years' War (1868–1878).
Biography
Born in the province of Puerto Príncipe (what is now the province of Camagüey, kingdom of Spain) on ...
y Loynáz and
Antonio Zambrana, principal authors of the proposed
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
, were elected secretaries. After completing its work, the Assembly reconstituted itself as the House of Representatives and the state's supreme power. They elected
Salvador Cisneros Betancourt
Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to:
* Salvador (name)
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
*Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music
** ''Salvador'' ( ...
as president,
Miguel Gerónimo Gutiérrez as vice-president, and Agramonte and Zambrana as secretaries. Céspedes was elected on 12 April 1869, as the first president of the Republic in Arms and General
Manuel de Quesada (who had fought in Mexico under Benito Juárez during the French invasion of that country), as Chief of the Armed Forces.
Spanish repressions
By early 1869, the Spanish colonial government had failed to reach an agreement with the insurrection forces; they opened a war of extermination. The colonial government passed several laws: arrested leaders and collaborators of the insurgency were to be executed on the spot, ships carrying weapons would be seized and all persons on board immediately executed, males 15 and older caught outside of their plantations or places of residence without justification would be summarily executed, all towns were ordered to raise the white flag or otherwise be burnt to the ground, and any woman caught away from her farm or place of residence would be taken to camps in cities.
Apart from its own army, the government relied on the Voluntary Corps, a militia recruited a few years earlier to face the announced invasion by
Narcisco López. The corps became notorious for its harsh and bloody acts. Its forces executed eight students from the
University of Havana
The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first ...
on 27 November 1871. The corps seized the steamship ''
Virginius'' in international waters on 31 October 1873. Starting on 4 November, its forces executed 53 persons, including the captain, most of the crew, and a number of Cuban insurgents on board. The serial executions were stopped only by the intervention of a British man-of-war under the command of
Sir Lambton Lorraine.
In the so-called "
Creciente de Valmaseda" incident, the corps captured farmers (Guajiros) and the families of Mambises, killing them immediately or sending them ''en masse'' to
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
s on the island. The
Mambises fought using
guerrilla tactics and were more effective on the eastern side of the island than in the west, where they lacked supplies.
Another Voluntary Corps was formed by Germans, the so-called "Club des Alemanes". Presided by
Fernando Heydrich Fernando Heydrich Klein (26 January 1827 – April 1, 1903) was a German businessman, politician, engineer and sculptor who lived in Matanzas, Cuba. Builder of the Acueduct of Matanzas he was politically engaged, playing a significant role during t ...
, a committee of German merchants and landowners created a troop to defend their possessions in 1870. A neutral force initially, as ordered by
Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
in a telegram to consul Luis Will, they were considered to favor the government.
Rebel political strife
Ignacio Agramonte was killed by a stray bullet on 11 May 1873, and was replaced in the command of the central troops by Máximo Gómez. Because of political and personal disagreements and Agramonte's death, the Assembly deposed Céspedes as president, replacing him with Cisneros. Agramonte had realized that his dream Constitution and government were ill-suited to the Cuban Republic in Arms, which was the reason he quit as secretary and assumed command of the Camaguey region. He became a supporter of Cespedes. Céspedes was later surprised and killed on 27 February 1874, by a swift-moving patrol of Spanish troops. The new Cuban government had left him with only one escort and denied permission to leave Cuba for the US, from where he intended to help prepare and send armed expeditions.
Continued warfare
Activities in the Ten Years' War peaked in the years 1872 and 1873, but after the deaths of Agramonte and Céspedes, Cuban operations were limited to the regions of Camagüey and
Oriente. Gómez began an invasion of Western Cuba in 1875, but the vast majority of slaves and wealthy sugar producers in the region did not join the revolt. After his most trusted general, the American
Henry Reeve, was killed in 1876, Gómez ended his campaign.
Spain's efforts to fight were hindered by the civil war (
Third Carlist War
The Third Carlist War ( es, Tercera Guerra Carlista) (1872–1876) was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second Carlist War", as the earlier "Second" War (1847–1849) was smaller in scale and relatively trivial ...
) that broke out in Spain in 1872. When the civil war ended in 1876, the government sent more Spanish troops to Cuba, until they numbered more than 250,000. The severe Spanish measures weakened the liberation forces ruled by Cisneros. Neither side in the war was able to win a single concrete victory, let alone crush the opposing side to win the war, but in the long run Spain gained the upper hand.
Failing insurgency
The deep divisions among insurgents regarding their organisation of government and the military became more pronounced after the Assembly of Guáimaro, as resulting in the dismissal of Céspedes and Quesada in 1873. The Spanish exploited regional divisions, as well as fears that the slaves of Matanzas would break the weak existing balance between whites and blacks. The Spanish changed their policy towards the Mambises, offering amnesties and reforms.
The Mambises did not prevail for a variety of reasons: lack of organization and resources; lower participation by whites; internal racist sabotage (against Maceo and the goals of the Liberating Army); the inability to bring the war to the western provinces (Havana in particular); and opposition by the US government to Cuban independence. The US sold the latest weapons to Spain, but not to the Cuban rebels.
["The Ten Year War"](_blank)
History of Cuba website
Peace negotiations and hold-outs
Tomás Estrada Palma
Tomás Estrada Palma (c. July 6, 1832 – November 4, 1908) was a Cuban politician, the president of the Cuban Republican in Arms during the Ten Years' War, and the first President of Cuba, between May 20, 1902, and September 28, 1906.
His collate ...
succeeded
Juan Bautista Spotorno as president of the Republic in Arms. Estrada Palma was captured by Spanish troops on 19 October 1877. As a result of successive misfortunes, on 8 February 1878, the constitutional organs of the Cuban government were dissolved; the remaining leaders among the insurgents started negotiating for peace in Zanjón, Puerto Príncipe.
General
Arsenio Martínez Campos
Arsenio Martínez-Campos y Antón, born Martínez y Campos (14 December 1831, in Segovia, Spain – 23 September 1900, in Zarauz, Spain), was a Spanish officer who rose against the First Spanish Republic in a military revolution in 1874 and res ...
, in charge of applying the new policy, arrived in Cuba. It took him nearly two years to convince most of the rebels to accept the
Pact of Zanjón
The Pact of Zanjón ended the armed struggle of Cubans for independence from the Spanish Empire that lasted from 1868 to 1878, the Ten Years' War. On February 10, 1878, a group of negotiators representing the rebels gathered in Zanjón, a village ...
; it was signed on 10 February 1878, by a negotiating committee. The document contained most of the promises made by Spain.
The Ten Years' War came to an end, except for the resistance of a small group in Oriente led by General Garcia and
Antonio Maceo Grajales
Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales (June 14, 1845December 7, 1896) was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence.
Fellow Cubans gave Maceo the nickname “The Bronze Titan" ( es, El Titán de Bronce, links=no), ...
, who protested in Los Mangos de Baraguá on 15 March.
Aftermath
Pact of Zanjón
Under the terms of the pact, a constitution and a provisional government was set up, but the revolutionary élan was gone. The provisional government convinced Maceo to give up, and with his surrender, the war ended on 28 May 1878. Many of the graduates of the Ten Years' War became central players in
Cuba's War of Independence that started in 1895. These include the Maceo brothers, Maximo Gómez, Calixto Garcia and others.
The Pact of Zanjón promised various reforms to improve the financial situation for residents of Cuba. The most significant reform was the manumission of all slaves who had fought for Spain. Abolition of slavery had been proposed by the rebels, and many persons loyal to Spain also wanted to abolish it. Finally in 1880, the Spanish legislature abolished slavery in Cuba and other colonies in a form of gradual abolition. The law required slaves to continue to work for their masters for a number of years, in a kind of indentured servitude, but masters had to pay the slaves for their work. The wages were so low, however, that the freedmen could barely support themselves.
Remaining tensions
After the war ended, tensions between Cuban residents and the Spanish government continued for 17 years. This period, called "The Rewarding Truce", included the outbreak of the
Little War (''La Guerra Chiquita'') between 1879 and 1880. Separatists in that conflict became supporters of
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...
, the most passionate of the rebels who chose exile over Spanish rule. Overall, about 200,000 people died in the conflict. Together with a severe economic depression throughout the island, the war devastated the coffee industry, and American tariffs badly damaged Cuban exports.
See also
*
Ana Betancourt
Ana Betancourt (14 December 1832 – 7 February 1901) was a Cuban woman who took a leading role in the war of independence from Spain. She is a national heroine in Cuba.
Life
Ana Betancourt was born on 14 December 1832 in Camagüey, Cuba t ...
– a female "Mambisa" who used the war to campaign for women's equality
*
Cuban War of Independence
The Cuban War of Independence (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). The final three months ...
*
Francisco Gonzalo Marín
Lieutenant Francisco Gonzalo Marín, also known as Pachín Marín (March 12, 1863 – November 1897), was a poet and journalist who fought alongside José Martí as a member of the Cuban Liberation Army. He is among those who allegedly designed th ...
*
History of Cuba
The history of Cuba is characterized by dependence on outside powers—Spain, the US, and the USSR. The island of Cuba was inhabited by various Amerindian cultures prior to the arrival of the Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. Afte ...
*
José Semidei Rodríguez
Brigadier General José Semidei Rodríguez (September 12, 1868 - February 19, 1958) was a Puerto Rican soldier and diplomat. He participated in Cuban independence movement that immediately preceded the Spanish–American War. Before becoming a b ...
*
Juan Bautista Spotorno
*
Juan Ríus Rivera
General Juan Rius Rivera (August 26, 1848 – September 20, 1924), was the soldier and revolutionary leader from Puerto Rico to have reached the highest military rank in the Cuban Liberation Army and to hold Cuban ministerial offices after indep ...
*
Little War (Cuba)
The Little War or Small War ( es, Guerra Chiquita) was the second of three conflicts between Cuban rebels and Spain. It started on 26 August 1879 and after some minor successes ended in rebel defeat in September 1880. It followed the Ten Years' ...
*
Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant#Cuban insurrection
References
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
* Bartlett, Christopher J. "British Reaction to the Cuban Insurrection of 1868-1878." ''Hispanic American Historical Review'' 37.3 (1957): 296–312
online* Benjamin, Jules R. '' The United States and the Origins of the Cuban Revolution: An Empire of Liberty in an Age of National Liberation'' (1990) pp 13–19
* Campbell, Charles. ''The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant'' (2017) pp 179–98
* Campbell, Charles. ''The Transformation of American Foreign Relations'' (1976) pp 53–59
* Chapin, James. "Hamilton Fish and the Lessons of the Ten Years' War," in Jules Davids, ed., ''Perspectives in American Diplomacy'' (1976) pp 33, 131–63
* Corwin, Arthur F. ''Spain and the Abolition of Slavery in Cuba, 1817–1886'' (1967)
* Ferrer, Ada. ''Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868–1898'' (1999)
* Gott, Richard. ''Cuba: A New History'' (2004) pp 71–83
* Hernandez, Jose M. ''Cuba and the United States: Intervention and Militarism, 1868–1933'' (1993) pp 6–15
* Langley, Lester D. ''The Cuban Policy of the United States: A Brief History'' (1968) pp 53–81
* Nevins, Allan. ''Hamilton Fish: The Inner History of the Grant Administration'' (1936) 1:176–200, 2:667–94
* Padilla, Andrés Sánchez. ''Enemigos íntimos: España y los Estados Unidos antes de la Guerra de Cuba (1865–1898)'' (Universitat de València, 2016)
* Pérez, Louis A., Jr. ''Cuba and the United States: Ties of Singular Intimacy'' (1990) pp 50–54
* Priest, Andrew. "Thinking about Empire: The administration of Ulysses S. Grant, Spanish colonialism and the ten years' war in Cuba." ''Journal of American Studies'' 48.2 (2014): 541–58
online
* Sexton, Jay. "The United States, the Cuban rebellion, and the multilateral initiative of 1875." ''Diplomatic History'' 30.3 (2006): 335–65
* Thomas, Hugh. ''Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom'' (1971) pp 244–63
* Pirala, Antonio. ''Anales de la Guerra en Cuba,'' (1895, 1896 and some from 1874) Felipe González Rojas (editor), Madrid. This may still be the most detailed source for information on the Ten Years' War.
* Ziegler, Vanessa Michelle. "The revolt of "the Ever-faithful Isle": the Ten Years' War in Cuba, 1868–1878". PhD dissertation.
anta Barbara, Calif. University of California, Santa Barbara, 2007. Electronic Dissertations D16.5.C2 S25 ZIEV 2007
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External links
* Portions of this article were extracted fro
CubaGenWeb
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Spanish colonial period of Cuba
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