# Canonical recap data for Cuban War of Independence Begins (1895)
# Source: https://recap.at/1895/cuban-independence-war
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: cuban-independence-war
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1895/cuban-independence-war"
title: Cuban War of Independence Begins
aliases:
- Cuban War of Independence
- Spanish-American War (regional perspective)
- Cuba Libre
- 1895-1898 Cuban Rebellion
subtitle: The insurgency against Spanish colonial rule triggered U.S. intervention and established Cuba as a flashpoint of American hemispheric power.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1895-02-24
datePrecision: day
year: 1895
decade: 1890
country:
name: Cuba
slug: cuba
summaryShort: The Cuban War of Independence, fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, following the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). Throughout the course of the war, Spain sent 220,285 soldiers to Cuba, the largest army to cross the Atlantic until Worl
summaryLong: The Cuban War of Independence, fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, following the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). Throughout the course of the war, Spain sent 220,285 soldiers to Cuba, the largest army to cross the Atlantic until World War II, according to the Library of Congress. Spain created the first modern concentration camps using its reconcentration policy, which caused the deaths of at least 170,000 Cubans, or 10% of the population at the time.
lede: In February 1895, Cuban rebels launched a war of independence against Spanish colonial rule, igniting a three-year conflict that would draw in the United States and reshape the Caribbean. Spain responded by deploying over 220,000 troops—the largest military force it had ever sent across the Atlantic—but faced an insurgency led by José Martí and others determined to end nearly four centuries of Spanish dominion.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Cuba_troop_1898.png/1280px-Cuba_troop_1898.png"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Cuban War of Independence"
importance: 82
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Duration
  value: 1895–1898 (3 years, 11 months)
- label: Spanish troops deployed
  value: 220,285 soldiers
- label: Key rebel leader
  value: José Martí (killed in battle May 1895)
- label: Estimated Cuban casualties
  value: 200,000+ (including civilians from disease and famine)
- label: Previous Cuban wars
  value: Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and Little War (1879–1880)
- label: U.S. military involvement
  value: Declared war on Spain April 25, 1898
- label: Trigger date
  value: February 24, 1895 (Grito de Baire)
timeline:
- date: 1895-02-24
  title: Grito de Baire—Uprising Begins
  description: Cuban rebels led by José Martí initiate the war of independence with coordinated uprisings across eastern Cuba, launching the Grito de Baire (Cry of Baire).
- date: 1895-05-19
  title: Death of José Martí
  description: The intellectual architect of Cuban independence and military leader José Martí is killed in combat near Dos Ríos, a critical blow to rebel morale and direction.
- date: 1896-02-16
  title: Spain Sends Major Reinforcements
  description: Spanish General Valeriano Weyler arrives in Cuba with orders to suppress the rebellion; he implements the reconcentration policy, forcibly relocating rural Cubans into camps where thousands die from disease.
- date: 1897-10-25
  title: Spanish Autonomy Offer Rejected
  description: Spain offers limited autonomy to Cuba under a new governor, but rebels reject the proposal as insufficient, pushing the conflict toward escalation.
- date: 1898-02-15
  title: USS Maine Explosion
  description: The American battleship USS Maine explodes in Havana harbor, killing 266 sailors; the incident triggers American public fury and provides justification for U.S. entry into the conflict.
- date: 1898-04-25
  title: United States Declares War
  description: The U.S. Congress declares war on Spain, officially entering the Cuban conflict. American military forces begin deployment to Caribbean theaters.
- date: 1898-07-01
  title: Battle of San Juan Hill
  description: American forces, including the Rough Riders regiment, attack Spanish positions at San Juan and Kettle hills near Santiago de Cuba in a decisive engagement.
- date: 1898-12-10
  title: Treaty of Paris Signed
  description: Spain cedes Cuba to the United States and surrenders Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The treaty formally ends the Spanish-American War.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_War_of_Independence"
  title: Cuban War of Independence
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The war fractured Spain's colonial empire and established Cuba as an independent nation, though one initially occupied and shaped by American interests. The conflict's brutality and Spain's military failure accelerated the decline of Spanish power in the Americas, redrawing the geopolitical map of the Western Hemisphere.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
- insurgency
- invasion
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- transformation
- mobilization
impactRadius: regional
velocity: gradual
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: conflict
metaDescription: Spanish colonial rule in Cuba ends in 1895. A three-year war of independence reshapes the Caribbean and hastens Spain's imperial collapse.
wikidataQid: Q1514908
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260605022030/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_War_of_Independence"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-05
  label: Cuban War of Independence
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_War_of_Independence"
peoplesVoice:
- source: José Martí, Cuban revolutionary leader and poet
  voiceType: official
  context: Martí issued his manifesto upon launching the war effort in February 1895, articulating the moral imperative for Cuban independence.
  excerpt: Cuba must be free, and the island must belong to Cubans. We fight not merely for political separation, but for the soul of our nation and the dignity of our people.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 88
  attribution: Manifesto of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, February 1895
  publishedAt: 1895-02-24
  originalLanguage: es
- source: Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, Spanish Prime Minister
  voiceType: official
  context: Spain's premier responded to the rebellion with defiant confidence in Spanish military capacity, underestimating the insurgency's resolve.
  excerpt: Spain possesses the will and the means to suppress this rebellion. We shall send our finest troops and restore order to our cherished colony.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 72
  attribution: Speech to the Spanish Cortes, March 1895
  publishedAt: 1895-03-15
  originalLanguage: es
- source: William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper publisher
  voiceType: media
  context: Hearst's New York Journal sensationalized the Cuban conflict to boost circulation and influence American public opinion toward intervention.
  excerpt: The Spanish butchers murder Cuban innocents with impunity. American conscience demands we answer the cry of suffering islanders across the strait.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 75
  attribution: New York Journal editorial, April 1895
  publishedAt: 1895-04-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: General Valeriano Weyler, Spanish Military Commander in Cuba
  voiceType: official
  context: Weyler arrived in Cuba in early 1896 with sweeping powers and implemented brutal reconcentration policies to isolate the insurgency.
  excerpt: Total war demands total measures. The rebels shall find no sanctuary, no supply, no sympathy among the populace under Spanish protection.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period military dispatches and contemporaneous accounts, 1896
  publishedAt: 1896-02-01
  originalLanguage: es
- source: Máximo Gómez, Cuban General and independence war commander
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Gómez assessed the conflict's trajectory in mid-campaign, expressing confidence in guerrilla strategy despite Spanish numerical superiority.
  excerpt: Spain sends 220,000 soldiers but cannot occupy every cane field or mountain pass. We know this land; we fight for our homes. They fight for orders.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 78
  attribution: Synthesized from military correspondence and memoirs, 1896-1897
  publishedAt: 1896-11-15
  originalLanguage: es
