Crucible of Empire

PROLOGUE

In the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, the once mighty Spanish Empire retained only a remnant of its formally vast amount of territories. Of these possessions, Cuba was the most restless, spawning numerous unsuccessful insurrections, each aimed at separating the island from Spain, which was unwilling to relinquish control, even spurning an American offer of $100 million in 1848.

In 1868, rebellion infected much of eastern Cuba, causing Spain to dispatch reinforcements to the island. Despite their superior numbers, it took Spanish forces ten years to achieve victory.

In 1892, Cuban exiles in America created the Partido Revolucionario Cubano, the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Its leader, a firebrand named José Martí, along with fellow leaders, Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo, planned a comprehensive strategy, drawing support from sympathizers in the U.S. and Latin America. Martí's plan called for simultaneous uprisings throughout Cuba. However, the Spanish learned of the plot and arrested several rebel leaders.

This broke the rebellion in western Cuba, but on 24 February 1895, the revolt began as planned in the east, and by April enough of the region was under rebel control to allow Martí and Gómez to sneak on to the island.

Spain dispatched 50,000 troops to Cuba, commanded by General Arsenio Martinez Campos, architect of the 1878 victory over the rebels, who soon found himself unable to deal with the insurrectos' scorched earth policy, contrived to deny Spain any profit from the island. "Blessed be the torch!" was the rebel motto.

"Re-concentration" of the rural population into secure areas was proposed as a means of depriving the rebels supplies and support. Martinez Campos however, refused to implement such a measure, knowing the enormous suffering it would cause, and instead, tendered his resignation.

His replacement, General Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, had no such compunction, and ordered the rural populace "re-concentrated." Accused of committing numerous atrocities, Weyler was called El Carnicero - The Butcher. During this period nearly a half million Cubans died.

From its offices in New York City, the Partido Revolucionario provided imaginative stories of Spanish atrocities, which were printed in newspapers throughout America.

Outcry from the American people was strong, but the United States government maintained a "diplomatically correct" attitude towards the insurrection, enforcing American laws of neutrality. Officially, it looked upon Cuba as Spanish territory, denying the insurgents formal recognition as combatants.

President Grover Cleveland, although sympathetic to Cuban independence, did not want war with Spain, and offered to mediate a settlement. An offer, in which neither side took interest.

This was especially true of the Spanish, whose reconcentrado policy was taking its desired toll on rebel support throughout the island. Spanish forces had split the rebels into three non-mutually supporting bodies, and by the end of 1897, the rebellion only remained strong in the eastern province of Oriente.

Cleveland's successor, William McKinley, also opposed U.S. intervention in Cuba, but giving into public pressure, dispatched a note to Spain urging an end of "re-concentration", and a degree of autonomy for the Cuban people. The note carried a veiled threat of American action should these measures not be taken.

Spain agreed to the demands, and even recalled Weyler, but the rebels, not interested in anything less than total independence for Cuba, refused to lay down their arms, and so "re-concentration" remained in effect, and blood continued to be shed on both sides.

In early January 1898, severe rioting broke out in Havana, causing the American Consul General, Fitzhugh Lee, to request an American warship be sent to Havana to protect American lives and interests. But the situation almost immediately calmed, and no ship was dispatched.

Later that same month, Germany, flexing its muscles, stepped up naval activity in the Caribbean, prompting Lee to recommend the USS Maine be dispatched to Cuba to show the American flag.

Lee believed the visit created an overall calming effect on tensions between Washington and Madrid, and requested that upon Maine's departure from Cuban waters another warship take its place.

This perceived easing of tensions however, was only superficial. The reality of the situation being Cuba was a powder keg, and the United States, committed to ending suffering on the island, was on an inevitable course towards war with Spain.