Editing Spanish–American War (section)

===Cuban struggle for independence===
{{Main|Cuban War of Independence}}
[[File:La fallera de l'oncle Sam.JPG|thumb|A [[Spaniards|Spanish]] propaganda drawing published in ''[[La Campana de Gràcia]]'' (1896) by [[:ca:Manuel Moliné i Muns|Manuel Moliné]] criticizing U.S. behavior regarding Cuba. Upper text (in old [[Catalan language|Catalan]]) reads: "Uncle Sam's craving", and below: "To keep the island so it won't get lost".]]

The first serious bid for Cuban independence was the Ten Years' War, which erupted in 1868 and was subdued by the authorities a decade later. Neither the fighting nor the reforms in the [[Pact of Zanjón]] (February 1878) quelled the desire of some revolutionaries for wider autonomy and, ultimately, independence. One such revolutionary, José Martí, continued to promote Cuban financial and political freedom in exile. In early 1895, after years of organizing, Martí launched a three-pronged invasion of the island.<ref name="books.google.com">{{Harvnb|Trask|1996|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=2f0Gf0DQfmUC&pg=PA2 2–3]}}</ref>

The plan called for one group from [[Santo Domingo]] in the [[Dominican Republic]] led by [[Máximo Gómez]], one group from [[Costa Rica]] led by [[Antonio Maceo Grajales]], and another from the United States (preemptively thwarted by U.S. officials in Florida) to land in different places on the island and provoke an uprising. While their call for revolution, the ''grito de Baire'', was successful, the result was not the grand show of force Martí had expected. With a quick victory effectively lost, the revolutionaries settled in to fight a protracted guerrilla campaign.<ref name="books.google.com"/>

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, the architect of Spain's Restoration constitution and the prime minister at the time, ordered General [[Arsenio Martínez-Campos]], a distinguished veteran of the war against the previous uprising in Cuba, to quell the revolt. Campos's reluctance to accept his new assignment and his method of containing the revolt to the province of [[Oriente Province|Oriente]] earned him criticism in the Spanish press.<ref name="online">Jonathan Krohn, "Review of Tone, John Lawrence, ''War and Genocide in Cuba 1895–1898''. "H-War, H-Net Reviews." May 2008. [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=14509 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120065526/http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=14509 |date=January 20, 2013 }}</ref>
The mounting pressure forced Cánovas to replace General Campos with General [[Valeriano Weyler]], a soldier who had experience in quelling rebellions in overseas provinces and the Spanish metropole. Weyler deprived the insurgency of weaponry, supplies, and assistance by ordering the residents of some Cuban districts to move to [[Reconcentration policy|reconcentration areas]] near the military headquarters.<ref name="online"/> This strategy was effective in slowing the spread of rebellion. In the United States, this fueled the fire of anti-Spanish propaganda.<ref>{{Harvnb|Trask|1996|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=2f0Gf0DQfmUC&pg=PA8 8–10]}}; {{Harvnb|Carr|1982|pp=379–88}}.</ref> In a political speech, President [[William McKinley]] used this to ram Spanish actions against armed rebels. He even said this "was not civilized warfare" but "extermination".<ref name="Annual Message">{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29538|title= First Annual Message |first1=William |last1=McKinley |date=December 6, 1897|website=The American Presidency Project |access-date=February 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430225437/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29538|archive-date=April 30, 2013|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{citation|author=James Ford Rhodes|title=The McKinley and Roosevelt Administrations 1897–1909|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=em-5IEHHTAUC|year=2007|publisher=Read Books|isbn=978-1406734645|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=em&pg=PA44 44]}}, citing an annual message delivered December 6, 1897, from {{citation|author=French Ensor Chadwick|title=The relations of the United States and Spain: diplomacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozGTAAAAIAAJ|year=1968|publisher=Russell & Russell|isbn=9780846212300|access-date=August 18, 2020|archive-date=September 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923144106/https://books.google.com/books?id=ozGTAAAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>