Editing History of Cuba (section)

===Struggle for independence===
[[File:La acción de Guaimaro, de Balaca.jpg|thumb|Depiction of an engagement between Cuban rebels and Spanish Royalists during the [[Ten Years' War]] (1868–78)]]
In the 1860s, Cuba had two more liberal-minded governors, Serrano and Dulce, who encouraged the creation of a Reformist Party, despite the fact that political parties were forbidden. But they were followed by a reactionary governor, Francisco Lersundi, who suppressed all liberties granted by the previous governors and maintained a pro-slavery regime.<ref>Cantón Navarro, José. ''History of Cuba'', p. 42.</ref> On 10 October 1868, the landowner [[Carlos Manuel de Céspedes]] declared Cuban independence and freedom for his slaves. This began the [[Ten Years' War]] from 1868 to 1878. The [[Dominican Restoration War]] (1863–65) brought to Cuba an unemployed mass of former Dominicans who had served with the Spanish Army in the [[Dominican Republic]] before being evacuated to Cuba.<ref name=Scheina/> Some of these former soldiers joined the new Revolutionary Army and provided its initial training and leadership.<ref name=Scheina/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Villafana |first1=Frank |title=Expansionism: Its Effects on Cuba's Independence |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge}}</ref>
[[File:1896-01-06, La Ilustración Artística, La guerra de Cuba, Defensa de un tren atacado por los insurrectos, Passos.jpg|thumb|Defense of a train attacked by Cuban insurgents]]
With reinforcements and guidance from the Dominicans, the Cuban rebels defeated Spanish detachments, cut railway lines, and gained dominance over vast sections of the eastern portion of the island.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foner |first1=Philip S. |title=Antonio Maceo: The "Bronze Titan" of Cuba's Struggle for Independence |date=1989 |publisher=NYU Press}}</ref> The Spanish government used the Voluntary Corps to commit harsh acts against the Cuban rebels, and the Spanish atrocities fuelled the growth of insurgent forces; however, they failed to export the revolution to the west. On 11 May 1873, [[Ignacio Agramonte]] was killed by a stray bullet; Céspedes was killed on 27 February 1874. In 1875, [[Máximo Gómez]] began an invasion of Las Villas west of a fortified military line, or ''trocha'', bisecting the island.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} The ''trocha'' was built between 1869 and 1872; the Spanish erected it to prevent Gómez to move westward from Oriente province.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Editions |first1=Dupont Circle |last2=Chao |first2=Raúl Eduardo |title=Baraguá: Insurgents and Exiles in Cuba and New York During the Ten Year War on Independence (1868–1878) |date=2009 |page=293}}</ref> It was the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the Americas.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cecil |first1=Leslie |title=New Frontiers in Latin American Borderlands |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |page=37}}</ref>

Gómez was controversial in his calls to burn sugar plantations to harass the Spanish occupiers. After the American admiral [[Henry Reeve (soldier)|Henry Reeve]] was killed in 1876, Gómez ended his campaign. By that year, the Spanish government had deployed more than 250,000 troops to Cuba, as the end of the [[Third Carlist War]] had freed up Spanish soldiers. On 10 February 1878, General [[Arsenio Martínez Campos]] negotiated the [[Pact of Zanjón]] with the Cuban rebels, and the rebel general [[Antonio Maceo Grajales|Antonio Maceo]]'s surrender on 28 May ended the war. Spain sustained 200,000 casualties, mostly from disease; the rebels sustained 100,000–150,000 dead and the island sustained over $300 million in property damage.<ref name=Scheina>{{cite book|last1=Scheina|first1=Robert L.|title=Latin America's Wars: Volume 1|date=2003|publisher=Potomac Books}}</ref> The Pact of Zanjón promised the manumission of all slaves who had fought for Spain during the war, and slavery was legally abolished in 1880. However, dissatisfaction with the peace treaty led to the [[Little War (Cuba)|Little War]] of 1879–80.