Little War (Cuba)

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Little War

Calixto García, the main organizer of the conflict
DateAugust 26, 1879 – December 3, 1880
(1 year, 3 months and 1 week)
Location
Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Cuban Rebels Spain
Commanders and leaders
Emilio Núñez
Camilo Polavieja
Strength
8000 Tens of thousands
Casualties and losses
Hundreds killed[1] Unknown

The Little War or Small War (

war of 1895–98, which resulted in American intervention and Cuban independence
.

Origins

The war had the same origins as the

Calixto Garcia travelled to New York City and organized the Cuban Revolutionary Committee with other revolutionaries. In 1878, he issued a manifesto against Spanish rule of Cuba. This met with approval amongst other revolutionary leaders, and war began on August 26, 1879.[2]

The war

The revolution was led by

Antonio Maceo), Guillermo Moncada, Emilio Núñez.[3] The revolutionaries faced many problems which were difficult to overcome. They lacked experienced leaders other than García, and they had a dire shortage of weapons and ammunition. Further, they had no foreign allies to help them, and the population was both exhausted from the Ten Years' War and lacked faith in the possibility of victory, desiring peace instead.[4] In the west of the island, most of the revolutionary leaders were arrested. The rest of the leaders were forced to capitulate throughout 1879 and 1880, and by September 1880, the rebels had been completely defeated.[2]

Aftermath

Although the Spanish had made promises of reform, they were ineffective. The Spanish Constitution of 1876 was applied to Cuba in 1881, but this changed little. Although Cuba was able to send representatives to the Cortes Generales, the Spanish parliament, in practice the representatives were among the most conservative in Cuba, and thus little was changed.[2]

The lack of any true reform resulted in another uprising 15 years later, the Cuban War of Independence, which came to be known as the War of '95. The experience gained by the revolutionary generals in the Little War was a great help to them, and following the War of '95 and the linked Spanish–American War, Cuba gained independence from Spain.

See also

References

  1. .
  2. ^ a b c "The Little War or Guerra Chiquita". Cuba Heritage.org. 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  3. ^ "The Little War (La Guerra Chiquita)". historyofcuba.com. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  4. ^ "History of the Cuban Liberation Wars". CubaGenWeb. 2007. Retrieved December 18, 2007.