CAUSES and CONSEQUENCES of the Cuban War

Throughout the nineteenth century, Cuba had several consecutive wars in its search for independence, confronting Spain to free itself from its colonialism. Of all these wars, the most relevant was the Cuban War of Independence or the 1985 war, being the one that really laid the foundations for Cuban independence. To know in depth and understand this warlike conflict in this lesson of a Teacher we must talk about the Causes and consequences of the Cuban War.

The Cuban War of Independence It was a military conflict between the February 24, 1895 and August 13, 1898, in which the Cubans, with the support of the United States, took up arms against the Spanish to seek their independence and the end of their relationship as a colony.

While the American colonies rose up in arms to seek their independence at the beginning of the 19th century, Cuba did not make any move, for fear of a possible uprising of the slaves in the zone. Cuba was a region with an enormous production, especially of products that were much needed by Spain, such as

sugar and tobacco, causing it to have a huge slave population whom the Cuban Creoles feared due to the slave uprisings that took place in the Caribbean islands during those years.

With the end of the Hispanic-American independence in Spain and with him end of slavery in much of the world, the situation in Cuba began to change, beginning the first independence uprisings. These uprisings began in the mid-nineteenth century, but were quickly stopped by the Spanish, who were already expecting such a move.

In 1868 and until 1878, the ten years war, won by the Spanish. This was followed by little war, between 1879 and 1880, which was settled again with a Spanish victory. But the Cubans did not give up, and began the cuban war, Cuban war of independence or war of 1895 to achieve its independence.

Like all wars and independence processes, the war in Cuba was the result of a series of causes that pushed a colony to the limit and that ended up causing Cuba would like to become independent from Spain.

To fully understand the reasons that led to such a harsh war between the two regions, we must talk about the Main causes of the war in Cuba.

For all this, the main causes of the war in Cuba are the following:

• Spanish colonial officials had proven ineffective, since as had happened in the American colonies, the settlers were dissatisfied with how the administration in the area, especially because it was managed by peninsulars who, on many occasions, had only been living for a few years on the island. Another problem for Spanish officials was corruption, since they had traveled to Cuba only for money, so that were very easy to bribe, creating a huge network of corruption throughout the colony, and creating this huge inequalities.
• Spain was afraid that Cuba's relations with other regions could lead to a independence, for which he did everything possible so that the Caribbean island did not have free trade, creating great barriers that harmed the economy of Cubans. Cuba wanted greater freedom to trade, especially with the United States, a region that is very close and very interested in Cuban products.
• One of the most important products for Cubans was sugar, being together with tobacco the center of its economy. During the middle of the 19th century, a crisis of this product took place, causing a decrease in the price of the product, and a harsh crisis occurred in Cuba due to the drop in sugar. To all this was added the taxes that the colony had to pay for the little it sold, causing a general malaise in the Cuban population.
• The Cuban economy was based on agriculture.a, and at that time agriculture was closely linked to slavery, being the slaves those who work in these worked so hard. It is this period slavery was prohibited in several areas of the world, especially in the United Kingdom, causing a loss of profitability, and that Cuba had to seek a new form of income by losing an enormous amount of labor, and that each time was more expensive.
• The interference of the United States, a nation that began to increase its influence to other areas seeking greater power. The United States considered Cuba a very important region, since it was very close to its coasts, and also had a very interesting market.
• The discontent of the Cubans, which saw how other colonies achieved their independence, while they were increasingly destroyed by the Spanish and could not advance.
• The tension between Cuba and Spain, exploding in the Ten Years' War and the Little War, which ended with peace pacts that were not fulfilled by the Spanish, causing greater anger among Cubans. Some of these pacts spoke of lowering taxes or giving more freedom to Cubans, but they were never fulfilled.
• Formation of the Cuban Revolutionary Party in the United States, made up of Cubans who lived in the United States, being a party that sought the total independence of Cuba. The prohibition of political parties in Cuba forced these groups to exist far from the island, seeking support from other similar groups such as Puerto Rico or the Philippines.
• entry of the United States into the war, helping the Cubans with weapons and troops to facilitate their independence. The American troops were not too numerous, but they were enough so that Cuba could face a great power such as Spain.
• Cubans suffered great losses of freedom, not being able to meet without a Spanish military chief, without having freedom of the press and without being able to form political parties. In general, we can say that for the Spaniards, Cubans just had to work and do nothing else.
• The money that Cuba generated was not spent in Cuba, instead, Spain used it for other things like upgrading its weaponry, causing Cubans to be angry that their money was going nowhere.
• There were huge social inequalities, since, as had happened in the American colonies, the peninsulars had many more benefits than the Cuban population.
• A nationalistic and patriotic spirit began to form, who defended the Cubans' own interests and regarded the Spanish as enemies. For this reason, parties and movements of independence origin were born, which spoke of finding their own path and defending Cuban interests.

To continue with this lesson on the causes and consequences of the war in Cuba, we must talk about the main consequences of this conflict. The war in Cuba brought the formation of a new nation and the end of the colonial power of the Spanish, so this small conflict brought about enormous changes throughout the planet.

For all this, the consequences of the war in Cuba were the following:

• Between 1898 and 1902 there took place in Cuba a american military government, which was based on governing the region until Cuba had a true democratic government, although the American intention was also to try to make Cuba one of its state. The pressure of the Cubans made the United States finally leave the island, understanding that the Cubans did not want them as rulers after getting rid of the Spanish.
• A Constituent Assembly was convened to draft a new constitution, thereby creating a new republican, democratic, representative and with divisions of powers, serving as bases the liberal revolutions of principle of century. This constitution was revised by the United States, which imposed the so-called Platt Amendment, which gave the right to the United States to enter the island militarily if they considered it necessary for the good of both.
• In 1903, and with an agreement that has still brought conflicts to this day, The United States gained control of Guantanamo Bay., placing there one of the toughest prisons in the world, being especially used for terrorists.
• Until 1909 the Americans remained with a greater or lesser presence on the island, looking for excuses to make Cuba become part of their nation, but they finally gave up seeing that the Cubans only wanted to be independent, although they took it upon themselves to allow the formation of recovering the can.
• The loss of the Spanish economy, together with the sugar crisis and slavery, brought a hard crisis in all Cuban aspects, causing hard years in the new nation.
• Spain lost all her colonies, thus ending the great Spanish Empire, and causing a severe social, political and economic crisis in the Iberian nation. Many scholars consider that all of Spain's problems arise at this time, beginning with the Crisis of 98.
• USA saw after helping Cuba that the way to grow was to enter into conflicts of this nature to increase your influence, intervening in later years in many regions such as Venezuela, Panama, Nicaragua or the Dominican Republic.
• Even with the departure of the United States, these left several military bases in Cuba, serving to know that if they needed to go into combat they could do it quickly. Over the years, and the growing confrontation between Cuba and the United States, these bases became a bigger problem.