Colonial War and the 1898 Crisis: Spain's Decline
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Colonial War and the Crisis of 1898
After the reign of Alfonso XII (1874-1885), the regency of Maria Cristina of Habsburg (1885-1902) occurred, pending the coming of age of the young child, the future Alfonso XIII, who reigned from 1902 to 1931. There is a historical fact of the late nineteenth century, the "disaster of 98." Since the late fifteenth century, Spain forged a great colonial empire that crumbled during the first decades of the nineteenth century. Only Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and some Pacific islands remained Spanish.
Colonial War
The attempt of Cuba to gain independence began during the stage of the democratic Sexenio in 1869. Céspedes proclaimed the Cuban republic, and the dispute arose. The Spanish army had to intervene to suppress the Cuban uprising, led by General Martínez Campos. Spanish troops quelled the uprising. The Pact of Zanjón (1878) was signed, which granted general amnesty, and Cuba became a Spanish province. This covenant did not implement the promised reforms in Cuba and strengthened the Spanish presence on the island.
In 1895, the "Grito de Baire" happened, a new war led by José Martí and Generals Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo. Spain sent Martínez Campos, replaced the following year by General Weyler. A decisive factor was the U.S. intervention that exacerbated the conflict. The U.S. had proposed to purchase the island of Cuba from Maria Cristina for 300 million dollars. The Spanish government's refusal to sell led the U.S. to seek an excuse to provoke a war against Spain. The accidental explosion of the cruiser Maine was interpreted by the U.S. as an act of sabotage.
The United States issued an ultimatum forcing the Spanish to leave the island. The U.S. war ended with the defeat of the Spanish fleet led by Admiral Cervera in the waters of Santiago de Cuba. The war spread to the Philippines. In Manila Bay, the Spanish fleet was annihilated. In December 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed. Spain recognized the independence of Cuba and ceded the Philippines, the island of Guam, and Puerto Rico to the United States. This Treaty represents the liquidation of the Spanish colonial empire, which was reduced to the Mariana Islands, Palau, and Caroline, which were then sold to Germany.
Crisis of 1898
The year 1898 was a jolt to the Spanish collective consciousness. Spain's hegemony had changed to its disadvantage up to this fateful year. In the ideological field, a test was imposed on the substance of Spain and the Spanish. There is the generation of 98 and regenerationism, which requested a review of the Restoration political system, which they considered guilty of the colonial disaster. On the economic side, the loss of colonial markets was negative but was soon recovered by domestic industry. Positive was the return to Spain of capital from Latin America, which allowed a great development of Spanish banking. In the late nineteenth century, the great European powers had created huge colonial empires that would take them to the world elite. This decline contrasted with Spain, which tried to shift its foreign policy with some colonization territories in Africa.