Topic summary
Cuban War of Independence
3,437 dead from disease
53,313 dead from disease
The Cuban War of Independence, fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, following the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). Throughout the course of the war, Spain sent 220,285 soldiers to Cuba, the largest army to cross the Atlantic until World War II, according to the Library of Congress. Spain created the first modern concentration camps using its reconcentration policy, which caused the deaths of at least 170,000 Cubans, or 10% of the population at the time.
The final three months of the conflict saw major escalation which evolved into the Spanish–American War, with United States armed forces being deployed to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to fight against Spain. W. Joseph Campbell argued that yellow journalism exaggerated atrocities attributed to Spanish forces against Cuban civilians and swayed American public opinion.