Conflict episode
Cuban War of Independence, 1895-1898
Cuban insurgents fought Spanish colonial rule from 1895; General Valeriano Weyler's reconcentration policy forced hundreds of thousands of civilians into camps, causing a disputed death toll variously estimated between roughly 95,000 and 300,000.
What happened
Cuban insurgents resumed the fight against Spanish colonial rule in 1895. Spanish General Valeriano Weyler implemented a "reconcentration" policy, forcing hundreds of thousands of rural civilians into camps in towns and cities, where large numbers died of starvation and disease. Published death-toll estimates for reconcentration are disputed: an 1898 Spanish government census estimated up to 170,000 deaths, Cuban demographic estimates range from roughly 95,000 to 170,000, and contemporary American estimates were higher still, with one 1897 congressional fact-finding mission reporting roughly 300,000 deaths among 500,000 people held in the camps; no single figure is treated as authoritative.[1]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: Cuban insurgents resumed the fight against Spanish colonial rule in 1895. Spanish General Valeriano Weyler implemented a "reconcentration" policy, forcing hundreds of thousands of rural civilians into camps in towns and cities, where large numbers died of starvation and disease. Published death-toll estimates are disputed: an 1898 Spanish government census estimated up to 170,000 deaths, Cuban demographic estimates range from roughly 95,000 to 170,000, and a 1897 US congressional fact-finding mission reported roughly 300,000 deaths among 500,000 people held in the camps; no single figure is treated as authoritative.
- CUBAN HOLOCAUST: La Reconcentración and the Decimation of the Güajiros (Cuban Genealogy Club of Miami) link, report text. Source record