lamorous, three political
groups appeared. The Constitutional Unionists, or "Austrianizers," as
they were dubbed because of their avowed loyalty to the royal house of
Bourbon-Hapsburg, were made up of the Spanish and conservative elements
and represented the large economic interests and the Church. The
Liberals, or "Autonomists," desired such reforms in the administration
as would assure the exercise of self-government and yet preserve the
bond with the mother country. On the other hand, the Radicals, or
"Nationalists"--the party of "Cuba Free"--would be satisfied with
nothing short of absolute independence. All these differences of opinion
were sharpened by the activities of a sensational press.

From about 1890 onward the movement toward independence gathered
tremendous strength, especially when the Cubans found popular sentiment
in the United States so favorable to it. Excitement rose still higher
when the Spanish Government proposed to bestow a larger measure
of autonomy. When, however, the Cortes decided upon less liberal
arrangements, the Autonomists declared that they had been deceived, and
the Nationalists denounced the utter unreliability of Spanish promises.
Even if the concessions had been generous, the result probably would
have been the same, for by this time the plot to set Cuba free had
become so widespread, both in the island itself and among the refugees
in the United States, that the inevitable struggle could not have been
deferred.

In 1895 the revolution broke out. The whites, headed by Maximo Gomez,
and the negroes and mulattoes by their chieftain, Antonio Maceo, both
of whom had done valiant service in the earlier war, started upon a
campaign of deliberate terrorism. This time they were resolved to win
at any cost. Spurning every offer of conciliation, they burned, ravaged,
and laid waste, spread desolation along their pathway, and reduced
thousands to abject poverty and want.

Then the Spanish Government came to the conclusion that nothing but the
most rigorous sort of reprisals would check the excesses of the rebels.
In 1896 it commissioned Valeriano Weyler, an officer who personified
ferocity, to put down the rebellion. If the insurgents had fancied that
the conciliatory spirit hitherto displayed by the Spaniards was due to
irresolution or weakness, they found that these were not the qualities
of their new opponent. Weyler, instead of trying to suppress the
rebellion by hurrying detachments o