Arsenio Martínez-Campos y Antón
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Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, December 14, 1831 – Zarauz, Spain, September 23, 1900) was a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
officer, who rose against the First Spanish Republic
First Spanish Republic
The First Spanish Republic was the political regime that existed in Spain between the parliamentary proclamation on 11 February 1873 and 29 December 1874 when General Arsenio Martínez-Campos's pronunciamento marked the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain...
in a military revolution in 1874 and restored Spain's Bourbon dynasty. Later he became Captain-General of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. As soldier and politician, he took part in the wars in Africa, Mexico, Cuba and the last Carlist war.
Martínez Campos received a military education and after 1852 served on Spain's general staff (Estado Mayor). Later on, he was named professor in its academy. In 1860, he was sent to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, and also took part in the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
1861 campaign against urban rebels under General Juan Prim
Juan Prim
Don Juan or Joan Prim, Marquis of los Castillejos, Grandee of Spain, Count of Reus, Viscount of the Bruch was a Spanish general and statesman.-Life:...
, in a joint expedition along with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
After the Revolution of 1868, Arsenio Martínez Campos requested posting to Cuba, where he fought well against the rebels in 1869 in the Ten Years' War
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...
, gaining the rank of Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
. Success in this war commonly was a matter of perception, the Spanish Army
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
after taking serious losses, would take the field in bayonet charges thus technically winning. However, the Cuban rebels would count up the Spanish losses against their own and consider the action a victory in terms of body count and withdraw. The Cubans also knew that movements of Spanish in the field caused the exposure of the susceptible Spanish forces to yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
and other tropical diseases; these diseases would hurt the enemy further. Martínez Campos, perceived as too soft to win, was displaced by the ruthless Blas Villate
Blas Villate
Blas Villate y de la Herra, count of Valmaceda was a Spanish general. He was several times governor of Cuba:* September 24, 1867 - December 21, 1867 * December 13, 1870 - July 11, 1872...
, Count of Balmaceda http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4210; who proceeded with a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing called, "The Rising Flood of Valmaseda". In 1872, Martínez Campos returned to Spain, where he backed the coup d'état led by Manuel Pavía
Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque
Manuel Pavia y Rodriguez de Alburquerque was a Spanish general, born in Cadiz. He was the son of Admiral Pavia, a naval officer of some note in the early part of the 19th century....
. Here, he took charge of several brigades to fight the Carlist uprisings with little success. After this, he was put in charge of the Valencian army, fighting Independent forces in Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
and Cartagena
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
.
The chaotic situation in Spain caused him to plot against the Republic
First Spanish Republic
The First Spanish Republic was the political regime that existed in Spain between the parliamentary proclamation on 11 February 1873 and 29 December 1874 when General Arsenio Martínez-Campos's pronunciamento marked the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain...
and in favour of Alfonso XII, son of the exiled Isabel II
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
. On the 29 December 1874, Martínez Campos led a coup d'état in Sagunto
Sagunto
Sagunto or Sagunt is an ancient city in Eastern Spain, in the modern fertile comarca of Camp de Morvedre in the province of Valencia. It is located in a hilly site, c. 30 km north of Valencia, close to the Costa del Azahar on the Mediterranean Sea...
to restore the throne to Alfonso XII. Later, he was named Captain General of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
after defeating the Carlists there and in Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
in the Restoration
Spain under the Restoration
The Restoration was the name given to the period that began on December 29, 1874 after the First Spanish Republic ended with the restoration of Alfonso XII to the throne after a coup d'état by Martinez Campos, and ended on April 14, 1931 with the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic.After...
. He was made Captain General (governor) of Cuba in 1876 where his reputation as a noble warrior allowed him to arrange a peace treaty (Paz de Zanjón) with the war weary Cuban rebels in 1878. This treaty granted more autonomy to Cuba, freedom to rebels who had been slaves, and a few years after led to the complete abolition of slavery on the island.
Returning to Spain, and after presiding over a conservative government in 1879 as Cánovas's puppet
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for his role in supporting the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy to the Spanish throne and for his death at the hands of an anarchist assassin, Michele Angiolillo.-Early career:Born in Málaga as the son of...
, he was forced to leave the Conservative Party
Liberal-Conservative Party
The Liberal-Conservative Party was the formal name of the Conservative Party of Canada until 1873, although some Conservative candidates continued to run under the label as late as the 1911 election and others ran as simple Conservatives prior to 1873...
, since he favoured granting total freedom to all races in Spain. He turned to the Liberals
Liberal Party (Spanish Restoration)
The Liberal Party was a Spanish political party created in 1880 by Práxedes Mateo Sagasta. With the Partido Conservador of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, it formed a bipartite system of alternating governments that characterised the Spanish Restoration during the final part of the 19th century and...
. As Minister for War under Sagasta
Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of the turno pacifico, alternating with the Liberal-Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas...
, he founded the Academia Militar General.
Rif War (1893)
The First Melillan campaign, also called the Melilla War or the Margallo War in Spain, was a conflict between Spain and 39 of the Rif tribes of northern Morocco, and later the Sultan of Morocco, that began in October 1893, was openly declared November 9, 1893,...
, and subscribed a peace treaty (Peace of Melilla
Melilla
Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...
) with the Sultan of Morocco in 1894. That same year (1893), he suffered an assassination attempt. Two years later, he returned to Cuba, but facing an incorrectly perceived need to toughen measures against the rebels, he refused to order ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
and resigned his post. He was replaced with by Valeriano Weyler
Valeriano Weyler
Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, 1st Duke of Rubí and 1st Marquis of Tenerife Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, 1st Duke of Rubí and 1st Marquis of Tenerife Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, 1st Duke of Rubí and 1st Marquis of Tenerife (Seed in Ambos Camarines.-Philippines:In 1888, he was sent out as...
. Martínez Campo returned to Spain, where he was named president of the Supreme War and Navy Council until his death in 1900. Weyler’s tactics did not lead to victory but instead contributed to the U.S. intervention in the Spanish American War.