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300,000 Cubans were removed from their
rural villages and placed in confined,
guarded locations where they could nei-
ther aid nor be intimidated by the rebels.
Due to inadequate provision of sanitary
and health services as well as periodic food
shortages, thousands of Cuban peasants
died in these camps, creating an interna-
tional scandal. The United States, soon to
intervene in Cuba, was particularly intense
in its anti-Spanish protests, with newspa-
pers denouncing “Butcher Weyler” for his
atrocities. The assassination of Weyler's
strong backer, Prime Minister A
NTONIO
C
ÁNOVAS
, opened him to denunciation by
Spanish Liberals, and he was recalled from
his command in 1897.
After the S
PANISH
-A
MERICAN
W
AR
and
the virtual loss of Spain's empire Weyler
was perceived by many as having been jus-
tified in his harsh tactics. Already the recip-
ient of scores of medals and every available
military honor, he served three terms as
minister of war during the early 1900s, as
well as holding successively the titles of
commander in chief and chief of the gen-
eral staff. Once again applying rigorous
methods, he crushed the anarchist uprising
in C
ATALONIA
during B
ARCELONA
's “Tragic
Week” in 1909. When the intrigues of Gen-
eral M
IGUEL
P
RIMO
DE
R
IVERA
threatened
the government in 1923, Weyler, the senior
officer of the army, was the only leader to
respond to the prime minister's call for help,
even though the coup was already too far
advanced to be prevented. In 1929, a year
before his death, the venerable general was
honored for 75 years of uninterrupted ser-
vice in the army.
Weyler was an unapologetically brutal
commander who subscribed to the idea that
war was a serious business and that defeat-
ing the enemy was a general's prime duty.
Although Spain's critics made his name a
by-word for cruelty, his tactics would be
widely adopted in the 20th century (as, for
instance, by the British in the Boer War of
1899-1902). His uncompromising profes-
sionalism was also reflected in his refusal to
follow the pattern laid down by 19th-cen-
tury political generals. When approached
about leading a revolt against the regime in
1899, he not only declined but spoke of
honor and loyalty with such eloquence that
the plotters abandoned their scheme. His
willingness to stand against Primo de Rivera
was merely the last act in a career of
unswerving patriotism.
women's rights in Spain
Spain has produced notable women, from
I
SABELLA
the Catholic and T
ERESA
OF
Á
VILA
to the fiery (if fictional) Carmen and the
even more fiery and definitely real La
Pasionaria (D
OLORES
I
BÁRRURI
). But,
throughout history, the majority of Spanish
women have lived lives of obscurity and
subjugation. Even women of high social
rank have been known chiefly in the con-
text of their family's male leaders. Over the
centuries women have been homemakers,
child rearers, silent supporters or sufferers,
whose only solace outside the bounds of
family life has been through religion. Even
those who emerged as patriotic fighters or
revolutionary zealots did so only briefly,
often losing their lives in the process and
occasionally gaining a few colorful allusions
in popular literature. When demands for
women's rights, particularly in the areas of
the franchise and personal property, were
surging in the United States and some parts
of Europe at the beginning of the 20th
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