On February 24, 1895, Cubans restarted, with the Grito de Baire, the war for independence against Spain that began in 1868-1878. Marti’s pilgrimage throughout the Americas in the 1880’s and 1890’s helped to unite and organize the Cubans. With Antonio Maceo and Maximo Gomez, Marti worked tiressly toward the realization of Cuban independence. So well had they organized the anti-Spanish forces that their order for the uprising on February 24, assured the ultimate expulsion of Spain from the island.
The war, however, was not the fast and decisive struggle Marti had sought. It took his own life in 1895, dragged on for three more years, and eventually prompted the U.S. intervention (1899-1902) that he had feared.
