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Arsenio Martínez-Campos | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait of General Martínez-Campos,c. 1889 | |
| Prime Minister of Spain | |
| In office 7 March – 9 December 1879 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XII |
| Preceded by | Antonio Cánovas del Castillo |
| Succeeded by | Antonio Cánovas del Castillo |
| President of the Senate of Spain | |
| In office 23 December 1885 – 8 March 1886 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII |
| Preceded by | Count of Puñonrrostro |
| Succeeded by | Marquess of Havana |
| In office 27 February 1891 – 4 February 1893 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII |
| Preceded by | Marquess of Habana |
| Succeeded by | Marquess of Habana |
| In office 30 May 1899 – 18 October 1900 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII |
| Preceded by | Eugenio Montero Ríos |
| Succeeded by | Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero |
| Minister of War of Spain | |
| In office 7 March – 9 December 1879 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XII |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Francisco de Ceballos y Vargas |
| Succeeded by | José Ignacio de Echavarría |
| In office 8 February 1881 – 13 October 1883 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XII |
| Prime Minister | Práxedes Mateo Sagasta |
| Preceded by | José Ignacio de Echavarría |
| Succeeded by | José López Domínguez |
| Minister of the Navy of Spain | |
| In office 9 January – 13 January 1883 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XII |
| Prime Minister | Práxedes Mateo Sagasta |
| Preceded by | Francisco de Paula Pavía |
| Succeeded by | Rafael Rodríguez Arias |
| Captain General of Cuba | |
| In office 16 April 1895 – 20 January 1896 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII |
| Regent | Maria Christina of Austria |
| Prime Minister | Antonio Cánovas del Castillo |
| Minister of Overseas | Tomás Castellano y Villarroya |
| Preceded by | Emilio Calleja |
| Succeeded by | Sabas Marín |
| In office 18 June 1878 – 5 February 1879 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XII |
| Prime Minister | Antonio Cánovas del Castillo |
| Minister of Overseas | Cristóbal Martín de Herrera |
| Preceded by | Joaquín Jovellar |
| Succeeded by | Cayetano Figueroa |
| Captain General of Catalonia | |
| In office 5 December 1873 – 19 January 1874 | |
| President of the Executive Power | Emilio Castelar Francisco Serrano |
| Minister of War | José Sánchez Bregua Juan Zavala de la Puente |
| Preceded by | José Turón y Prats |
| Succeeded by | Rafael Izquierdo y Gutiérrez |
| In office 31 December 1874 – 10 October 1876 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XII |
| Prime Minister | Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Joaquín Jovellar |
| President of the Ministry-Regency | Antonio Cánovas del Castillo |
| Minister of War | Joaquín Jovellar Francisco de Ceballos y Vargas |
| Preceded by | José López Domínguez |
| Succeeded by | Marquess of Peña Plata |
| In office 23 July – 14 November 1890 | |
| Monarch | Alfonso XIII |
| Regent | Maria Christina of Austria |
| Prime Minister | Antonio Cánovas del Castillo |
| Minister of War | Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero |
| Preceded by | Marquess of Peña Plata |
| Succeeded by | Marquess of Peña Plata |
| In office 9 March – 29 November 1873 | |
| President of the Executive Power | Estanislao Figueras Francisco Pi i Margall Nicolás Salmerón Emilio Castelar |
| Minister of War | Juan Costa Muñoz Ramón Nouvilas Estanislao Figueras (as interim) Nicolás Estévanez Eulogio González Íscar Jacobo Oreiro y Villavicencio (as interim) José Sánchez Bregua |
| Preceded by | Marquess of Peña Plata |
| Succeeded by | Valeriano Weyler |
| Captain General of Valencia | |
| In office 18 July – 5 December 1873 | |
| President of the Executive Power | Francisco Serrano |
| Minister of War | Fernando Cotoner y Chacón(as interim) Francisco Serrano Bedoya |
| Preceded by | José García y Velarde |
| Succeeded by | Francisco de Ceballos y Vargas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Arsenio Martínez y Campos 14 December 1831 Segovia, Spain |
| Died | September 23, 1900(1900-09-23) (aged 68) Zarauz, Spain |
| Political party | Liberal Party (from 1880) |
| Other political affiliations | Conservative Party (until 1880) |
| Profession | Spanish Armed Forces |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Spain |
| Branch/service |  Spanish Army |
| Years of service | 1860 – 1896 |
| Rank |  General de ejército |
| Battles/wars | Tetuán War Glorious Revolution Ten Years' War Third Carlist War Cuban War of Independence |
Arsenio Martínez-Campos y Antón (néMartínez y Campos; 14 December 1831 – 23 September 1900), was a Spanish officer who rose against theFirst Spanish Republic in a military revolution in 1874 andrestored Spain's Bourbon dynasty. Later, he became Captain-General ofCuba. Martínez Campos took part in wars in Africa, Mexico and Cuba and in theThird Carlist War.[1]
In 1860, he was sent to Africa to take part in theTetuán War inMorocco, and he distinguished himself in 16 actions, obtaining theCross of San Fernando and the rank oflieutenant colonel.[2] He also took part in thesecond French intervention in Mexico under GeneralJuan Prim in a joint expedition along withFrance andBritain.[1]
After theRevolution of 1868, Martínez Campos requested a posting to Cuba, where he fought against the rebels in 1869 in theTen Years' War, gaining the rank ofbrigadier general.[3] Success in this war was often a matter of perception. TheSpanish Army, after taking massive losses, would take the field in bayonet charges.
Despite technically winning, the Spanish losses against the Cuban rebels would make the Cubans consider the action to be a victory for thebody count and then withdraw. The Cubans also knew that movements of Spanish in the field raised the exposure of the Spanish forces toyellow fever and other tropical diseases, which would hurt the enemy even further.[4] Perceived as too soft to win, he was displaced by the ruthlessBlas Villate, Count of Balmaceda, who proceeded with a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing, "The Rising Flood of Valmaseda."
In 1872, Martínez Campos returned to Spain and supported thecoup d'état led byManuel Pavía. There, he commanded several brigades against theCarlist uprisings with little success. He was later placed in charge of theValencian army, where he fought independent forces inAlicante andCartagena.
The chaotic situation in Spain pushed him to plot against theSpanish Republic in favor of restoringAlfonso XII, the son of the exiledQueen Isabella II.
Although he made little effort to hide his monarchist intentions,Marshal Serranoappointed him to command of a division in 1874. WIth it, he took part in the relief ofBilbao on 2 May and in the operations aroundEstella-Lizarra in June. On both occasions he unsuccessfully attempted to persuade fellow commanders to proclaim Alfonso XII. He was placed under surveillance inÁvila but managed to escape and took refuge inMadrid.[2]
On 29 December 1874, Martínez Campos led acoup d'état inSagunto that restored theBourbon monarchy under Alfonso XII. Following this, he was appointed Captain General of Catalonia, where he defeated the Carlists and ended the civil war,[3] as well as in Navarre during the early Restoration period.
He was made captain general (governor) of Cuba in 1876. His reputation as a noble warrior allowed him to arrange a peace treaty (Paz de Zanjón) with the war-weary Cuban rebels in 1878. The treaty granted more autonomy to Cuba and freedom to rebels who had been slaves, and, a few years afterward, it led to the complete abolition of slavery on the island.
Returning to Spain, after presiding over a conservative government in 1879 asCánovas's puppet, he was forced to leave theConservative Party since he favoured granting total freedom to all races in Spain.
He turned to theLiberals. As Minister for War underSagasta, he founded theGeneral Military Academy. After the death of King Alfonso in 1885, Martínez Campos steadily supported the regency of QueenMaria Christina and held high commands but declined to take office.[2]
Two years later at age 53, he was sent to Cuba as the first general to face down aCuban attempt at independence. His campaign faced difficulties from the very beginning, with much of the imperial force suffering from malaria and yellow fever during the first summer in the swamps. Moreover, the insurgents' use of dynamite and ambush proved effective in pushing back against the superior numbers of the Spanish force. After months of rebel raids and the capture of poorly defended towns, Campos attempted to force a decisive engagement in July.
The battle ended in a humiliating defeat for the Spanish, whose troops fled the field in the face of the rebels more advanced tactics. With increasing pressure from both the rebels and his own government, Campos began considering more extreme measures. Facing an incorrectly perceived need to toughen measures against the rebels, he refused to authorizeethnic cleansing. Instead, he resigned his post and was replaced byValeriano Weyler.[5]
Days after the defeat, Campos sent a letter to the Spanish prime minister outlining a strategy to ‘reconcentrate’ hundreds of thousands of rural Cubans behind trenches and barbed wire in Spanish-held towns. The plan aimed to isolate the insurgents and cut off the widespread rural support that had sustained them throughout the war. However, Campos refused to implement the policy himself or to escalate the conflict further, and offered to relinquish his imperial post.[5]
Martínez Campos returned to Spain,[6] where he was named president of the Supreme War and Navy Council but resigned after a month in office.[7] He died on September 23, 1900, atZarauz.[8]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Campos, Arsenio Martinez de".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 139.
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