SOURCE: Shaw, Donald L. “Origins and Definitions.” In The Generation of 1898 in Spain, pp. 1-16. London: Ernest Benn Ltd., 1975.

In the following essay, Shaw traces the origins of the Generation of 1898 and provides a definition of the literary movement.

I. the Cuban Question

The loss of Spain's colonial possessions in continental Latin America in the early nineteenth century was greeted in the mother country with comparative indifference; but the emergence of a liberation movement in Cuba aroused intransigent opposition. Cuba had come to be seen as virtually part of Spain. Its economic importance, especially for Catalonia, was considerable. Spain also realized that to lose Cuba would inevitably mean the loss of Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and with them the last shreds of her international prestige. Finally, since it was clear that the United States was actively supporting the Cuban rebels and, as early as 1848, had offered to...