The Ten Years' War, also known as the Great War, begins on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaim Cuba's independence from Spain.

It is the first of three liberation wars that Cuba fights against Spain, the other two being the Little War (1879-1880) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898).

The final three months of the last conflict escalate to become the Spanish-American War.