Changes

The war freed Spain from the shackles of an imperialist ideology. For many centuries it sought to define itself in terms of an Imperial power and this has resulted in political system and society that was resistant to change and even modernity. Spanish public opinion was shocked by the fact that the local people in the colonies had openly supported the US. They had believed that the Spanish Empire was loved by the subject people <ref> Philips, William D., Jr., and Carla Rahn Phillips. A Concise History of Spain ( U of Berkeley Press, California, 2010) </ref>. Many long-held illusions were destroyed during the war in 1898. The defeat by the Americans allowed Spain to look into the future for the first time and consider, its place in the world and its development.  With the end of its Empire in the Caribbean and in the Pacific, many in the country believed that it now needed to modernize and to become a truly European nation. The defeat of Spain by the US encouraged many to seek to change the country to deal with its social, political and cultural crisis. This energized many to propose alternatives for the country and offer solutions to its malaise. This was very apparent in the arts. The "Generation of '98" is the name given to a group of Spanish writers, essayists, philosophers and poets that were profoundly affected by the military defeat inflicted by the US. They sought to develop a new literature and art forms as part of the regeneration of Spain <ref>H. Ramsden, "The Spanish 'Generation of 1898': The History of a Concept", Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, 1974, Vol. 56 Issue 2, pp 443-462 </ref>. They rejected the traditional genres and ideas and they transformed Spanish literature and the arts. The "Generation of '98" helped to create a cultural golden age, and they greatly influenced writers in Europe and Latin America.