Philippines Story

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The Spanish-American war officially ended with the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. However, the American government was only interested in Cuba's independence, not that of the Philippines. By the Treaty, Cuba gained its independence and Spain ceded the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States for the sum of US$20 million. Given its own history of colonial revolution, American opinion was uncomfortable and divided on the moral principle of owning colonial dependencies. Having acquired the Philippines almost by accident, the United States was not sure what to do with them. On January 20, 1899, President McKinley appointed the First Philippine Commission (Schurman Commission) to make recommendations.

The Treaty of Paris and subsequent actions by the United States were not well received by the Filipinos - who were not even consulted. The Philippine War of Independence began on February 4, 1899 and continued for two years. The United States needed 126,000 soldiers to subdue the Philippines. The war took the lives of 4,234 Americans and 16,000 Filipinos. The Commonwealth of the Philippines was established by the United States government in 1935 with a view to granting Filipino independence within 10 years.

However, on December 8, 1941 ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese military invaded the Philippines. United States forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur withdrew to Java on December 12, 1941. MacArthur promised: "I shall return". General MacArthur kept his promise and returned with a massive amphibious force on the island of Leyte in October of 1944. Over the next four months, U.S. forces, with the help of Filipino guerrillas routed the Japanese army.

After the war, the United Stated restored the pre-war Commonwealth government. By 1946 the Philippines had transformed from a Commonwealth to an independent republic.