Land of the Morning

In 1898, the provisional government of the Philippines under Emilio Aguinaldo declared the First Philippine Republic. However, the United States already purchased the archipelago from Spain for twenty million dollars. Meanwhile, Aguinaldo decided to let the United States take Manila, believing they could do the job better than his troops. It failed to occur to him that this decision was to be the start of the American annexation of the Philippines.

But what if Aguinaldo decided on the last minute to take Manila anyway, realizing the Americans could not be fully trusted?

So here is the point of divergence. Just as Aguinaldo's troops are approaching Manila, when Aguinaldo offered the terms of surrender to Basilio Agustin, the Spanish governor-general, the latter refused. But instead of informing the Americans of this, Aguinaldo instead decided for a full-scale assault to be ordered immediately. The Spanish forces were overwhelmed by Philippine troops. The Filipinos, however, spared Agustin's life and had him handed over to the United States forces.

While this angered many in the United States leadership, who are dead-set for annexing the Philippine archipelago, eventually, they relented, fearing backlash that would soon ensue if they tried to push ahead of the annexation.

As a result, US President McKinley had to give the Philippines the same treatment as Cuba, and instead of annexing just Guam, have decided to annex the entire Marianas Island chain instead. The Philippines will get the same treatment as Cuba, given full independence in 1901, just like in Cuba. The price to pay for independence is to give up claims to the Marianas and former Spanish Micronesian islands, the rest being annexed to Germany, and naval bases in Subic and Cavite. While this was resented by the Filipino population, it was in their own opinion, a better deal than being annexed outright by the United States.

Soon, problems came to roost. While land reforms were enacted and enforced, they are insufficient. US companies came to dominate the country's lands, although kind enough to leave the confiscated friar lands, now handed over to their tillers, alone. However, new landlords have rose along with the old ones. Revolts and rumors of revolts reverberated throughout the islands. The brutal conquest of the Muslim sultanates in Mindanao was a subject of criticism.

And yet, the republic survived. In the First World War, it sent troops to aid China and Japan to defeat the German-backed Korean Empire, itself barely surviving conquest by Japan. After the war, the Philippines thrived, its Filipino-owned business being noticed in Hong Kong for example.

But the Depression took a toll on the Philippine economy. A little-known politician named Benigno Ramos refounded the Ganap Party and narrowly won the election over Manuel Quezon in 1936. He was vociferously anti-American and had enlisted the help of Japan. By 1940, he had mostly removed US influence in the country.

In 1941, he declared the Philippines as an Axis ally and attacked the remaining US bases in the country. The troops, trained by their US patrons, were more than a match with the US forces. Under General Artemio Ricarte, the Philippine forces along with Japan attacked the Dutch East Indies, ostensibly to liberate it. But the Japanese have other ideas, the Filipinos genuinely believing that they should give Indonesia independence. This came to a head when the Japanese ousted and killed Ramos in 1943 and replaced him with Jose Laurel. But Laurel also proved to be resistant of Japanese control and was replaced by Jose Cojuangco. At the same time in 1944, an exile government was formed in the United States to take over the government. When Japan surrendered in 1945, the Philippines was placed under US protectorate until 1946.

Since then, the Philippines will chart its future for the better or worse.

Timeline
TBA

Countries

 * Philippines