 |
| The Philippine forces were poorly equipped but they were able to defeat the Spaniards. |
Got 4 minutes to spare? June 12 is the day Filipino nationalists declared their independence from Spain who had ruled over the Philippines for about 400 years.
For those of you with short attention spans, ThoughtMonkey put together a quick history lesson on the Philippine American War.
When the US declared war on Spain, the US partnered with the Filipino freedom fighters to defeat the Spaniards surrounded in Manila. The US warships destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay while Filipino ground forces kept the Spaniards from escaping.
According to the Military Museum at the Golden Gate Regional Park in what was the U.S. Army's historic Presidio:
"Most Presidio troops got to the islands too late to fight the Spanish in the brief war. However Philippine rebels had been waging guerrilla warfare against Spanish colonialism long before the U.S. became involved. Their exiled leader, Emilio Aquinaldo, quickly made contact with the attacking force already on its way to the Philippines, in the belief that the United States would help the "Insurrectos" gain independence from Spain. But expansionists in the U.S. government had other plans. After the signing of the Treaty of Paris, on December 10, 1898, which ended the war against Spain, the United States opted to give Cuba its independence but keep the Philippines, to the dismay of the Philippine nationalists."It was not until the Treaty of Paris was signed that the Filipinos realized that instead of the independence that they sought, all they did was change colonial masters .
US media and history books called the war that followed the Philippines Insurrection. Filipinos called it the Philippine American War, a war for independence.
If you have more time, take a look at these earlier posts from Views From the Edge:
RELATED:
No comments:
Post a Comment