El Justo
Deity
the last third of my studies as an undergrad college student consisted primarily of this exact era (spanish/american war-philippine/american war-turn of 20th century). as such, i had always wanted to put together a scenario featuring the dearth of information i've acquired for this particular era. so, over the last several days, i've put together what i'd describe as "America in the Philippines; 1898-1902". this is very likely my last ever civ3 scenario so now is the time to finish it up!
ask someone what they know about the Americans in the Philippines and they may say something like "civilize 'em with a Krag!" or "Benevolent Assimilation". you may even get the bataan death march, corregidor, or the battle of leyte gulf which are all from ww2.
America first became active in the Philippine Islands on 1 May 1898 when acting secretary of the navy, theodore roosevelt, ordered then Commodore George Dewey to destroy the Spanish fleet at Manila. a state of war had existed for just over a week when Dewey proclaimed "Gridley...you may fire when ready!". as a result, Dewey's Asiatic Squadron was responsible for firing the first shots of the Spanish-American War.
Dewey's fleet made quick work of the dilapidated spanish squadron in Manila Bay. sure, they fired their guns at the Yanks (as well as shore batteries) but were all pretty much off the mark (a few shells got through but did little damage & no KIA). the sole american casualty was a sailor who suffered a heart attack before the battle even took place.
the Spanish were quick to realize that they were clearly outgunned and they took refuge in the old port city of Manila and the surrounding vicinity while the Americans and the Filipino rebels dug in around Manila. what our history books failed to tell us was that the Spanish and the Filipinos were just resuming hostilities against one another when war broke out vs the US and the Spanish. in 1896, the Filipinos had engaged the Spanish in open warfare w/ an eye towards independence and the eviction of the oppressive Spanish colonial regime on the islands. a cease-fire had been brokered by the time the US came into the picture but soon thereafter, by May of 1898, the USN (by Dewey himself!) picked up the rebel leaders in Hong Kong and delivered them back to the islands in an effort to assist them in their struggle for the Spanish.
fast-forward to June of 1898: the Filipinos declare their independence from Spain and form what historians refer to as the "First Philippine Republic".
the turning point of American involvement in the Philippine Islands came in December 1898 when the US and Spain negotiated the Treaty of Paris thus officially ending the war and as a result, the Philippine Islands were ceded over to the US for the sum of $20M. left completely out of the negotiations were the Filipinos. tensions were mounting as the US began sending in transport after transport full of re-enforcements.
4 February 1899: the recently signed Treaty of Paris was waiting for Congressional ratification when an American sentry fired on a Filipino when he refused his order to halt. the Philippine-American War had begun.
little is taught or spoken of about this war. it wasn't until 1998 that the US Congress officially changed the name of the conflict from "The Philippine Insurrection" to the "Philippine-American War". this switch was done primarily b/c many Filipino historians note that since the rebels declared independence from Spain in June 1898 that the rebels were no longer rebels and that they were instead a soveriegn nation when the hostilities between the US and the Filipinos began in February 1899. however, the classification of the conflict as an "insurrection" is somewhat accurate as a) the US Congress never declared war vs the Filipinos and b) from a legalistic standpoint, the islands were a possession of the US as a result of the Treaty of Paris and for all intensive purposes, were of internationally recognized as the possessors of the islands.
a quick synopsis of the war:
american KIA: about 4,500
filipino KIA: about 20,000 (enemy combatants only)
an additional 200,000 were said to have perished as a result of the war. most were peasants who had the not-so-good fortune of being in the path of the American forces as they burned villages to the ground, bombarded cities and barrios from land and sea, and generally rendered much of the countryside usesless from an agricultural stand point.
it was not until 4 July 1902 when Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the hostitlites over with. however, fighting raged on in some parts of the archipelago (sounds familiar, eh?). the southern-most island of mindinao wasn't completely pacified until 1913 or so.
pictured below is the USN Asiatic Squadron w/ the USFS Olympia on the top. sweet gfx, too (Wyrmshadow).
ask someone what they know about the Americans in the Philippines and they may say something like "civilize 'em with a Krag!" or "Benevolent Assimilation". you may even get the bataan death march, corregidor, or the battle of leyte gulf which are all from ww2.
America first became active in the Philippine Islands on 1 May 1898 when acting secretary of the navy, theodore roosevelt, ordered then Commodore George Dewey to destroy the Spanish fleet at Manila. a state of war had existed for just over a week when Dewey proclaimed "Gridley...you may fire when ready!". as a result, Dewey's Asiatic Squadron was responsible for firing the first shots of the Spanish-American War.
Dewey's fleet made quick work of the dilapidated spanish squadron in Manila Bay. sure, they fired their guns at the Yanks (as well as shore batteries) but were all pretty much off the mark (a few shells got through but did little damage & no KIA). the sole american casualty was a sailor who suffered a heart attack before the battle even took place.
the Spanish were quick to realize that they were clearly outgunned and they took refuge in the old port city of Manila and the surrounding vicinity while the Americans and the Filipino rebels dug in around Manila. what our history books failed to tell us was that the Spanish and the Filipinos were just resuming hostilities against one another when war broke out vs the US and the Spanish. in 1896, the Filipinos had engaged the Spanish in open warfare w/ an eye towards independence and the eviction of the oppressive Spanish colonial regime on the islands. a cease-fire had been brokered by the time the US came into the picture but soon thereafter, by May of 1898, the USN (by Dewey himself!) picked up the rebel leaders in Hong Kong and delivered them back to the islands in an effort to assist them in their struggle for the Spanish.
fast-forward to June of 1898: the Filipinos declare their independence from Spain and form what historians refer to as the "First Philippine Republic".
the turning point of American involvement in the Philippine Islands came in December 1898 when the US and Spain negotiated the Treaty of Paris thus officially ending the war and as a result, the Philippine Islands were ceded over to the US for the sum of $20M. left completely out of the negotiations were the Filipinos. tensions were mounting as the US began sending in transport after transport full of re-enforcements.
4 February 1899: the recently signed Treaty of Paris was waiting for Congressional ratification when an American sentry fired on a Filipino when he refused his order to halt. the Philippine-American War had begun.
little is taught or spoken of about this war. it wasn't until 1998 that the US Congress officially changed the name of the conflict from "The Philippine Insurrection" to the "Philippine-American War". this switch was done primarily b/c many Filipino historians note that since the rebels declared independence from Spain in June 1898 that the rebels were no longer rebels and that they were instead a soveriegn nation when the hostilities between the US and the Filipinos began in February 1899. however, the classification of the conflict as an "insurrection" is somewhat accurate as a) the US Congress never declared war vs the Filipinos and b) from a legalistic standpoint, the islands were a possession of the US as a result of the Treaty of Paris and for all intensive purposes, were of internationally recognized as the possessors of the islands.
a quick synopsis of the war:
american KIA: about 4,500
filipino KIA: about 20,000 (enemy combatants only)
an additional 200,000 were said to have perished as a result of the war. most were peasants who had the not-so-good fortune of being in the path of the American forces as they burned villages to the ground, bombarded cities and barrios from land and sea, and generally rendered much of the countryside usesless from an agricultural stand point.
it was not until 4 July 1902 when Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the hostitlites over with. however, fighting raged on in some parts of the archipelago (sounds familiar, eh?). the southern-most island of mindinao wasn't completely pacified until 1913 or so.
pictured below is the USN Asiatic Squadron w/ the USFS Olympia on the top. sweet gfx, too (Wyrmshadow).
