The Mystery of the Philippine War of Independence: Why did the United States support the Philippines?

According to the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934, the process of Philippine independence has been planned, and the independence of 1946 is only a step-by-step action.

By the end of Spanish rule in 1898, the situation in the Philippines was different from its Asian neighbors, but it was very similar to Latin America at the beginning of 19 century. If the United States had not decided to annex these islands, they might have become Latinized republics, although their independence is unreliable, because Germany has ambitions, and Japan may also have ambitions.

In fact, the American conquest of the Philippines killed two birds with one stone. One is to defeat the Spanish, and the other is to put out the Philippine independence movement under the leadership of Aguinaldo. The rule of the United States in the next 40 years brought about the development of the education system, and at least most young Filipinos received primary education; At the same time, it also developed an American-style political system. To some extent, this is like grafting foreign flowers and trees on local branches, although Americans have not deliberately imposed their language, system and political views on Filipinos, nor have they excluded their heritage from Spain or Asia. But Americans tend to speed up the constitution, especially under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson and franklin roosevelt's Democratic Party. On the one hand, the Democratic Party has traditionally opposed annexation, and on the other hand, the main export commodities of the Philippines, such as sugar, compete with products made in the United States, leading American producers of these commodities to support Philippine independence. They hope that this will end the free trade between the Philippines and the United States.

Then talk about the Filipinos' own views on this bill.

According to 1934 "Tydings-McDuffie Act", the Philippine Federation was established in the following year, and its constitution was largely modeled after that of the United States. Allow the Philippines to be completely independent in 1946; Prior to this, the United States owned these islands, continued to manage its foreign affairs and assumed its defense responsibilities. Therefore, politically, the Philippines seems to have made rapid progress in democratic development, which Americans often point out and are proud of. However, political power is in the hands of a relatively small group, mainly in the hands of powerful members led by the Federal President Manuel Quezon 194 1.

But economically, the Philippines is still in the colonial stage attached to the United States. It is a sales market for American goods, exporting raw materials to the United States, mainly sugar, coconut oil, marijuana and tobacco. The free trade between the United States and the Philippines has produced and consolidated this state, which has greatly hindered the development of domestic industries. American investment in the Philippines is quite small, mostly real estate and plantations. The Tydings-McDuffie Act stipulates that the general free trade between the Philippines and the United States will remain effective for ten years, but it stipulates that the export of sugar to the United States and other Philippine exports that compete with domestic products in the United States will be restricted. After 1946, the Philippines is likely to find itself shut out by American tariff barriers, which will inevitably bring harm to the Philippine economy.

Therefore, the Philippine ruling group, which is dominated by landlords, is facing increasingly serious problems. They are proud of the degree of autonomy they have gained, and most of them are happily looking forward to independence. But if this independence leads to economic recession, there is a danger that people or other radicals will riot among the poor farmers; In fact, there have been some disturbances among them. Due to the lack of funds and technical personnel and the competition from American goods, it is difficult for industry to develop. It is also difficult to expand rice fields to provide food for the rapidly growing population. The rapid growth of population is another problem caused by effective measures to improve public health under American rule.

In this case, some Philippine politicians tend to modify the provisions of the Tydings-McDuffie Act or postpone independence unless some solution is found. These islands can remain within the tariff barriers of the United States after independence. However, on the one hand, because of the nationalist sentiment in the Philippines, and on the other hand, because American industrial and commercial groups oppose integration with the Philippines for their own commercial reasons, this idea is unlikely to come true.

Others see Spain and Italy as a balancing force against a possible radical movement in the Philippines. Both countries have authoritarian and Catholic traditions. However, apart from historical and ideological ties, Spain and Italy are far apart, and it is powerless to ask them to help solve the problems in the Philippines, especially the economic problems. The rest is Japan. Japan is close at hand, and it is interested in the Philippines as a market for its products. But it doesn't need Philippine sugar, because it will compete with sugar in Taiwan Province Province, but it is interested in developing cotton cultivation and rich iron ore resources on these islands. 194 1 year, Japan's commercial and economic investment in the Philippines has been considerable, although it is much less than that in the United States; A large number of Japanese immigrants entered the southern part of Mindanao, mainly concentrated in Davao and its surrounding areas. Some Philippine politicians who later served the pro-Japanese regime helped Japanese immigrants escape the restrictions on Japanese land possession stipulated by the Philippines as lawyers.