The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 712 - 535: The Philippine War of Independence

the eyes of the world were caught up in the two wars that broke out in europe, thus granting australasia ample time to pursue its own agenda, such as instigating an independence war in the philippines.

in fact, the philippines had been meticulously preparing for more than half a year, with the necessary weapons and equipment already dispatched to the three major philippine independence forces.

after recruiting and training for more than half a year, the numbers in the philippine forces resisting america were substantial.

according to intelligence from the philippines, the most formidable force remained the independence revolutionary army under manuel’s control; the total army personnel exceeded twenty thousand.

however, wade, the leader of the philippine liberation army, and sandro, the leader of the independent corps, appeared to be forming an alliance. these two divided all the remaining weapons and equipment, and each of their armies had approximately 15,000 personnel. combined, they were not afraid of manuel.

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this conflict was something arthur was delighted to see, as there wouldn’t be substantial disagreements among them before completely defeating the americans.

after careful preparations, both the three philippine forces and australasia domestic felt that the right opportunity had arrived — it was time to end american rule in the philippines.nôv(el)b\\jnn

at the end of july 1920, with a single command from manuel, tens of thousands of philippine troops were mobilized, surrounding the philippine senate and the government, swiftly seizing control over the americans inside.

the number of american forces stationed at these two facilities was not significant, and due to the lack of preparedness, they were quickly defeated by the philippine army. manuel successfully took control of the senate and the government.

then, manuel used the american government facilities to publicly declare the independence of the philippines, and temporarily placed its order under the control of the philippine senate.

manuel retained his position as speaker of the senate, while wade and sandro assumed the positions of deputy speaker of the senate, abolishing all american positions and privileges, and requesting americans to leave the philippines in a short period. if not, the philippines would resort to military force for expulsion.

after announcing this earth-shattering news, manuel immediately enlisted the help of the others and his troops surrounded the ports, where there were thousands of u.s. troops and the united states fleet in the philippines.

soon, the news of philippine independence reached president wilson of america.

white house.

president wilson’s face was ashen, evidently infuriated by the news from the philippines. after everyone had gathered, president wilson scanned the room and said coldly: "now, a nation is challenging america’s authority. i would like to ask you, what are you planning to do?"

the secretary of state banbridge colby was the first to respond: "although america has encountered various difficulties, it is not a state that a lowly nation can provoke. for the peace of all american territories, we must resolve this crisis with force. these damn filipinos need to know that america is not spain, and the philippines is certainly not hungary."

the examples banbridge gave pointed to the relationship between america and the philippines.

the success of the previous philippine independence war was due to the weak power of spain, the then colonial ruler of the philippines, considered by today’s america as a small country.

for context, the history of the united states is quite short, with formal independence only declared in 1776, less than 150 years prior to the present.

this may not seem short, but when the united states was first established, there were only 13 colonies.

the rest of the territory was annexed or purchased after the founding and most of these acquisitions occurred less than 100 years ago.

not to mention the recent overseas territories, even some of the more famous homeland states, such as california, where los angeles is located, was annexed in 1848, only 72 years ago.

can a region be completely assimilated in 72 years? unless all the population is evicted from this land and replaced with people from one’s own country, it is impossible to achieve.

moreover, the united states experienced the civil war in 1861, which further inflamed conflicts between the states and the government, making this diverse immigrant country relatively unstable.

the civil war ended in 1865, only 55 years from now, and there are even people still alive who experienced the war firsthand.

under these circumstances, it is almost impossible to make the united states into a completely unified nation.

the unity of the future united states is due to the fact these events occurred over 100 years ago. direct survivors have long since died, leaving only a cold history that does not evoke such deep emotions.

in addition, the future strength of the united states as the world’s most powerful nation bred a sense of pride in americans that suppressed the impact of history.

moreover, to be blunt, even in the future, the united states is not so stable. there is no perfect coexistence between whites and blacks. racial discrimination that has persisted for hundreds of years will not disappear in a short period of time.

if this is the case in the future, not to mention america a hundred years ago.

the influenza epidemic made the united states appear fragmented, with kansas, seen as the origin of the epidemic, even being isolated by other states for a while, prohibiting kansas residents from traveling to other states.

besides, the state governments were also very dissatisfied with the federal government, precisely because its reckless choices led to significant economic losses for the states.

the divide between the states and the divide between the states and the federal government were not enough to break up the united states, but these problems could not be remedied in a short time.

in addition to the complex ethnic distribution in the us and the conflicts between whites and blacks, the country did not seem so cohesive.

it may be harsh to say, but if another major crisis like the influenza epidemic were to occur again, even the current unity of the united states could be called into question, let alone expanding america’s influence on a global scale and shaping a superpower.

upon hearing secretary of state banbridge’s remarks, the others in the room fell silent, all turning their eyes to president wilson.

after momentarily pondering, president wilson raised his head with difficulty, glanced at the crowd, his throat bobbed, but his voice was firm, "i cannot let america be destroyed during my term, nor can i let this country, established over a hundred years ago, be ruined in an instant. gentlemen, for the sake of america, let’s crush those damn filipinos!"

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