Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,994
"Benevolent Assimilation" - how the US
waged a filthy colonial campaign ...!
In 1896 an uprising against Spanish foreign rule began in the Philippines, which was then part of the Spanish Empire.
But the rebels have no chance against the regulares of the Spanish army, their political leaders have already fled abroad!
However, when the rebels face ultimate defeat, luck comes to their aid! This "luck" is the outbreak of the American-Spanish War in 1898.
After the catastrophic sea battle off Manila for the Spaniards ...
... the exiles returned and began to prepare the country for independence. On June 12, 1898, their undisputed leader, the young Emilio Aguinaldo ...
... the independence of the Philippines and convened a constituent assembly.
And as early as January 1899, the Philippine Constitution was proclaimed in Malolos Cathedral and the Philippine Republic was founded.
The scene is still immortalized today on a state bank note ...:
Now everything could be good - the soldiers from the "Land of the brave and the home of the free" would have brought peace, freedom and independence to another enslaved nation.
Would have ...! Stupid word, especially in history!
Because US President William McKinley ...
... has something completely different in mind with the Philippines that have just become free, something that he calls "benevolent assimilation".
Other - bad - countries have colonies, which of course the President condemns in the strongest terms! But "benevolent assimilation" is something completely different - isn't it ...?
No!
McKinley, who was murdered on September 14, 1901, wrote:
“I walked around the White House night after night until midnight; and I am not ashamed to admit that I knelt down and approached the Almighty more than once for light and guidance. And one night late it dawned on me:
First, that we could not return the Philippines to Spain - that would be cowardly and dishonorable; second, that we could not leave them to France or Germany, our trade rivals in the east; that would be bad business style and discrediting; third, that we couldn't just leave them to their own devices; they were not ripe for self-government, they would soon have anarchy and worse mismanagement there. "
In doing so, the imperialist McKinley overlooks (he would not have used this word and instead something "finer"!) That it is his and the whole US's damned mess about the kind of self-government and economic system that will develop a free, independent country.
And so the passage on the Philippines in McKinley's memoir closes with the following words:
"The next morning I called the chief engineer at the Department of War, our cartographer, and ordered him to put the Philippines on the map of the United States, and there they are, and that is where they will stay as long as I am President."
On February 4th, 1899, the first shot between the US soldiers and the Filipino militias was fired - the residents naturally draw the short straw - both of the following pictures were taken on the first day of the war!
But the USA under General Arthur MacArthur (the father of the later Commander in Chief in Asia during the Second World War) ...
... will need an overwhelming superiority until July 4th, 1902 ...
... to overpower the desperately armed and lousy armed (with muzzle-loaders!) Filipinos and to integrate the archipelago into their sphere of activity ...
As their most important commander - that Emilio Aguinaldo, whom we met earlier ...
... 23. March 1901 by troops of US General Frederick Funston ...
... captured, brought aboard of USS "Vicksburg" ...
... and is being dragged off to the USA, the resistance gradually collapses.
In order to break the resistance of the population, the troops of the "hoard of freedom" used the whole range of war crimes that still exist today:
The scorched earth tract, hostage shootings, rape, terror against civilians ...
... and so on ...!
For example, there was an order from General Jacob Smith...
... to shoot anyone over the age of ten without a hitch ...:
This order, which was carried out in many cases, brought Smith - quite rightly! - for friends and enemies the nickname "The Monster of the Philippines".
Oh yes, the notorious "waterboarding" torture for forcing statements from captured enemies (or what was thought to be) already existed - only they were called differently back then ...:
From January to June 1902, under the presidency of Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, there was a Senate investigation into the crimes committed by the United States' troops during the Philippine-American War, but apart from the publication of several extensive reports, the investigation did not lead to any result .
Nobody was charged or even convicted.
The balance:
The US armed forces lost 4,234 dead. On the Philippine side, more than 16,000 armed freedom fighters and 1.5 million civilians paid for "benevolent assimilation" with their lives!
This US colony only gained independence in 1946.
Perhaps there will be contemporaries again who say this article is "too political".
But history is based on facts - and they are not always beautiful.
That's why I asked the admin not to delete the article.
waged a filthy colonial campaign ...!
In 1896 an uprising against Spanish foreign rule began in the Philippines, which was then part of the Spanish Empire.
But the rebels have no chance against the regulares of the Spanish army, their political leaders have already fled abroad!
However, when the rebels face ultimate defeat, luck comes to their aid! This "luck" is the outbreak of the American-Spanish War in 1898.
After the catastrophic sea battle off Manila for the Spaniards ...
... the exiles returned and began to prepare the country for independence. On June 12, 1898, their undisputed leader, the young Emilio Aguinaldo ...
... the independence of the Philippines and convened a constituent assembly.
And as early as January 1899, the Philippine Constitution was proclaimed in Malolos Cathedral and the Philippine Republic was founded.
The scene is still immortalized today on a state bank note ...:
Now everything could be good - the soldiers from the "Land of the brave and the home of the free" would have brought peace, freedom and independence to another enslaved nation.
Would have ...! Stupid word, especially in history!
Because US President William McKinley ...
... has something completely different in mind with the Philippines that have just become free, something that he calls "benevolent assimilation".
Other - bad - countries have colonies, which of course the President condemns in the strongest terms! But "benevolent assimilation" is something completely different - isn't it ...?
No!
McKinley, who was murdered on September 14, 1901, wrote:
“I walked around the White House night after night until midnight; and I am not ashamed to admit that I knelt down and approached the Almighty more than once for light and guidance. And one night late it dawned on me:
First, that we could not return the Philippines to Spain - that would be cowardly and dishonorable; second, that we could not leave them to France or Germany, our trade rivals in the east; that would be bad business style and discrediting; third, that we couldn't just leave them to their own devices; they were not ripe for self-government, they would soon have anarchy and worse mismanagement there. "
In doing so, the imperialist McKinley overlooks (he would not have used this word and instead something "finer"!) That it is his and the whole US's damned mess about the kind of self-government and economic system that will develop a free, independent country.
And so the passage on the Philippines in McKinley's memoir closes with the following words:
"The next morning I called the chief engineer at the Department of War, our cartographer, and ordered him to put the Philippines on the map of the United States, and there they are, and that is where they will stay as long as I am President."
On February 4th, 1899, the first shot between the US soldiers and the Filipino militias was fired - the residents naturally draw the short straw - both of the following pictures were taken on the first day of the war!
But the USA under General Arthur MacArthur (the father of the later Commander in Chief in Asia during the Second World War) ...
... will need an overwhelming superiority until July 4th, 1902 ...
... to overpower the desperately armed and lousy armed (with muzzle-loaders!) Filipinos and to integrate the archipelago into their sphere of activity ...
As their most important commander - that Emilio Aguinaldo, whom we met earlier ...
... 23. March 1901 by troops of US General Frederick Funston ...
... captured, brought aboard of USS "Vicksburg" ...
... and is being dragged off to the USA, the resistance gradually collapses.
In order to break the resistance of the population, the troops of the "hoard of freedom" used the whole range of war crimes that still exist today:
The scorched earth tract, hostage shootings, rape, terror against civilians ...
... and so on ...!
For example, there was an order from General Jacob Smith...
... to shoot anyone over the age of ten without a hitch ...:
This order, which was carried out in many cases, brought Smith - quite rightly! - for friends and enemies the nickname "The Monster of the Philippines".
Oh yes, the notorious "waterboarding" torture for forcing statements from captured enemies (or what was thought to be) already existed - only they were called differently back then ...:
From January to June 1902, under the presidency of Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, there was a Senate investigation into the crimes committed by the United States' troops during the Philippine-American War, but apart from the publication of several extensive reports, the investigation did not lead to any result .
Nobody was charged or even convicted.
The balance:
The US armed forces lost 4,234 dead. On the Philippine side, more than 16,000 armed freedom fighters and 1.5 million civilians paid for "benevolent assimilation" with their lives!
This US colony only gained independence in 1946.
Perhaps there will be contemporaries again who say this article is "too political".
But history is based on facts - and they are not always beautiful.
That's why I asked the admin not to delete the article.
