1898, the year of dramatic changes for Spain, PH and the U.S.

The Battle of Manila Bay, 1898: Ironically, the first battle of the Spanish-American War was in the Philippines, not in Cuba.

This year, 2023, marks the 125^th anniversary of an eventful year in Philippine-American history. The once great Spanish Empire began 1898 with only a few remaining colonies in the Caribbean and the Pacific and ended the year with none.

The Philippines commenced the year with the leadership of the 1896 Revolution still in exile in Hong Kong, but ended it with an overly optimistic vision of an independent Philippine Republic.

The United States started 1898 with contempt for the brutal Spanish treatment of Cubans only 90 miles from its shores, but ended it as an imperial power thousands of miles away.

At the peak of the massive Spanish Empire, Spain controlled a large area of what is now the United States, Mexico, Central America, and most of South America. The empire also colonized islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific including the Philippines. The Spanish conquistadors in the Americas had subdued the indigenous Aztec, Mayan and Incan kingdoms.

By the beginning of the 19^th century, imperial Spain was rotten to its core. There were insurgencies throughout its colonies in the Americas. By 1821, Mexico, Central America and most of South America were independent countries. Three hundred and thirty years of Spanish control was over. The only Spanish colonies left were Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean and the Philippines, Caroline and the Mariana Islands in the Pacific.

At the beginning of 1898, Imperial Spain had reached its expiration date. It was conducting needless violence and brutality against independence movements in Cuba and the Philippines. Both Cuba and the Philippines had legitimate grievances against Spain, but the Spanish authorities were dismissive. Spain would never yield its last vestige of empire regardless of its diminished size and power. Spanish honor required a fight to the finish.

On April 21, 1898, Spain got its fight. The United States declared war on Spain. Ironically, the first battle of the Spanish-American War was in the Philippines, not in Cuba. Most Americans had heard the biased newspaper stories of the Spanish cruel tactics against the Cubans. However, most Americans, including U.S. policy makers, had never heard of the Philippines and could not locate the islands on a map.

By 1898, Spain had ruled the Philippines for over 300 years. The type and quality of Spanish rule in the Philippines varied with the political environments in Madrid and Manila. Depending on who was the Governor-General in Manila, there were periods of needed reforms and what appeared to be benevolent rule. Conversely, the political climate in Madrid and Manila could change abruptly, and then the Spanish ruled with an iron fist.

Unlike the Spanish colonies in the Americas, Spain did not routinely impose the Spanish language in the Philippines. The islands had multiple linguistic and ethnic groups, which was beneficial to a divide and rule colonial strategy. If the Philippines had had a common and unifying language, then the Spanish would have feared an independence movement so far from the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula.

The opening in 1869 of the Suez Canal in Egypt had a profound affect on Philippine society and Spanish rule. The distance and travel time from Madrid to Manila was greatly reduced. New ideas and concepts were reaching the Philippines frequently.

At the same time, a sizable Philippine middle-class composed mainly of Spanish and Chinese mestizos was growing. Some of the sons of the new middle-class were sent to Spain for a university education. The students, commonly called ilustrados, were generally treated with respect by many Spaniards who shared their beliefs of an independent Philippines. When the students returned to the Philippines, the formation of reform and independence movements was inevitable.

The most significant revolutionary movement in the Philippines was the Revolution of 1896. After some internal strife, Emilio Aguinaldo emerged as the leader of the rebellion.

The Spanish had a terrible time distinguishing between a truly reform and a revolutionary movement. Spain lumped all the challenges to their rule together. This resulted in a rapid decline in support for continued Spanish colonialism and a more ruthless treatment of Filipinos.

On December 30, 1896, Spain executed Jose Rizal who was a well-known and leading reformist not a revolutionary. The senseless killing of Jose Rizal greatly galvanized the rebellion against Spain.

By December 1897, the Revolution of 1896 had ended in a stalemate. The Spanish could not defeat Emilio Aguinaldo and his troops, and the Filipinos could not overthrow colonial rule. A pact between the Spanish and the revolutionaries was negotiated. Spain promised some reforms. Aguinaldo and his lieutenants agreed to exile in Hong Kong along with a cash settlement. Both parties violated some of the terms of the pact.

Within few months, a significant event many miles away altered the landscape in the Philippines for Aguinaldo and Spain. The United States Navy ship, the U.S.S. Maine, exploded on February 15, 1898, in Cuba at Havana harbor. The explosion was determined then and now not to have been a result of hostile action, but the momentum in the U.S. towards war with Spain was unyielding. With overwhelming American citizen support, the U.S. declared war against Spain. The United States, now an economic powerhouse, was ready or not to enter the world political and military stage.

Since the first battle of the Spanish-American War was in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo and the United States Navy saw a potential for an alliance or marriage of convenience. Both parties wanted the same thing, which was the defeat of Spain. The lopsided defeat of the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay proved to the Filipinos that the Americans had the military muscle to defeat Spain in the Philippines.

The nominal alliance between the U.S. and the Filipino revolutionaries began with Aguinaldo’s return to the Philippines on an American naval vessel, the U.S.S. McCulloch. He traveled from Hong Kong to Sangley Point in Cavite. Once Aguinaldo disembarked the ship and consulted with the American military, he commenced to rally his forces throughout Luzon. Shortly, the Spanish military and civilians had hastily retreated to Manila and were under siege by Aguinaldo’s forces. The Filipinos had done the heavy lifting of fighting the Spanish on the ground not the Americans.

As more American troops arrived in the Philippines in July and August 1898, General Aguinaldo agreed to provide the American soldiers with a small section of siege lines south of Manila along Manila Bay. Although the situation was bleak for the Spanish, their leadership refused to surrender without a fight. A capitulation to the enemy by the Spanish commanders would mean a court-marital once they arrived in Madrid.

Unknown to Emilio Aguinaldo and his lieutenants, his American allies made a separate deal with the Spanish. The mock Battle of Manila on August 13, 1898 provided the Spanish with a way to minimize casualities and to save their honor. The Spanish also feared retaliation by Aguinaldo’s forces. At the end of the day, the Americans had replaced the Spanish soldiers in the siege lines and now faced their Filipino allies.

Naturally, this new situation on the ground created many problems for the alliance. The Spanish were defeated. The common enemy was gone. The trust in the alliance between the Filipinos and Americans rapidly deteriorated.

The Treaty of Paris, which concluded the Spanish-American War, was signed by the United States on December 10, 1898. From the American standpoint, they had won the Philippines during the war, and they had every intention to colonize the islands. The former colony had become a colonizer. From Aguinaldo’s perspective, his forces had defeated the Spanish. The Philippines belonged to the Filipinos, and he planned to declare independence and form the first Philippine Republic. Conflict was inevitable. As the pivotal year 1898 ended, the Philippine-American War was only five weeks away.

Dennis Edward Flake is the author of three books on Philippine-American history. He is Public Historian and a seasonal park ranger in interpretation for the National Park Service at the Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg, PA. He can be contacted at: [email protected]