Chapter 536 Philippine War of Independence
The attention of countries around the world was attracted by the two wars that broke out in Europe, so Australasia had enough time to do its own things, such as promoting the Philippines to launch an independence war.
In fact, the Philippines has been carefully preparing for more than half a year, and the newly used weapons and equipment have long been transported to the hands of the three major independent forces in the Philippines.
After more than half a year of recruiting and training, the number of troops in the Philippines against the United States is not low.
According to the intelligence from the Philippines, the most powerful one is still the independent revolutionary army controlled by Manuel, with a total number of more than 20,000 troops.
However, Walid, the leader of the Philippine Freedom Army, and Sandro, the leader of the Independence Corps, obviously united together. The two divided all the remaining weapons and equipment, and each of them had about 15,000 troops. They were not afraid of Manuel when they united.
Such opposition is what Arthur wants to see. Before completely defeating the Americans, they will not have too much conflict.
After careful preparation, both the three Philippine forces and Australasia felt that the time had come and it was time to end the rule of the Americans in the Philippines.
At the end of July 1920, with Manuel's order, tens of thousands of Philippine troops immediately took action, surrounded the Philippine Senate and government, and quickly controlled the Americans inside.
The number of American troops stationed in these two facilities was not large, and because there was no defense, they were quickly defeated by the Philippine army, and Manuel also successfully controlled the Senate and the government.
Then, Manuel used the American facilities in the government to publicly declare the independence of the Philippines from the United States, and the Philippine Senate temporarily controlled the order in the Philippines.
Manuel kept the position of Senate President unchanged, Walid and Sandro became Vice Presidents of the Senate, and abolished all American positions and privileges, requiring Americans to leave the Philippines in a short time, otherwise the Philippines would use force to expel them.
After announcing this earth-shaking news, Manuel immediately joined several other people and surrounded the Philippine port with troops, where there were thousands of American garrisons and the US fleet in the Philippines.
Soon, the news of Philippine independence reached the ears of US President Wilson.
The White House of the United States.
President Wilson's face was ashen, and he was obviously very angry about the news from the Philippines. After everyone came together, President Wilson looked around and said coldly: "Now, there are countries that want to challenge the majesty of the United States. I want to ask you, what are you going to do?"
U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby took the lead and said: "Although the United States has suffered all kinds of difficulties, it is definitely not a country that a lowly nation can provoke. For the peace of all American territory, we must resolve this crisis by force. Those damn Filipinos know that the United States is not Spain, and the Philippines is definitely not Hungary."
The two examples cited by Bainbridge are actually telling the relationship between the United States and the Philippines.
The reason why the previous Philippine War of Independence achieved a certain degree of success was that the strength of Spain, the suzerain of the Philippines at that time, was not strong, and in the eyes of Americans now, it was just a small country.
The reason why Hungary gained independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in addition to Hungary itself being very strong, the weakness of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the support of other countries were the real reasons for Hungary's independence.
The current gap between the United States and the Philippines is huge. If the Philippines wants to gain independence from the Americans, or in such a forceful way, the U.S. government will never agree, and will never condone it.
"Everyone, we still have to figure out one question, that is, where did the Filipinos get such a large number of weapons and equipment." The vice president stood up and said.
"Although we have relaxed the management of the Philippines, the Filipinos cannot gather weapons and equipment for tens of thousands of people. There is only one situation now, either there is a traitor in our army, or the Philippines has received support from other countries." The US vice president continued.
The military management implemented by the Americans in the Philippines before was still relatively strict, which restricted the development of the Philippine military industry to a considerable extent.
Moreover, according to the news from the Philippines, the Philippine army was able to quickly capture the Senate and the government and surround the port, and it was definitely impossible to use those backward weapons.
Otherwise, the US army armed with advanced weapons would be enough to give the Filipinos a pot, not to mention letting the Filipinos surround the entire port.
"The army should not have a big problem." President Wilson shook his head and rejected the vice president's first guess.
In fact, it is true. Even if the army's weapons are lost to the outside world, it is impossible to be so serious that the Philippine army can arm tens of thousands of people.
What's more, there is no news from the Philippines to prove that the Philippine army uses American weapons, which also means that the Philippines must have the support of other countries behind it.
Moreover, the country that can actively challenge the dignity of the United States must be a powerful country.
Although the United States and Spain have conflicts over the Philippines, Americans do not believe that Spain will take such a move to offend such a powerful American.
"Whether it is Britain, France or Australasia, this is not a reason for us to retreat. Gentlemen, have you forgotten the parade during the flu period? If we indulge the independence of the Philippines, Hawaii will be next, California, and even all the states in the United States. For the unity and stability of the country, we must eliminate all enemies in front of us." Secretary of State Bainbridge looked at the crowd and said in a tough attitude.
President Wilson was quite satisfied with Bainbridge's speech.
In fact, the reason why Bainbridge was able to become the Secretary of State of the United States in the late period of President Wilson's term was entirely because the previous Secretary of State was too ignorant and had a huge conflict with President Wilson in political philosophy.
In addition, President Wilson had been physically unwell for half a year due to the flu, so he asked former Secretary of State Robert Lansing to preside over foreign policy and cabinet meetings.
As a result, Robert Lansing and President Wilson had a huge conflict in their ideas. The first thing President Wilson did when he returned to the office was to forcefully order Secretary of State Robert Lansing to resign on the spot and hand over the position to the right person.
In fact, it was during this period that the United States suffered one of the greatest crises since its founding, which almost caused the collapse of the federal system of the United States.
You know, the history of the founding of the United States is actually very short. It was not officially independent until 1776, and it has only been less than 150 years since then.
This seems not short, but when the United States was first founded, there were only 13 colonies.
The remaining territory was all annexed and purchased after the founding of the country, and most of the annexation time did not exceed 100 years.
Let alone some overseas territories annexed in recent years, those more well-known American mainlands, such as the famous California where Los Angeles is located, were annexed in 1848, 72 years ago.
Can 72 years completely assimilate an area? Unless all the population on this land is expelled and the population of their own country is immigrated, it is impossible to do it.
What's more, the Civil War broke out in the United States in 1861, which further intensified the conflict between the states and the government of the United States, making the United States, a diversified immigrant country, not so stable.
The Civil War ended in 1865, only 55 years ago, and there are still people who witnessed the war alive in the United States.
Under such circumstances, it is almost impossible to condense the United States into a completely unified country.
The reason why the United States in later generations seems to be unified is that these events have been over for more than 100 years, and the witnesses have long died, leaving only a cold history, which does not bring people such a deep feeling.
In addition, the United States in later generations is the first superpower, and the pride brought to Americans by the country's strength has overwhelmed the impact of history on Americans.
And to put it bluntly, the United States in later generations is not so stable. Whites and blacks do not coexist perfectly, and racial discrimination that has been preserved for hundreds of years is impossible to disappear in a short time.
This is still the case in later generations, let alone the United States a hundred years ago.
The flu made the seemingly united United States become scattered. Kansas, which was identified as the place where the flu spread, was even isolated by the states for a period of time, and Kansas residents were prohibited from traveling to other states.
In addition, the state governments are also very dissatisfied with the US government. After all, it is precisely because of the reckless decision of the US government that the states have suffered huge economic losses.
Although the rifts between the states and the rifts between the states and the government are not enough to cause the United States to collapse, such rifts cannot be made up in a short period of time.
Coupled with the relatively complex ethnic distribution in the United States and the conflicts between whites and blacks, the country does not seem so close.
To put it bluntly, if the United States experiences another major crisis like influenza, it will be a problem whether it can maintain its current unity, not to mention developing its influence worldwide and building a superpower.
Hearing Secretary of State Bainbridge's remarks, the others present were silent and turned their eyes to President Wilson.
After a moment of contemplation, President Wilson raised his head with difficulty, glanced at everyone, his throat moved slightly, but his voice was firm: "I can't let the United States be destroyed during my term, and I can't let this country that has been established for more than 100 years be destroyed. Everyone, for America, kill those damn Filipinos!"
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