The conflict arose when the First Philippine Republic objected to the terms of the Treaty of Paris under which the United States took possession of the Philippines from Spain, ending the Spanish–American War. The war officially ended on July 2, 1902, with a victory for the United States.

Japan occupied the Philippines for over three years, until the surrender of Japan. A highly effective guerilla campaign by Philippine resistance forces controlled sixty percent of the islands, mostly jungle and mountain areas. MacArthur supplied them by submarine, and sent reinforcements and officers.

The Philippines had suffered great loss of life and tremendous physical destruction by the time the war was over. An estimated 527,000 Filipinos, both military and civilians, had been killed from all causes; of these between 131,000 and 164,000 were killed in seventy-two war crime events.

On the night of February 4, 1899, shooting erupted on the outskirts of Manila. Morning found the Filipinos, who had fought bravely, even recklessly, defeated at all points. While the fighting was in progress, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation of war against the United States.

Japan launched a surprise attack on the Philippines on December 8, 1941, just ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Philippine defense continued until the final surrender of United States-Philippine forces on the Bataan Peninsula in April 1942 and on Corregidor in May. …

The Philippines campaign showed that even when faced with total defeat in both the war, and in battlefield combat, the Japanese forces would rather fight and die than face capitulation/surrender to the Americans.

Americans who advocated annexation evinced a variety of motivations: desire for commercial opportunities in Asia, concern that the Filipinos were incapable of self-rule, and fear that if the United States did not take control of the islands, another power (such as Germany or Japan) might do so.

The US didn’t keep the Philippines for the same reason as it did not keep Cuba — because the US interest in them were largely commercial. After the US Civil War, the US experienced peace and therefore started looking into commerce and investment.

The United States invaded the Philippines, which was then governed by Spain as the Spanish East Indies, during the Spanish–American War. After the conclusion of that war, Philippine revolutionaries declared independence as the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines.

The Philippines is not a US territory any more; it got its independence after the second world war. Besides Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and a handful of minor outlying islands, the US maintains roughly 800 overseas military bases around the world.

The Philippines is historically a Third World country and currently a developing country. The GDP per capita is low, and the infant mortality rate is high.

As a result, the Philippine Government informed the U.S. on December 6, 1991, that it would have one year to complete withdrawal. That withdrawal went smoothly and was completed ahead of schedule, with the last U.S. forces departing on November 24, 1992.

Empire of Japan

About 23,000 American military personnel, and about 100,000 Filipino soldiers were killed or captured.

Philippines

Soviet Union

At least 250,000 Filipinos fought with American forces in World War II.

The first Germans to arrive to the Philippines were colonists. Otto von Bismarck’s Germany was one of the United States’ rivals in replacing Spanish rule in the archipelago. From 1890 to the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898, there was a lull in Germany’s colonial campaigns.

China

LARGEST ARMED FORCES

• SOVIET UNION (21,000,000)
• GERMANY (17,900,000)
• UNITED STATES (16,354,000)
• CHINA (14,000,000)
• JAPAN (9,100,000)
• ITALY (9,000,000)
• GREAT BRITAIN (5,896,000)
• FRANCE (3,500,000)

Most powerful armies in the world: US is No 1; find out where India, China and Pakistan rank

• No 3: China | Global Firepower PowerIndex: 0.086 (Image: Reuters)
• No 2: Russia | Global Firepower PowerIndex: 0.080 (Image: Reuters)
• No 1: USA | Global Firepower PowerIndex: 0.072 (Image: Reuters)