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Post by 79thfoot on Mar 26, 2011 23:28:16 GMT -5
I was actually writing an alternate history of the Philippines for this anime idea I was planning to submit for an Animax contest a couple of years ago - the premise is that the Spanish somehow get their submarine under Isaac Peral working and it gets shipped off to the Philippines due to bureaucratic reshuffling - and sheer dumb luck - just in time to counter Teddy Roosevelt's poising Dewey to take on the Spanish naval squadron.
An attack on one of the American cruisers makes Dewey hesitant and eventually he backs off when Camara's squadron reaches the Philippines. Meanwhile Aguinaldo and Jaudenes have fought each other to a standstill and Spain, having had enough of the Philippines, sells the country and the other Pacific possessions (Carolines, Marshalls) to the Germans.
The Germans inherit the Philippine revolutionary troubles but before things can escalate to the point of unforgivability, the German colonial office is contacted by Rizal's old buddy Ferdinand Blumentritt who becomes colonial secretary and adviser to the German princeling who is the official governor of the islands. The Rizal connection and the Blumentritt advise help ease the colony into German rule and soon Cebu and Cavite are home to Admiral Von Spee's East Asia Squadron. Cebu itself becomes Germany's big shipbuilding port in the East with a planned squadron of battlecruisers and light cruisers that worry the British at Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.
When WW1 comes, the islands become a battleground - imagine Leyte Gulf with purely dreadnoughts - and the balance of power is such that substantial forces - including the ANZACS - are forced to remain in Asia to counterbalance the German threat. This leads to a stalemate in Europe and with America more isolationist following its 'failure' in the Philippines, WW1 eventually peters out into a ceasefire that nobody wins. There is no Versailles, the Kaiser's son takes over and everyone - bankrupted, tired of war, mourning the dead - tries to rebuild.
In 1933, the Imperial German government gratefully declares that the Philippines will become 'eine Kommonwelt' under the the first President Manuel Quezon. Generalissimo Aguinaldo is hailed as 'der grosse alt vater' of the country and presides over the Rizal-Blumentritt day celebrations where the future commonwealth is announced.
But all is not well in the world: Japan, Russia and China are all eyeing each other suspiciously and when Japanese tankers to the Dutch East Indies are attacked by Chinese 'pirates' in Philippine waters it looks like war. The isolationist American government is on the verge of toppling and the aged war hero President John Pershing (president following Wilson who succeeded Roosevelt) is listening to some very sinister people - immigrants from Europe who have a particular way of greeting each other with a raised arm salute.
It's a world where there was no naval arms limitation treaties (so you have G-3 Battleships, Lexington class battlecruisers, airships and steam-punk-ish coolness) due to the world being technically only on 'ceasefire'. And the heroes of the story of course would have been Filipino hehehe...
The other version of that history would have had the Germans losing to the Japanese, the Japanese colonizing the Philippines as they did the Carolines and Marshalls and infusing their hyper patriotic rhetoric into the country (thanks to Ricarte and Aguinaldo) and then when WW2 comes along, the Philippines is fighting on the Axis side.
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Post by legionnaire on Mar 26, 2011 23:33:58 GMT -5
The British occupation of Manila occurred between 1762 and 1764, when a British force occupied Manila, the Spanish colonial capital of the Philippines, and the nearby principal port, Cavite, both on Manila Bay.
Once Manila fell to British troops, the churches and government offices were ransacked, valuables were taken and historical documents such as Augustinian records, government documents and even the copper plates for the grand 18th-century Murillo Velarde map of the Philippines were ransacked along with the naval stores at the Cavite Naval Yard, the paintings in the Governor General’s Palace, the contents of Intramuros churches and the possessions of most wealthy houses. Rape, homicide and vandalism also rampaged through the city in what is known as the first "Rape of Manila". To top it all off, the British demanded a ransom of four million dollars from the Spanish government to stop the plundering of the city, something to which Archbishop Rojo agreed in order to avoid further destruction.[13]
Any difference from the American Imperialist?
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Post by labrador on Mar 27, 2011 9:10:45 GMT -5
79th: I'd love to read that if you've got a manuscript! makes for great alt history/steampunk Philip: Yup, replace one imperialist for another and you've got more or less the same crappy situation. And it's still going on all over the world today! See you soon!
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Post by galahad143 on Mar 27, 2011 22:47:20 GMT -5
79th: Its an interesting story, I too started a story of somewhat alternate history a while back. It was about a group of modern military troopers slipping back in time ala the Japanese sci-fi "Time Slip: GI Samurai and Samurai Commando: Mission 1549". An armored unit of the Philippine marines chasing pirates who hijacked a US science vessel and ran aground near Manila Bay, as they chased the pirates, a device stolen from the vessel was accidentally switched on and created a worm hole and took the thieves and the marines back in time to the beginning of the Philippine-American war when the Americans beat the Filipinos out of Manila. As the refugees were leaving for the provinces, the marines came out of the forest and encountered Josephine Bracken and Rizal's family who were among the fleeing refugees... its a long story but there were terrific battle scenes and some partial love story as well. I actually thought of a way as to not to create ripples in time...this was almost 20 years ago. I included in the story an explanation that there are several alternate realities created in every action we take (much like quantum leap a few years later). So going back in time and altering history does not create a ripple effect but an alternate timeline instead our history does not change but another history is created. I didn't finish the story because some of my friends thought it was too far fetched to be believable.
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Post by RayAdillO on Mar 29, 2011 7:52:48 GMT -5
Wow, very nice anime movie plots gentlemen. I think there ought to be a separate thread in this forum dedicated for these. Even better if there was some university course offering an M.A. in fictional "alternative history", plus reenactors for this genre We of course know that western colonialism has its darkside but it would be dishonest to say there was no good side to it at all, but good or bad that was the fashion of the times. My main interest is on contemplating what effects each imperial power would have had on our language, architecture, customs and traditions, industrial development, etc. ...and then particularly on our military uniforms, marching style, manual of arms drill and the like.
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Post by RayAdillO on Mar 29, 2011 10:44:14 GMT -5
Okay now here's a concept I'd like to share..... OPERATION NOLI ME TANGERE: Basically this was a plot conjured by Otto von Bismarck to make Subic Bay a German version of British Hong Kong, the territory leased for 100 years by a puppet Filipino native state by president Rizal to the German Imperial crown. Synposis: Berlin 1887, Rizal was about to throw away his manuscript of Noli Me Tangere into the fireplace when Maximo Viola interceded just in time to save it. With some seed money, Rizal and Viola choose their favorite local publisher in Berlin to churn out the first edition of the novel. The German publisher (secretly an agent of Bismarck) becomes aware of the explosive potential of the novel and promptly notifies the authorities. Both Rizal and Viola are detained in a burgomeister's cell. Somehow, news of this incident reaches all the way to Bismarck. Bismarck was very anxious to find a suitable port and coaling station in the orient for the growing imperial high seas fleet he and his naval minister von Tirpitz were building. He realized that the best possible candidate for such a port was in the area around the Philippines-Peliliu archipelagos. Rizal with Bismarck, Potsdam, 1888 So Bismarck gets to read Noli Me Tangere and then realizes that he can use it to provoke the Spanish into hostilities...one where the struggle can be turned into advantage. He meets with Rizal and cultivates German patronage of Filipino nationalist illustrado expatriates in europe, then allows mass publication and distribution of the novel also to arouse local German indignation at the "backwardness and cruelty" of the Spanish over their native Filipino subjects. Copies of Noli Me Tangere secretly enter the Philippines and become immediately popular with native upper and middle classes, it also arouses loud condemnations from the Spanish colonial authorities and the catholic religious orders. Being published mainly from Berlin, the Spanish begin to round up all natives caught owning a copy of the book and are summarily executed. The Spanish also impose heavy sanctions against local German businessmen and expatriates. The doomed cruiser SMS Mainz....and her wreckage in Manila Bay. Bismarck responds by sending the armored cruiser SMS Mainz to Manila Bay to help protect German citizens and property. After a couple of days anchored off port, the German ship mysteriously blows up. The Spanish are immediately suspected of using a torpedo mine to destroy the ship. The Germans demand a full inquiry as to the circumstances of the explosion, and the Spanish authorities try to do their best to provide one but too much patriotic fervor was in the air on both sides as to make the outbreak of hostilities inevitable. "Remember the Mainz!"...the German public cries revenge. Bismarck decides to act. He sends the German asiatic squadron under kommodore von Diedrichs and catches the Spanish fleet off Subic Bay. The Battle off Subic Bay (Seeschlacht am Subic) rages for hours and ends with the total annihilation of the Spanish naval squadron. Graf von Spee who served as a young ensign during this great battle comments.... " The Spanish were very brave, but were simply outgunned by our Krupp made naval armaments."Subsequent landings are made by imperial german marines and sailors aided by local native militias who have defected to the German side. Subic is occupied and secured. The area becomes the center of German power projection and the de facto headquarters of Filipino native rebellion against the Spanish. With the establishment of the Germans in Subic and Bismarck's sponsorship of the Filipino nationalist movement in Berlin headed by Dr. Jose Rizal, the native Filipno nationalist cause gained unbeatable momentum throughout the Philippines. Filipino rebellionists against the Spanish yoke began to be trained by German officers and equipped with modern arms. Soon enough, they besiged Manila with the help of Krupp siege guns manned by German sailors. Before the final capitulation, the Spanish hurriedly sold Guam, the Marianas, and the Caroline islands to the U.S. (lest they be claimed by the Germans as well). So the Germans helped the Filipinos gain "independence" by 1889, Rizal became the first president. Although "independence" was more illusory because it really became a German protectorate in all but name. Nevertheless, even average Filipinos enjoyed excellent techincal education and saw the rise of a local heavy industrial base. The formal establishment of the Philippine army and navy proceeded accordingly along the "prussian" mould. Frederick the Great, von Moltke and Clausewitz became the Filipino militarist's inspirational "mentors" for the succeeding generations. Typical Filipino soldier, circa 1900. And naturally, Rizal had to give Bismarck some concessions, one of which was the Subic as a German naval base, plus a special German settlement community in Cebu and Mindanao. Many German jewish families decided to take up the offer. EPILOGUE: The Katipunan as we know it never reached the status as a fully fleged revolutionary secret society, there was no need. Instead there developed a "Deutche-Philippinen Bund" or "katipunan" (tagalog for "Bund") which later became the Katipon party which later became the dominant political party in the Philippines. Bonifacio as an officer cadet in the German artillery school. Andres Bonifacio was recognized by the Germans to have high leadership potential and was thus sent to Germany along with a core of other bright native Filipinos to recieve full scholarship training in German universities and military academies to form the future Filipino pro-german "Junker" class. Bonifacio trained as an expert artilleryman to suit his "fiery" temper. He was later to die on board a zeppelin which crashed in a storm en route back to Manila in 1897. Aguinaldo never rose to prominence in Philippine history. He did become "gauleiter" of Cavite for many years until his death in 1964. Adolf Hitler, although Austrian decided to become a stowaway on a ship bound for Cebu in 1912. There he became a prominent artist (the Germanic version of Gauguin), and is now considered a renowned painter of Philippine tropical post impressionist-synthetist art.
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Post by 26th on Mar 29, 2011 14:20:47 GMT -5
Bravo!!!
Herr Field Marshal RayAdillO. This is why you are so tall, ya?
Captain Rudolph
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Post by labrador on Mar 29, 2011 14:42:43 GMT -5
haha sehr gut herr ray! Its funny how this thread got hijacked by alternate history scenarios. enjoying every bit of it!
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Post by RayAdillO on Mar 29, 2011 14:45:58 GMT -5
Hee, hee, thanks "Hauptmann Rudi".
My next conceptualization is how Napoleon Bonaparte becomes "Emperor" of the Philippines.
Yes, what happens is that his brother Joseph whom he installed as the king of Spain double-crosses Napoleon by siding with Wellington and British to keep his crown. By 1814, Napoleon had to abdicate but instead of being exiled to the island of Elba, King Joseph prepares to make his ammends to Napoleon by offering him to rule the Philippines as co-regent, as far away from europe or the americas as he could possibly be. Thus were the British and the rest of the allied powers made amenable to such a proposal.
So Napoleon decides to make the best of it in his newly adopted "empire" in the orient....no more 100 days to Waterloo episode or second exile to St. Helena either.
Within a generation the Philippines becomes even more advanced than mother Spain and gains independence around 1821 after a brisk but effective campaign, the future political and military elite being formed from the decendants of the exiled French marshalls and imperial guardsmen who came with Napoleon. Wouldn't that be nice? ;D
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Post by bulikiti2 on Mar 29, 2011 20:16:54 GMT -5
So, Is this how Hitler became the bastard son of Rizal? ;D
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Post by RayAdillO on Mar 30, 2011 0:23:15 GMT -5
Sorry McShine, that's a closely guarded state secret. In keeping with the interests of Philippine national security we can neither confirm nor deny that Hitler (the noted artist) was an offspring of Dr. Jose Rizal (1st Philippine reichspresident).
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Post by RayAdillO on Mar 30, 2011 0:26:17 GMT -5
haha sehr gut herr ray! Its funny how this thread got hijacked by alternate history scenarios. enjoying every bit of it! Herr kreigsberichter, the "hijacking" IS the fun part ;D
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Post by 79thfoot on Apr 1, 2011 23:59:20 GMT -5
Speaking of Napoleon, there was actually an early plan by the British East India Company in the 1790's to invade the Philippines - again. The invasion would have been commanded by one Sir Arthur Wellesley. The flotilla got as far as Penang, Malaysia before it turned back.
I agree - I know it's not a popular or even a 'politically correct' opinion but seriously, colonialism helped foster the idea of a single country. India would never have been INDIA if not for the British Empire. It would have been the Delhi Sultanate, the Mahrattas, the Sikhs, and a hundred little princelings - not a single nation. Same thing with the Philippines - we'd have been the Cebuanos, Ilocanos, Leytenos etc. not Filipinos. Ironically the collective struggle against the colonial power, particularly through the brilliant organizational skills of Bonifacio and the Katipunan would knit the nation together.
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Post by 79thfoot on Apr 2, 2011 0:00:38 GMT -5
Remember the MAINZ! Total LOL!!
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Post by 79thfoot on Apr 2, 2011 0:01:06 GMT -5
Well... alternate history IS technically incorrect history so it's not really as off topic as it seems!
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Post by insurrectomad on Apr 16, 2011 20:12:53 GMT -5
Interesting to think of a British maintained Philippines during 1941! My bet is they would have encouraged a larger Phil. army being created sooner than the Americans, but no better equipped, and having a smaller airbase. The Plus side would have been that an advanced Australian army presence would have bolstered up the land forces and the Australian navy would have been present in Manila Bay perhaps. Would be nice to play out a war game based on that scenario, don't you think? --Cheers David
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Post by RayAdillO on Apr 17, 2011 22:10:00 GMT -5
Interesting to think of a British maintained Philippines during 1941! My bet is they would have encouraged a larger Phil. army being created sooner than the Americans, but no better equipped, and having a smaller airbase. The Plus side would have been that an advanced Australian army presence would have bolstered up the land forces and the Australian navy would have been present in Manila Bay perhaps. Would be nice to play out a war game based on that scenario, don't you think? --Cheers David My late father once told me that he was able to see HMS Hood back in the 1930s when it visited Manila. Also when they were in Bataan during the war, news of the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and the Repulse was very demoralizing to the Filipino and American USAFFE rank and file. Yes I think it would have been highly likely that the British would have created a "Philippine Army" along the lines of the Indian Army. No doubt many a British officer would have liked to have served in it as it would have more "perks". I wonder if Lord Kitchener would equally disdain British Philippine Army officers as much as he did with those in the Indian army. But perhaps the best Philippine divisions or regiments might have been sent to fight Rommel in north africa alongside the 9th Australian and the 4th Indian divisions. It would be a mad rush to get these troops back in the Philippines to fight the japanese. Wouldn't it be nice to have had a Kings Filipino Rifles, K.F.R. ? ;D
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Post by RayAdillO on Apr 17, 2011 22:17:50 GMT -5
Speaking of Napoleon, there was actually an early plan by the British East India Company in the 1790's to invade the Philippines - again. The invasion would have been commanded by one Sir Arthur Wellesley. The flotilla got as far as Penang, Malaysia before it turned back. I agree - I know it's not a popular or even a 'politically correct' opinion but seriously, colonialism helped foster the idea of a single country. India would never have been INDIA if not for the British Empire. It would have been the Delhi Sultanate, the Mahrattas, the Sikhs, and a hundred little princelings - not a single nation. Same thing with the Philippines - we'd have been the Cebuanos, Ilocanos, Leytenos etc. not Filipinos. Ironically the collective struggle against the colonial power, particularly through the brilliant organizational skills of Bonifacio and the Katipunan would knit the nation together. Tom, did you know there was an actual plan by Chile and Peru to to liberate the Philippines sometime in the 1860s? Yes there was this brief war between a coalition of South American countries with Spain. They were going send a fleet and already appointed an ex-confederate admiral to sail into Manila and destroy the Spanish there. Unfortunaltely, the "war" ended before the allied south american fleet could sail. Extract from the warship "Huascar" entry from Wiki en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu%C3%A1scar_(ironclad)Under Captain Lizardo Montero, Huáscar prepared at Valparaíso to participate in a late 1866 expedition to fight the Spanish fleet at the Philippines. However Montero, with several other Peruvian officers, objected to plans for Rear Admiral John R. Tucker –formerly a commander of Confederate warships during the American civil war – to be in command of the fleet, and requested to be relieved. Captain Salcedo took back command of Huáscar, but the expedition was eventually cancelled
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Post by labrador on Apr 18, 2011 1:05:30 GMT -5
Perry has got to see this! Also the brit scrim looks veddy veddy good on mon. Nice job, Ray!
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Post by RayAdillO on Apr 18, 2011 6:11:06 GMT -5
Ha, ha, ha, ha, yes it does look more like memorial day for the Indo-Pak war than WW2.....but hey I made mon "Regimental Havildar Major" McShine, that's equivalent to a Brit Army RSM so he should be veddy happy.
Jai Hind!
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