The Philippines long road to independence shaped their nation today. The Filipinos suffered under Spanish colonialism until the Philippine Revolution in the late 1890s. During this conflict, Filipinos overthrew the Spanish rule and declared their independence with the creation of the First Philippine Republic. Both the United States and Spain did not recognize this action and in the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the Spanish handed control of the Philippines to the United States. The First Philippine Republic pushed for freedom from the rule of the United States and the Philippine- American war broke out between the two nations. The United States succeeded in defeating Filipino revolutionaries and established harsh imperial rule over the Philippines. Eventually the United States granted them autonomy and in 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth.
Although the Philippines were approaching freedom, their struggle for independence was far from over. Before they could become an independent nation, World War II broke out and Japanese troops invaded and won control of the Philippines. The Japanese set up a “puppet government” and were responsible for committing many war crimes that lead to the death of an estimated one million Filipinos. The United States and Philippines, along with allied forces defeated the Japanese in 1945. On July 4th, 1946 the Philippines finally became an independent nation. Even though there everlasting fight for independence was over, World War II took its toll on the Philippines and presented them with many challenges.
