Colonial rule (1565–1946)

Main articles: History of the Philippines (1565–1898) and History of the Philippines (1898–1946)

Colonization began when Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived from Mexico in 1565.[54]
[55]
 In 1571, Spanish Manila became the capital of the Spanish East Indies,[56] which also
encompassed Spanish territories in Asia and the Pacific.[57][58] The Spanish considered their war with
the Muslims in Southeast Asia an extension of the Reconquista.[59] The Spanish successfully invaded
the different local states by employing the principle of divide and conquer.[60]
Spanish rule brought most of what is now the Philippines into a single unified administration. [61]
[62]
 From 1565 to 1821, the Philippines was governed as part of the Mexico-based Viceroyalty of New
Spain, later administered from Madrid following the Mexican War of Independence.[63] Manila
galleons were constructed in Bicol and Cavite.[64][65] Manila was the western hub of the trans-Pacific
trade.[66]
Under Spanish rule, Catholic missionaries converted most of the lowland inhabitants to Christianity.
[67]
 They also founded schools, a university, hospitals, and churches. [68] To defend their settlements,
the Spaniards constructed and manned a network of military fortresses across the archipelago.
[69]
 The Spanish also decreed the introduction of free public schooling in 1863. [70] Slavery was also
abolished. As a result of these policies the Philippine population increased exponentially. [71][72]
During its rule, Spain quelled various indigenous revolts, as well as defending against external
military challenges.[73] The Philippines was expensive during Spanish rule. War against
the Dutch from the West, in the 17th century, together with conflict with the Muslims in the South and
combating Japanese-Chinese Wokou piracy from the North nearly bankrupted the colonial treasury.
[74]
 There was a high desertion rate among the Mexican[75] Peruvian,[76][77] and native Filipino laborers
and soldiers, due to repeated wars, lack of wages, dislocation and near starvation. Immigration
blurred the racial caste system[78][79] Spain maintained in towns and cities.[80] Increasing difficulty in
governing the Philippines led to the Royal Fiscal of Manila writing to King Charles III of Spain,
advising him to abandon the colony. However, this was successfully opposed by the religious and
missionary orders that argued that the Philippines was a launching pad for further religious
conversion in the Far East.[81]

Spanish artillery along the walls of Intramuros to protect the city from local revolts and foreign invaders.

The Philippines survived on an annual subsidy provided by the Spanish Crown, usually paid through
the provision of 75 tons of silver bullion being sent from the Americas. [82][83] Financial constraints
meant the 200-year-old fortifications in Manila did not see significant change after being first built by
the early Spanish colonizers.[84] British forces occupied Manila from 1762 to 1764 during the Seven
Years' War, however they were unable to extend their conquest outside of Manila as the Filipinos
stayed loyal to the remaining Spanish community outside Manila. Spanish rule was restored through
the 1763 Treaty of Paris.[85][86][87] The Spanish–Moro conflict lasted for several hundred years. In the
last quarter of the 19th century, Spain conquered portions of Mindanao and the Moro Muslims in
the Sultanate of Sulu formally recognized Spanish sovereignty.[88][90]
Filipino Ilustrados in Spain formed the Propaganda Movement. Photographed in 1890.

In the 19th century, Philippine ports opened to world trade and shifts started occurring within Filipino
society.[91][92] Many Spaniards born in the Philippines[93] and those of mixed ancestry were wealthy,
[94]
 and an influx of Hispanic American immigrants opened up government positions traditionally held
by Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula. However, ideas of rebellion and independence began to
spread through the islands. Many Latin-Americans [95] and Criollos staffed the Spanish army in the
Philippines but the onset of the Latin American wars of independence led to doubts about their
loyalty.[96] This was compounded by a Mexican of Filipino descent, Isidoro Montes de Oca, becoming
captain-general to the revolutionary leader Vicente Guerrero during the Mexican War of
Independence.[97][98][99]

Photograph of armed Filipino revolutionaries known as Katipuneros.

Revolutionary sentiments were stoked in 1872 after three activist Catholic priests were accused
of sedition and executed.[100][101] This would inspire a propaganda movement in Spain, organized
by Marcelo H. del Pilar, José Rizal, and Mariano Ponce, lobbying for political reforms in the
Philippines. Rizal was eventually executed on December 30, 1896, on charges of rebellion. This
radicalized many who had previously been loyal to Spain. [102] As attempts at reform met with
resistance, Andrés Bonifacio in 1892 established the militant secret society called the Katipunan,
who sought independence from Spain through armed revolt. [103]
The Katipunan started the Philippine Revolution in 1896. Katipunan chapters in Cavite Province,
primarily the Magdiwang and the Magdalo had an internal dispute that led to the Tejeros
Convention and an election in which Bonifacio lost his position and Emilio Aguinaldo was elected as
the new leader of the revolution. In 1897, the Pact of Biak-na-Bato brought about the exile of the
revolutionary leadership to Hong Kong. In 1898, the Spanish–American War began and reached
Philippines. Aguinaldo returned, resumed the revolution, and declared Philippine independence from
Spain on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite. The First Philippine Republic was established on January
21, 1899.[85]
General Douglas MacArthur landing ashore during the Battle of Leyte on October 20, 1944.

The islands had been ceded by Spain to the United States alongside Puerto Rico and Guam as a
result of the latter's victory in the Spanish–American War.[104] As it became increasingly clear the
United States would not recognize the First Philippine Republic, the Philippine–American War broke
out.[105] War resulted in the deaths of 200,000 to 1 million Filipino civilians, mostly due to famine and
disease.[106] After the defeat of the First Philippine Republic, the archipelago was administered under
an American Insular Government.[107] The Americans then suppressed other rebellious proto-states:
mainly, the waning Sultanate of Sulu,[108] as well as the insurgent Tagalog Republic.[109] Under
American rule, control was established over interior mountainous areas that had resisted Spanish
conquest.[110]
Under American rule, cultural shifts began to occur alongside the development of a national
consciousness.[111][112] In 1935, the Philippines was granted Commonwealth status with Manuel
Quezon as president and Sergio Osmeña as vice president. Quezon designated a national
language and introduced women's suffrage and land reform. [113][114]

Independence ceremonies following signing of the Treaty of Manila

Plans for independence over the next decade were interrupted by World War II when the Japanese
Empire invaded and the Second Philippine Republic, under Jose P. Laurel, was established as a
puppet state.[115] From mid-1942 through mid-1944, the Japanese occupation of the Philippines was
opposed by large-scale underground guerrilla activity.[116][117] The largest naval battle in history,
according to gross tonnage sunk, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, occurred when Allied forces began
liberating the Philippines from the Japanese Empire. [118][119] Atrocities and war crimes were committed
during the war, including the Bataan Death March and the Manila massacre.[120][121] Allied
troops defeated the Japanese in 1945. By the end of the war it is estimated that over a million
Filipinos had died.[122][123] On October 11, 1945, the Philippines became one of the founding
members of the United Nations.[124] On July 4, 1946, the Philippines was officially recognized by
the United States as an independent nation through the Treaty of Manila, during the presidency
of Manuel Roxas.[125]