I'm working on a timeline idea where the Spanish-American War doesn't happen. However Spain is defeated by Japan in 1904-1905 in an alternate Euro-Japanese War, and in this war Japan takes the Spanish possessions in the Pacific. Involved with this I have a few questions I'm doing research for but would like the community's thoughts.
How would Japan treat the Philippines? Would they make a puppet/protectorate out of it like they initially did with Korea or would they outright annex it? Korea and Japan are more culturally similar to each other than Japan and the Philippines, so I don't know if this would make Japan more or less likely to annex the Philippines directly. If they did choose to make the Philippines a puppet/protectorate would they make them a republic or a monarchy? If they made them a monarchy who would they pick as a monarch; a Philippine general, a lower Japanese Nobleman, or have the Emperor be monarch of Japan in a commonwealth style?
How would losing to Japan impact Spain? It was one thing for Spain to lose to the U.S. In that scenario Spain is losing to another White Christian nation. At worst they just lost to a young upstart. But losing to Japan is losing to a people they thought were an inferior race and religion. How would that impact the political situation back in Spain? Would this be enough to spark an early civil war?
In this scenario I am assuming that without outside assistance the Cubans and Philippinoes couldn't completely drive out the Spanish from their Islands. The rebels have control of most of their respective Islands, but Spain is still holding out in some of the major port cities where they can be resupplied by sea.
Obviously after a Japanese conquest of the Philippines, regardless of making them a protectorate or annexing directly there will be rebellions and insurgencies. In this scenario I also don't see Cuba gaining independence by force. I think Spain would reallocate the resources being used to maintain its Pacific holdings to the Caribbean and would retake Cuba, unless a civil war broke out in Spain in which case the Spanish colonial forces coming back from the Pacific might get dragged into the fight in the homeland.
How would Japan treat the Philippines? Would they make a puppet/protectorate out of it like they initially did with Korea or would they outright annex it? Korea and Japan are more culturally similar to each other than Japan and the Philippines, so I don't know if this would make Japan more or less likely to annex the Philippines directly. If they did choose to make the Philippines a puppet/protectorate would they make them a republic or a monarchy? If they made them a monarchy who would they pick as a monarch; a Philippine general, a lower Japanese Nobleman, or have the Emperor be monarch of Japan in a commonwealth style?
How would losing to Japan impact Spain? It was one thing for Spain to lose to the U.S. In that scenario Spain is losing to another White Christian nation. At worst they just lost to a young upstart. But losing to Japan is losing to a people they thought were an inferior race and religion. How would that impact the political situation back in Spain? Would this be enough to spark an early civil war?
In this scenario I am assuming that without outside assistance the Cubans and Philippinoes couldn't completely drive out the Spanish from their Islands. The rebels have control of most of their respective Islands, but Spain is still holding out in some of the major port cities where they can be resupplied by sea.
Obviously after a Japanese conquest of the Philippines, regardless of making them a protectorate or annexing directly there will be rebellions and insurgencies. In this scenario I also don't see Cuba gaining independence by force. I think Spain would reallocate the resources being used to maintain its Pacific holdings to the Caribbean and would retake Cuba, unless a civil war broke out in Spain in which case the Spanish colonial forces coming back from the Pacific might get dragged into the fight in the homeland.