PC: The Philippines Ruled by a British Dominion

We've seen question threads about the possibilities of the Philippines being ruled by the Germans, the British, the Japanese, the Americans, or they remain a Spanish colony. (not the Russians, as Ivangorod Prosperous is the only TL that actually covers the Philippines {read: Primorye} as a Russian colony) Now, is there a possible way for the Philippines to fall under one of Britain's dominions such as Canada or Australia?

Keep in mind that even Australia had once administered former German colonies in the Pacific and has currently controlled Christmas Island, despite being far off from Australia. Assuming that the Philippines could be administered by either one of the two dominions (New Zealand might be too far), can they do it?
 
A British Dominion, yes, any of the OTL British Dominions, no.

For a Dominion to control the Philippines it would have to be powerful, and none of the British Dominions (during the time in which they were actually Dominions) of OTL was anywhere near powerful enough to do so, hell both Spain and the United States, both Great Powers at the time of control, could barely do it.


To have a British Dominion ruling the Philippines you need to have a PoD going far back so that you not only have a Dominion that's powerful enough (no ARW leading to a single Dominion of North America or different colonial patterns leading to the establishment of a large, populous and powerful Dominion elsewhere in North America with a Pacific coast for example) to control it, but also change the Philippines colonial history itself at some point to prevent nationalism from taking sway in the 19th century and large segments of the population not willing to engage in guerilla warfare and/or not supporting those who do so.
 

katchen

Banned
The British would have to go a long way back indeed for that. Eight British ships of the line occupied Manila from 1762 until 1764. They were unable to advance beyond Manila because of concerted resistance from the Philippine people. The British wound up giving the Philippines back to Spain because their occupation was unviable. For the same reason, by the 18th Century, the Dutch were unable to occupy the Philippines either.
Taking over the entire island of Borneo or maybe Borneo, Suluwesi and the Moluccas and the Lesser Sunda Islands as a dominion, perhaps simply by giving only Java and Southern Sumatra back to the Dutch would be less of a challenge for the British and much more doable. That could also be tied in with New Guinea and the Solomon Islands too.
 
Pretty much, by the time any dominion is powerful enough to rule the Philippines, it would have already realized it doesn't need Britain and thus wouldn't be a dominion any more.
 
If the POD is 7 years war, Diego Silang should live and successfully lead the rebellion. Dagohoy rebellion was also happening at that time. The British can theoretically win and take the Philippines had the British planned the invasion along with the local rebels. An earlier invasion of the Philippines might also do the trick since you need more than one year to expel the Spaniards and coordinate with local rebels. 1762 battle of Manila is just too near the end of the war in 1763.

If POD is much later 1800+, lots of rebellion happening in the Philippines which the British can take advantage. British rises as superpower, Spain declines. Thus, Britain would have sufficient resources to conquer Philippines as long as they coordinate with the local rebels.

If you want it earlier than 1700s, I do not think the British would even have the resources to win vs a much powerful Spain earlier than 1700.
 
So could the Andres Novales revolt against Spain work in favor of the British? They can make the Philippines as a protectorate, eventually annexing it a couple decades down the road.

On the topic of the Seven Years War, does an earlier (say 1758) invasion of the Philippines count?
 
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