Portugal exchanges Philippines with East Timor to Spain

Griffith

Banned
Considering East Timor is not only the other Catholic majority nation in Asia and handsdown the most Catholic region in the Indonesian islands, I am curious how differently the development of the nation had been if Spain took East Timor and Portugal the Philippines instead.

Would both nations still be predominantly Catholic? In particular would the Portuguese have taken more advantage of Philipppines as a trading post and economic viability and exploit the country more while East Timor be merely used as a backwater for Spain? Would modern East Timorian culture be more European influenced while Philippines remain mostly Malayan culturally (even if they convert to Roman Catholicism via Portuguese influence)?

I mean I seen East Timorian artworks, dress, and arthcitecutre and they look very Malayan/Indonesian. About the only thing blatantly Portuguese in current East Timor is the Catholic churches for obvious reason. Meanwhile the Philippines adopted so much Spanish influences that Filipino culture can pass for Hispanic and only the lack of adoption of Spanish language and most Filipinos lacking IBerian blood being the sole reason Philippines is not a technically Hispanic nation.

So I am curious how this turns out. Would East Timor be the Hispanics of Asia today considering its much smaller and thus easier to "Hispanised" than PI?
 
Welcome, relatively recent member of the board!

So, for questions like these, you have to look at the factors behind why things happen the way they do. Though, this is really a bit too simplified an analysis.

So, the Philippines first. We may be Hispanized, but our Malay roots are far, far clearer, considering we speak our native tongues and Filipino Spanish is basically a dead or dying thing. Also, foreign blood here is a rare thing here compared to Latin America. And yes, we are very Catholic, but folk Christianity still abounds. We are the youngest of Spain's daughters, colonized in the late 16th century and the last to leave the house, so to speak, remaining under Spanish rule until the 1890s when we were sold to America. We gained our independence only after 1946, after a generation or two of American rule and a brief spell of Japanese occupation.

East Timor, on the other hand, is the last remnant of Portugal's colonial empire in the East Indies. Can't speak much of it, but well... it's in the middle of Dutch-Muslim territory. And it's the colony of the weakest European power, one that had already lost much of its power way back. And its modern history since the 70s is even more bloodsoaked than ours.

So, back to the topic at hand: Portugal and Spain have different priorities. Portugal wanted spices and Spain wanted Chinese silver. Thus, it was logical for Spain to focus on the Philippines and Portugal to focus on the spice islands. And ultimately, since Spain had more resources and focused on things outside trade/tribute, they were able to keep a substantial colony in the Philippines, while the Portuguese floundered in the south.
 
East Timor is by and large a relic of Portugal's trading empire in Asia dating from the 16th and 17th century, when Portuguese power in the region was at its peak. It was more or less ignored until the late 19th century, and even throughout the 20th century it was the most distant and remote overseas province. Despite it being so remote, the Timorese were among the "loyal" among Portugal's former colonies. Earlier this year, the Timorese came out in droves to celebrate Portugal's victory in the 2016 Eurocup. It was not only limited to Dili as seen below, but apparently all over the country large crowds of East Timorese were waving Portuguese flags, celebrating their former ruler's victory.

 
I think it's the other way around, China wanted Spanish silver (stolen from Peru and Mexico). Spain wanted silks and ceramics I guess from China.

Right, I was confused when I said that. Spain wanted silks and porcelain, and China wanted the American silver.
 

raharris1973

Gone Fishin'
Donor
Monthly Donor
Well, if we just handwave and accept the PoD, and then slaughter butterflies for a few centuries, American East Timor might become a defensible forward base through American and Commonwealth action in WWII. ;)
 
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