The Queen of the Orient (Revised)

Mercenarius

Banned
The Queen of the Orient
A Philippine History​

The Road to Independence


The end of the Napoleonic Wars left Spain a screwed-up nation. With its army battered and
its treasury without money, the nation entered its worst chapter in years. Fernando VII
badly wanted to fix that problem, and he thought only absolute rule was the right answer.
Thus, he abolished the Constitution of 1812, which made the liberals enraged. The Felon King
expected the reaction, and have every supporter of the constitution arrested. His iron fist
rule would last for almost a decade. The 1820s saw the demise of Spain's possessions in
the Americas, as New Spain, New Granada, Peru, and Rio de la Plata succeeded in gaining
their independence from the Crown. An effect of this was the increased mistrust of
mainland Spaniards, or peninsulars, towards the criollos and mestizos. So, they planned to
curb their power and to reassert control over the remaining Spanish colonies. At that time,
many peninsular officers and administrators from the New World were left jobless with the
fall of the viceroyalties. In response, Madrid reassigned them to Cuba, Africa and the
Philippines.

In Manila, the local criollos and mestizos were outraged by the new policy, calling it very
discriminatory. They tried to appeal, but the protests were put down by the colonial
government. The army was no exception. Many criollo officers were demoted and replaced
by peninsulars. This time the government readied a countermeasure, by sendeng the non-
peninsular troops to Mindanao. When the order was declared, an army captain decided that he had enough of the crap, and began to hatch a plan. That man is Andrés Novales.
On 1 June, Novales defied his orders and marched into the walls of Manila with 800 men.
Their arrival caught the city by surprise. In a couple of hours, government buildings and other
important structures were seized. But there's one surprising fact: instead of facing
opposition from the locals, Novales was cheered by them. This, coupled with shouts of
"Long Live the Emperor!" prompted Novales to change his plans. The mutiny is now a full-
pledged war of liberation.

But the victory is not yet complete, as Fort Santiago still stands as a Royalist bastion.
Novales and his bolstered army marched into the fort to demand its surrender. Antonio
Novales, brother of Andrés, refused the demands, and ordered his troops to resist. But
Antonio's subordinates switched sides and seized their commander, and the opened the
gates of Fort Santiago themselves, effectively joining the growing rebellion.

Novales and his supporters celebrated their victory, and confidently declared the end of
Spanish tyranny. But reality speaks otherwise. The Governor General, Juan Antonio Martínez
and his lieutenant Mariano Rodríguez de Folgueras escaped to Pampanga, and rallied the
Spanish troops for a counterattack. This sets the stage for a new chapter in Philippine
history: the War of Independence.
 
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Mercenarius

Banned
The War for Independence (Part 1)

News about happenings in Manila spread like wildfire through the provinces. It inspired many
people who were tired of Spanish abuse to rise up and rebel. The suburbs around Manila
were the first to answer Novales' call to arms, who formed their own militias to fight the
scattered Spanish troops. They were later joined by other provinces such as Cavite, La
Laguna and Batangas. Meanwhile the colonial navy faced a civil war when criollo officers and
seamen, inspired by Novales' actions, staged their own mutiny and began firing against
Royalist vessels.

On the political front, several groups of intellectuals, led by members of the patriotic society
Hijos del País convened in Manila's ayuntamiento on 5 June to discuss the future of the
islands. Majority of the delegates called for the abolition of the "obsolete" Captaincy General.
Thus, on 7 June the congress declared themselves as the General Junta. The Junta was
perceived to be a transitional regime, and called for the other rebelling provinces to send
delegates to Manila to form a representative body for the Philippines. At first the Junta
showed skepticism about the notion of independence, as they hoped that the liberal
government in Madrid would approve of them. But when a plot for a counter-revolution
(which implicated a number of known ultraconservatives and high-ranking members of the
clergy), coupled with the news of a French invasion of Spain to restore Fernando VII's
absolute rule, unanimously changed their minds overnight. On 12 June the General Junta, led
by de-facto leader Andrés Novales, declared the independence of the Philippines. In the
process, the Junta elected its Diretor in the name of Luis Rodríguez Varela, a prominent
liberal. The Junta then proceeded to make preparations for the drafting of a constitution.

Returning to the battlefront, Novales raised a new army to fight the Royalists in Bulacan,
then under attack by Martínez. The first clash occured in Bocaue, which ended up in a
stalemate. However on 17 June Rafael Ruiz, Novales' lieutenant, won a decisive victory
against Folgueras in Hagonoy, pushing back the Royalists north of the Pampanga River.
Martínez attempted to outflank the Revolutionists by attacking through Tayabas, but his
troops were stopped at their tracks in Baler, where a heroic stand by Colonel José Bayot
prevented the Royalists from advancing. In the Bicol Peninsula, Revolutionist forces under
Regino Mijares defeated the small Royalist army in a series of battles across Camarines and
Ibalon, culminating in the latter's final surrender in 27 June.

The naval theater also saw some actions. The rebel fleet, with assistance from privateers,
scored victories against the Royalists in Sibuyan Sea, while the latter held their positions in
Subic Bay. But the situation was unacceptable to the Junta, who believed that naval
supremacy would be the key to total victory. Thus, the General Junta tried to sought
professional assistance, or a mercenary to be precise, and began to send agents abroad in
search of the rightful admiral to the fledgling Filipino navy.
 
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What do you mean?
Oh, I actually mean that the spacing should be like this:
News about happenings in Manila spread like wildfire through the provinces. It inspired many people who were tired of Spanish abuse to rise up and rebel. The suburbs around Manila were the first to answer Novales' call to arms, who formed their own militias to fight the scattered Spanish troops. They were later joined by other provinces such as Cavite, La Laguna and Batangas. Meanwhile the colonial navy faced a civil war when criollo officers and seamen, inspired by Novales' actions, staged their own mutiny and began firing against
Royalist vessels.
 

Kapitan-Heneral

Well, I wish that this will be it. No more roadblocks. For me this TL has a very good potential. We seriously need some Filipinas-wank here.

Good luck.
 

Mercenarius

Banned
The War for Independence (Part 2)

The month of July saw no major battles, aside from sporadic skirmishes around central Luzon, but it was a crucial one for the framers of the constitution. It was around this period that debates were held about the form of government that should be implemented. The convention was divided into two camps: the Moderates and the Radicals. The latter wanted the new state to become a full unitary republic from the get-go, with all reforms implemented, while the former wanted a federal state, and gradual implementation of reforms. After days of deliberations the Moderates prevailed, and they suggested a monarchy as the new form of government. The Radicals were outraged at the suggestion, but the Moderates managed to soothe the former's anger when they declared that it was a necessary measure in order not to repeat the fatal mistakes of the French Revolution, and it was only a temporary one. On 24 July the draft of the new constitution was completed.

Days later, Andrés Novales was requested back to Manila to preside over the selection of the constitutional monarch, even though the Junta had already decided on it. However, when Novales was officially appointed as monarch he declined, much to the Junta's surprise. Instead, Novales deferred the honor to Luis Rodriguez Varela, arguing that the latter is the more suitable choice, due to his more credible background. With this, the selection process still pushed through, and after a round of votes, Varela was unanimously selected as the monarch of the new government. But the proclamation was delayed, as the constitution was yet to be ratified.

Novales then returned to the frontlines oncd again, and at the start of August, launched another offensive into Pampanga. A series of battles went on for days which culminated into another clash at San Fernando on 12 August. However, the Royalists has been overstretched, exhausted and most of all, running out of supplies. Thus, the Revolutionists finally prevailed, forcing Governor Martinez to retreat further north, abandoning Pampanga to the rebels. He later set up another camp in the mountains of Nueva Vizcaya. Meanwhile Folgueras' forces was cut off from the rest of the Royalist army as a result of Pampanga's fall. Adding to his problem was the consolidation of the rebels in the northern Luzon, which had started to advance southward. Facing two converging armies (the other was from Bulacan, led by Rafael Ruiz, who also began to advance into his position), Folgueras hastily pulled out of Zambales and retreated to the province of Bataan, and sets up a defense line in the town of Abucay. Folgueras hoped to hold out until Martinez could finally muster up a counterattack.

Meanwhile the provinces of Ilo-Ilo, Antique and Negros finally fell to the local rebels, as rebellions in Cebu, Samar and Leyte began to surface. Meanwhile, the forces of the renegade Republic of Bohol, founded by the legendary insurgent Francisco Dagohoy (who died in 1800), finally got a hold of the situation in Manila and other provinces. After rallying the local populace, they finally overthrew the Bohol's colonial government on 23 August. Despite the growing success of the Visayan rebels, they still find it difficult to communicate with their northern compatriots, due to harassments by Royalist ships patrolling the waters of Visayas. There were some lucky ones, however, that managed to reach Manila to inform the Junta about the situation in the south. The Junta then decided to act swiftly. On 27 August, an expeditionary force was created, named the Army of the South. Led by Juan de Silvestre, it was tasked with completing the liberation of Visayas, and later Mindanao. To support them is the Revolutionist fleet, assisted by several auxilliaries, which was tasked with rooting out Royalist vessels that would hinder the landings in Panay. The Army of the South was transferre to Batangan [1] on 31 August to prepare for the upcoming invasion. It was a difficult mission, but one that might bring the Revolution one step closer to victory.


***

[1] OTL Batangas City
 

Mercenarius

Banned
Guess who's back!!! :D

I'm here to say that this TL is finally back from hiatus. Though the next update will take some time. So, for the meantime, post your feedbacks, or your suggestion. Much better if you guys open up some discussions here.
 
I want to know about the post-independence influences and butterflies. Could this make warmer relations to Mexico? Even restarting the galleon trade? The effects on the Asian countries, What?
 

Mercenarius

Banned
Important Announcement

Hi! I'm the new owner of this account. The previous owner, who is my friend, had recently went to the US for job-related reasons. There's no certainty when he will go back. Thus, he decided to give me this account, so I can inform you guys of this.

About this timeline, my friend told me that he might not be able to work at it anymore, since he'll be too busy already. He wants to express his apologies.

To all who subscribed to this timeline, on behalf of my friend, I'm deeply sorry.

As for me, the new owner, I hope we can get along. I'm a big history fan.

PS: I'll changing this account's username very soon.
 
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