A sovereignty of sorts: Filipino-American relations during the Truman administration, 1945-1951

This dissertation argues that America's postwar policy toward the Philippines combined elements of high idealism with various forms of continued domination. The Introduction provides a brief historical synopsis of America's involvement in the Philippines up to World War II. Chapters One through Three discuss events between April 1945 and March 1947 when all the foundations for the new relationship between the two countries were first laid down. Chapter Four shows how both nations first built on those foundations in order to restore the Philippine economy and assure that the Philippines would be a "showcase" or "show window" for the success in a former colony of a liberal capitalist democracy on the American model. American policy makers hoped the British, French, and Dutch would follow a similar policy and grant independence to their Southeast Asian colonies.; Chapters Five and Six show how these plans often went awry during the first two and a half years of Philippine President Elpidio Quirino's administration. The Philippine situation worsened within the context of the "loss" of China, Indonesia's struggle for independence, communist insurgencies in Malaya and Indochina, and the outbreak of war in Korea. The American embassy in Manila and the CIA scrambled to shore up the government, through both overt and covert means, in order to prevent a communist takeover of the country. Chapter Seven shows how these efforts paid off by November 1951. Opinion on the survival of Philippine democracy shifted from extreme pessimism to guarded optimism after the implementation of economic reforms, a clean-up of the demoralized Philippine military, gaining the upper hand against a communist-led insurgency, and honest elections.