La Comunidad Española en Filipinas, 1935-1939El impacto de la Guerra Civil Española y de los comienzos de los preparativos de la independencia de Filipinas en su evolución e identidad

Abstract

In the twentieth century two events in the mid-thirties transformed definitely the centuries-old Spanish community in the Philippines, the Commonwealth and the Civil War. The Commonwealth was proclaimed in the Philippines on 15 November 1935 commencing a transitional period of ten years which would lead to the independence. The Civil War broke out in Spain scarcely nine months after, on 17 July 1936, and lasted three years. The first of these events was planned and lasted the foreseen decade while the second was mostly a surprise and furthermore during the first weeks nobody thought that the conflict would last so long. Thus both events coincided, not only in their timing, but also in the numerous shocks, in the continuous changes of expectations and by impacting directly on the Spanish community of the Philippines. In fact the coincidence of critical events in both cases, either due to their own impact or to the synergy produced, led to the greatest blow to the Spanish community in the Philippines born centuries before after the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi to the archipelago. Its leadership, economic strength, internal composition and its influence over the rest of the society were gravely affected by the Civil War and Transition Period. The impact was devastating, surpassing even the problems following the end of Spanish sovereignty in the Islands in 1898.