Alternate History of Southeast Asia (1920)

An imaginary alternate history visualized and narrated by Anonymous Kabataan

We are in 1920 in this alternate history the fact that the First World War like what happened in our real timeline still happened in this alternate history scenario from the years 1914 until the surrender of Imperial Germany in the year 1918. As usual, during the events of the First World War in Asia, Japan declares war on Germany thus successfully taking its colonies in China and the Pacific with the help of its ally, Great Britain. As the worldwide war is happening in Europe, Africa, and Asia. What happened to the Philippines in this timeline?

As usual, the Jones Bill of 1912 was enacted by the 64th United States Congress on August 29, 1916. In effect back in the Philippines, Filipino nationalists led by Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña enthusiastically endorsed the law, which provided for Philippine independence after eight years, but later changed their views, opting for a bill that focused less on time than on the conditions of independence. The nationalists demanded complete and absolute independence be guaranteed by the United States since they feared that too-rapid independence from American rule without such guarantees might cause the Philippines to fall into the other hands of colonial powers primarily Germany or Japan.

Back in the United States, Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the 1912 Presidential Election who advocated constitutional government in the Philippines as a step toward independence. In the same year, after he was elected as the President of the United States, he appointed Francis Burton Harrison as governor, and Harrison replaced mainlanders with Filipinos in the bureaucracy. At his departure in 1921, of the 13,757 government bureaucrats, 13,143 were Filipinos; they occupied 56 of the top 69 positions.

The Organic Act was succeeded by the Jones Law, or the Philippine Autonomy Act. Its preamble indicated that the Philippines' ultimate independence would be an American policy conditional on the development of a stable government. The Jones Law, also known as the Philippine Autonomy Act, amended the Organic Act by establishing a bicameral Philippine Legislature to replace the elected Philippine Assembly (lower house) and an elected senate to replace the appointive Philippine Commission (upper house). Its preamble indicated that the Philippines' ultimate independence would be an American policy conditional on the development of a stable government. The law kept the appointed governor-general in place but created a bicameral Philippine Legislature to replace the elected Philippine Assembly (lower chamber) and the appointive Philippine Commission (upper house).

As the news of the First World War arrived in the Philippines, Filipino independence activists suspended the independence campaign during the First World War and supported the United States and the Entente against the German Empire. After the war, Filipino activists resumed their political fight for the independence of their country. The Philippine Legislature passed a "Declaration of Purposes" on March 17, 1919, stating the Filipino people's unwavering determination to be free and sovereign. A Commission of Independence was established to investigate strategies to achieve the emancipation goal. An independence mission to the United States was recommended by this commission.

The "Declaration of Purposes" described the Jones Law as a "true contract" between the American and Filipino peoples, in which the US agreed to recognize the Philippines' independence as soon as a stable government was established. The report of the Philippine Legislature on a stable administration was endorsed by American Governor-General Harrison. In 1919, the Philippine Legislature funded a trip to the United States to celebrate the country's independence.

The mission left Manila on February 28 and met with Secretary of War Newton D. Baker in America to deliver their case. In a farewell message to Congress in 1921, US President Woodrow Wilson confirmed that Filipinos met the conditions imposed as conditions for independence, and then gave the Philippines independence in the United States. He said it was an obligation. However, the Republican Party ruled Congress, and the recommendation of the outgoing Democrat president was ignored.

Paragraphs were too much focused on the Philippines. What is happening in other countries? China is experiencing a regime change where the Chinese Kuomintang staged an armed revolution against the Qing Dynasty due to its incompetence in administration and weak stance on foreign imperialism. As in our timeline, Xinhai Revolution was ignited on the 10th of October 1911. Chinese Kuomintang was led primarily by Sun Yat-sen and his second hand Huang Xing. As you see on the map, Kuomintang controlled southern China except the island of Hainan while the Qing Dynasty retained its control in the Central and Northern regions.