|
Post by Karl Welteke on Mar 29, 2015 11:17:37 GMT 8
I would like this thread to be comprehensive pages dealing with German speaking entities, people, meaning Germany, German speaking Swiss and Austria, having dealings or connections to the Philippines in the past and present. We know that Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tángere novel was published in Berlin in 1887, that Austrian Ferdinand Blumentritt wrote the preface of El filibusterismo after he had translated Noli Me Tángere into German. Here is a Swiss contribution, in the book Lieutenant Ramsey’s War, when the Lieutenant carried out a sabotage action in Manila a Swiss National helped him out. Let me start out with this contribution from AMCHAM PHILIPPINES. Leslie Murray sent this and I believe she got it from the AMCHAM Centennial Collection. X211. AMCHAM Philippines X212. Page 1 from the AMCHAM snippet called: “If Not A US Colony, Then German??” How that could have altered history from the Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1900 book on the early days of the American Occupation. X213. Page 2 from the AMCHAM snippet called: “If Not A US Colony, Then German??” How that could have altered history from the Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1900 book on the early days of the American Occupation.
|
|
|
Post by Karl Welteke on Mar 29, 2015 11:51:11 GMT 8
When I recently entered the segment “1300 ARMED SPANISH PRISONERS ON GRANDE ISLAND 1898, GERMANS HAD A FINGER IN THE PIE” into the Corregidor.org forum I had several responses. The above entry from AMCHAM was a response. The below entry is from Louis Jurika: Karl: Check out Germany's intentions in the Pacific in the late 1800's. Not wanting to be left out, by the time they started aggressively looking for territory to convert into a German colony or colonies, everything of importance had been effectively taken by the British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and then the Americans. Germany was left to colonize tiny island groups unwanted by the other super powers and settled for whatever lay between Samoa and Micronesia, all later taken from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles after WWI and mandated to Japan, also the USA which split Samoa between American Samoa (Pago Pago on Tutuila) and what is now Western Samoa which went to New Zealand. You can still find German/Samoan descendants in the capital of Apia and on the island of Savai. That mandate is how Japan was able to fortify their islands prior to WWII and turn Saipan into "Little Japan". Only Japanese were allowed in the territory, and there was so much secrecy that it lingers on in the search for Amelia Earhart who, it is theorized, came down on a Japanese-held island and was later executed along with Fred Noonan for having seen too much after ditching their plane. Back to 1898. When it looked like a weakened Spain was crumbling in its stewardship of the Philippines and that another native Filipino revolt was in the air, Germany really started sniffing around Luzon and the Visayas. It has been said that if the USA had not swapped title with the Spanish for the Philippines, then Germany would have quickly stepped in. A contest for submissions on the topic of "what if" was sponsored by The Bulletin of The American Historical Society in the 1970's and the winning essay that was published contained a very interesting analysis of what could have happened, not that I recall the points made. Thus you, mein Freund, might have been born in Manila and attended a Deutche Schule with German-speaking Filipinos before the Japs arrived in December, 1941. However, the Tripartite Agreement between Germany, Japan, and Italy night have forestalled that move, who knows? Lou Mr. Louis Jurika has contributed to the forum before. This is a forward from him: “How About Plain Old Traitor? A forward to the following article by Louis Jurika; By Peter Parsons” And this is the URL in the forum: corregidor.proboards.com/thread/1107/richard-sakakida-hero-turncoat
|
|
|
Post by Karl Welteke on Apr 2, 2015 18:59:17 GMT 8
1300 ARMED SPANISH PRISONERS ON GRANDE ISLAND 1898, GERMANS HAD A FINGER IN THE PIE Note from Karl: This entry is copied from the Subic Bay ex Naval Base thread because I feel this information should be at both threeads! This information came from the book of which the front and back are copied and presented here at the end. Now I summarize a paragraph that deals with this subject from that book. I could not zerox it clearly because the book is too thick. This paragraph is on page 43 and 44: Whenever Admiral Dewey captured prisoners from the Spaniards he promptly turned them over to the Filipinos---1300 at one clip in the month of June at Olongapo. These 1300 were men a German man-of-war prevented the Filipinos from taking until Aguinaldo reported the matter to Admiral Dewey, whereupon, he promptly sent Captain Coghlan with the USS Raleigh and another of his ships to the scene of the trouble. Captain Coghlan said to the German “Hoch the Kaiser” etc or words to that effect and made him go about his business and let our alley alone. Then Captain Coghlan took the 1300 prisoners himself and turned them over to Aguinaldo by direction of Admiral Dewey. The motive for, as well as the test of, an alliance, is that the other fellow can bring into the partnership something you lack. The Navy had no way to keep prisoners of war. Footnote of this paragraph: See Admiral Dewey’s testimony before the Senate Committee of 1902, S.D. 331, pp 2942, 2957 X208. Front cover of book: American Occupation of the Philippines 1898/99 by James H. Blount 1913. X209. Back cover of book: American Occupation of the Philippines 1898/99 by James H. Blount 1913.
|
|
|
Post by Karl Welteke on Apr 2, 2015 19:08:11 GMT 8
THE SUBIC BAY HISTORIAN SETS ME STRAIGHT The above segment, of this thread: “1300 ARMED SPANISH PRISONERS ON GRANDE ISLAND 1898, GERMANS HAD A FINGER IN THE PIE” uploaded to this forum on the 26th March 2015 I also sent out to friends by email. In the email I challenged Gerald Anderson whether he knew that story? Today he answered and wrote this per email: From Chapter Two of my book: "On July 5, 1898, the Compania de Filipinas, an 800-ton tobacco carrier, sailed from Aparri in northern Luzon. Once out of port the Filipino crew, led by Vincente Catalan, a Cuban-Spaniard mutinied and killed her Spanish officers. They hoisted the flag of the Philippine Republic and sailed to Manila to join the Filipino’s mosquito fleet. The Filipinas was loaded with armed men, fitted with pieces of boiler pipe to look like artillery and sailed to Subic Bay to aid in the capture of the Spanish garrison. The navy yard at Olongapo had been abandoned by the Spanish in June and about 300 Spaniards - soldiers, friars and civilians - left the navy yard at Olongapo and the surrounding area and sought refuge on Grande Island. The Filipinas stood into Subic Bay and Catalan, who had assumed the title “Admiral of the Filipino Navy,” ordered the garrison to surrender. The Spaniards refused and as the ship was preparing to land her armed force the German cruiser SMS Irene appeared in the bay. The Germans ordered the Filipinas to haul down the Filipino flag and run up a white flag. The tiny ship, hopelessly outgunned, withdrew. A report of the incident reached Dewey. He ordered the USS Raleigh and the USS Concord to sail that night for Subic Bay “to demand the immediate surrender of Grande Island and to fight whomever necessary to do it.” The ships, arriving at Subic Bay the next morning, spotted the Irene at Grande Island. The Americans immediately geared for action and started in her direction but the Irene fled around the other end of the island, cutting loose her anchor chain and dropping it in the bay in her haste. The American ships came around to Grande Island and fired a few shots from their light guns. The Spanish garrison offered no resistance and immediately surrendered to Captain Joseph Coghlan of the Raleigh. Following Dewey’s orders the prisoners and their arms were turned over to Catalan. As the American ships returned to Manila, the Filipinas steamed across the bay to Olongapo and delivered the Spanish prisoners to the Filipino commander here. Fifty-two of them, including the friars, remained in the village and the rest were marched inland." From Karl: Dear Randy, I’m sorry I doubted you knew this story. Furthermore I apologize for being an inattentive reader of your book. X231. This is Gerald Anderson’s book: “Subic Bay From Magellan to Pinatubo”. You can Google it and find the book available at many places X232. Randy also sent this picture. James_Scott_Maxwell_SMS_Irene, this picture is from Wikipedia Commons. Gerald Anderson is a retired Naval Officer and resides here in Subic and Manila. He is also the 2nd important player in establishing the Hell Ships Memorial in Subic Bay. "SMS Irene was a protected cruiser or Kreuzerkorvette of the German Imperial Navy and the lead ship of the Irene class. She had one sister, Prinzess Wilhelm; the two ships were the first protected cruisers built by the German Navy." Gerald Anderson is a retired Naval Officer and resides here in Subic and Manila. He is also the 2nd important player in establishing the Hell Ships Memorial in Subic Bay. PS1: Karl says: We can assume that the author mentioned in my entry of the above segment, of this thread: “1300 ARMED SPANISH PRISONERS ON GRANDE ISLAND 1898, GERMANS HAD A FINGER IN THE PIE” either got the number wrong or it is a misprint, 300 Spaniard is a more believable figure. PS2: This segment was also put, just now, into the thread Subic Bay, ex Naval Base because the two subjects are close to my heart and need to be at both threads!
|
|
|
Post by Karl Welteke on Apr 3, 2015 11:21:23 GMT 8
DISCUSSION WHAT THE GERMANS WERE DOING IN THE PHILIPPINES IN 1889 AND 1899
Because of this thread I was participant in a lively discussion about this subject. Here are some Reponses from friends:
2015-04-01 James Zobel, General MacArthur Museum Was reading the diary of a French Naval Officer who was in Manila when the Americans steamed in and sunk the Spanish Fleet. The Frenchman remarks over and over again on how the Spanish were hoping above all else that the Germans would come in to save the Spanish regime and fend off the Americans.
2015-04-01 Jose M. Cabarrus Furthermore, I don't think any European power was ready to go to war for or against Spain. They knew that the Americans were in Cuba already, the Spanish fleet in Manila was done for, and American troop ships were on the way. Perhaps they want to "observe" American tactics? Try to push them around a little bit? Did not work obviously.
2015-04-01 Jose M. Cabarrus Yes. Interestingly, only 30 or so years before, "Spanish" troops had been involved in the French conquest of Indochina. A majority of those "Spanish" troops were Filipino, serving in the colonial forces. The Spanish expedition to Indochina originated from Manila. "Politics" as they say make strange bedfellows". So do allies.
2015-04-02 Jose M. Cabarrus Let me argue a bit different. The king of Spain at that time was a Bourbon, and therefore originally of French extraction. So Spain would have been more allied to the French (the Franks) then the Germans. In fact, the Spanish sent colonial troops (Filipinos mainly) to help the French subjugate the Vietnamese in the 1860's, only thirty or so years before the Spanish American War. Really hard to say what the German purpose was to be here in 1898. Easy pickings maybe? Low hanging fruit? Maybe they thought they could push the Yanks around since they were the "new kid" in the block? They had no ground troops to take possession of anything. They may have been able to win a naval battle (I say may, because the Brits would have helped the Yanks and they had the "best" navy in those times), but then what? They could not occupy territory. Neither could the French/Brits or Japanese.
2015-04-02 Louis Jurika Karl: Excellent stuff. I had never heard about the mutiny of July 5, 1898 (just over two months after the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1st, 1898) aboard the tobacco freighter Compania de Filipinas and the self-proclaimed first Philippine "admiral" Vincente Catalan. If 300 (not 1300) Spanish holdouts on Grande Island in Subic Bay were captured by the two American gunboats, why were they turned over to Catalan (on orders from Dewey) who probably would kill them all. Maybe Dewey had no idea who Catalan was? And if 52 of the 300 Spaniards were left in the town (of Olongapo) then what happened to the other 248 who were marched into the interior? It certainly appears to me that there is much more to 1898 and the following "Philippine Insurrection" than meets the eye. Joe Rica
2015-04-01 James Zobel, General MacArthur Museum By 20 June 1898 there were five German warships at anchor in Manila Bay. “July 1898, Filipinos capture the steamer Filipinas and were going to assault Grande Island. The German cruiser Irene intervenes and prevents the Filipinos from attacking. The Filipinas returns to Manila the incident was reported to Aguinaldo, who then conveyed same information to Dewey. Followin day Captain Coghlan was sent by Dewey to Subic Bay with the Raleigh and Concorde to take possession of the island and hold Spanish as POWs. As soon as Americans appeared the Irene weighed anchor and headed for Manila Bay. Spanish on Grande were forced to surrender. 400 armed soldiers, 100 sick and 100 women all handed over to the insurgents.” Lt Aime Ernest Moisch (French Navy)
2015-04-02 Jose M. Cabarrus Why the German intervention? Like I said hard to say? To get some kind of Spanish concessions? To probe and see where this was going to take them? Was there a formal alliance treaty between Spain and Germany? I doubt it. To see how far they could push the Americans? Obviously all these other European navies knew a battle was going to happen. The US Asiatic fleet came out of HK. The Brits knew obviously. Why were the French here as well? To observe? They all knew the type of fleet Spain had here. They knew her weakness. They knew a revolution was going on (had been on since 1896. I do not know the German motive for "intervening". None of those fleets had an army available to take over from the Spanish at that moment. Naval power yes. If they had intervened and "won" what could they do as follow up? Blockade the islands like the Americans did? Maybe. The Yanks had troops coming from SFO. Where would the Germans get troops from?
2015-04-01 Louis Jurika
Jose: I never knew about the Filipinos in the service/employ of Spain helping in the colonization of Indochina by the French, but I'm curious what in particular, if anything, had previous to 1898 made Spain and Germany ersatz friends. Strange bedfellows. Lou
2015-04-02 Jose M. Cabarrus Not sure if they were really "allies" or as friendly as the reports have it. Those are American and British reports mainly and a French one. Germany only became Germany in the 1870's. She defeated France (as Prussia) in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Any French report would be "colored" in my opinion. Spain in desperation would logically look toward someone helping her- I really don't know. As to Filipinos in the Spanish army, yes the Spanish forces in the Philippines until 1897 were mainly manned by Filipinos. All colonial powers did the same-Indians in the British Army, etc.
2015-04-02 Leo G Dominguez "By the summer of 1898, Manila had become the focus not only of the Spanish-American conflict and the growing suspicions between the Americans and Filipino rebels but also of a rivalry that encompassed the European powers. Following Dewey's victory, Manila Bay was filled with the warships of Britain, Germany, France, and Japan. The German fleet of eight ships, ostensibly in Philippine waters to protect German interests (a single import firm), acted provocatively--cutting in front of United States ships, refusing to salute the United States flag (according to naval courtesy), taking soundings of the harbor, and landing supplies for the besieged Spanish. Germany, hungry for the ultimate status symbol, a colonial empire, was eager to take advantage of whatever opportunities the conflict in the islands might afford. Dewey called the bluff of the German admiral, threatening a fight if his aggressive activities continued, and the Germans backed down."
2015-04-02 Karl-W. Welteke Not being a historian but from my limited German background I would say that at least between the Austrian Empire and Spain was a close relationship. Austria at that time even had a Navy. It is true that Prussia and Austria were in Competition for the German Imperial Crown and even slugged it out a few times. During one of those slug outs (the 7 year war) the Brits occupied the Philippines. The 2nd German Reich under Bismark, who celebrates his 200th birthday today, united Germany about the matter of a German Prince (a Hohenzollern) going onto the Spanish Throne. Our former Germanic brothers, the west tribe of our Franks, the Gallic People now did not like it and declared war on Prussia 1870. The other German Kingdoms jumped in and so the Prussian King was chosen as the new German Emperor vice a Habsburg from Austria on the 18th Jan 1871 in Versailles of all places. But in our history, Austria (the Ost Mark) was always considered part of Germany, you don’t have to back very far in history, remember, the Austrian Adolf who brought Austria home into the Reich and called the country Grossdeutschland. Spain was a natural partner to Germany because our brothers the Franks were not Germanic anymore and had become Gallic and we often did not see eye to eye anymore, remember Napoleon. Did the Philippines not get their name from Philipp, the son of the German Emperor Charles the 5th who at that time presided over an empire the Brits were only dreaming off and tried to destroy it. I have on my hard drive a report from a German Officer some place and I cannot find it right now. He was in Manila at that time witnessing the whole thing. In his report he addressed the rumor of the German Navy having planes to get into the game. He dismissed it mainly with this argument. It seems the crews of the German warship were relieved in mass by crews that came in with troop transports. So his argument was the crews just got relieved and were not anywhere near ready for action. German Commercial interest in the Philippines brought the German Navy here and I am sure the close relations between Spain and Germany.
2015-04-03 Karl-W. Welteke Germany was interested in more real estate in this neighborhood, if not with the Navy then with the purse. Germany bought the Marshall Islands from Spain in 1884, the Mariana and Caroline Islands in 1899 as a result of the American-Spanish War.
|
|
|
Post by randysubic on Apr 7, 2015 19:24:29 GMT 8
When discussing Germans and German speakers in the Philippines there are two incidents in more modern times that may be of interest: First is the German Jews that were given sanctuary in the Philippines shortly before and during World War II— an event that I believe is a little known piece of history but is getting more attention now. In the Spring of 1940, Philippine President Manuel Quezon, and U.S. High Commissioner Paul McNutt and Colonel Dwight Eisenhower — hatched an intricate international plan of rescue and re-settlement, saving 1,300 Jews from certain death in Nazi concentration camps. Here's some links: www.philstar.com/news-feature/2014/08/08/1355287/how-philippines-outstmarted-nazisen.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_the_Philippinesedition.cnn.com/2015/02/02/world/asia/philippines-jews-wwii/rescueinthephilippines.com/unitedwithisrael.org/philippines/The second is the Japanese massacre at the German Club (beside the present Casino Español) in the closing days of the war. The first German immigrants arriving in Manila as Jesuits, invited by the Spanish government to help convert the Filipinos to Catholicism sometime in the middle 1600s. They also brought with them their extensive knowledge of pharmacy and medicine. Although the Spanish and American cultures have had a predominant effect on Filipinos, the German community was quite a substantial influence on Manila’s business community. At the time, Germans were almost exclusively the only pharmacists in the Philippines. The earliest successful German pioneers were the Zobels from Hamburg. The Deutscher Klub or German Club was founded on January 16, 1906. Most of Manila’s German residents remained unsympathetic to Hitler’s cause. “ON THE MORNING of Feb. 10, 1945, about 800 [I've also read it was 400 - RA] people including Filipinos, Spanish and five German nationals, went to the [German Club] clubhouse on San Luis Street in Ermita to find shelter in a dugout located on the tennis court and in the garden,” recalls Edgar Krohn Jr., a Philippine-born German who survived the destruction and the massacre during the World War II battle for the liberation of Manila from the Japanese imperial forces. [Edgar Krohn, Sr. was one of the founding members of the German Club. His son, Edgar “Bubi” Krohn Jr. , remains a guiding force of the German Club and is a member of FAME that maintains the Death March markers among other projects - RA] “At about noon, a platoon of Japanese Marines who had cordoned off the 4,000 square meters of the club premises, started killing everyone in sight,” he says, continuing his painful remembrances of things past. “Martin and Margaret Ohaus, Gustav Vierich, Heinrich Bischoff and Conrad Clausen were the first Germans murdered on the first floor of the club building. The Japanese Marines then systematically fired their weapons into the area beneath the club building which had been converted into an emergency air raid shelter. Gasoline was poured into the shelter as well as the tennis court; these were torched right after.” Those who attempted to escape the inferno were gunned down. The killing continued all day and into the night. When Martin Ohaus’ bloated body was found several days later by American soldiers, he was still clutching his German passport, “apparently to convince the Japanese that he was a German citizen” and an ally. His body bore several bayonet wounds. margoism.tumblr.com/post/1019049970/the-german-club-massacre-of-wwiiwww.lougopal.com/manila/?p=1869
|
|
|
Post by Karl Welteke on Apr 8, 2015 17:46:52 GMT 8
GERMAN MILITARY ATTACHE REPORTS ABOUT THE MANILA SIEGE 1898 Earlier in this forum I stated that I had that report on my hard drive but could not find it. Well, I found it. Maybe 10 years ago I found this National Geographic issue in the www. The economic condition of The Philippines with illustrations / Max L. Tornow. Manila and The Philippines / A. Falkner von Sonnenburg. Tornow, Max L. Washington : National Geographic Society, 1899. hdl.handle.net/2027/miun.ask0052.0001.001If you click the above URL you can download all of it as a PDF file. In this thread I will only address the story of A. Falkner von Sonnenburg, Imperial German Military Attaché, at Manila. And today it will be the first 3 pages because they deal with the action of the German Cruiser Squadron and it describes the on-goings of all ships in Manila Bay. These first 3 pages actually came from this URL and are listed as page numbers 65, 66 and 67: quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/ASK0052.0001.001?view=tocX245. Page 1 of 8 from Major A. Falkner von Sonnenburg, Imperial German Army. Late Military Attaché at Manila. Presented in National Geographic 1899. X245. Page 2 of 8 from Major A. Falkner von Sonnenburg, Imperial German Army. Late Military Attaché at Manila. Presented in National Geographic 1899. X245. Page 3 of 8 from Major A. Falkner von Sonnenburg, Imperial German Army. Late Military Attaché at Manila. Presented in National Geographic 1899. For your convenience the URLs for the above three pages also follow here: Page 65: quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/ASK0052.0001.001/36?rgn=full+text;view=imagePage 66: quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/ASK0052.0001.001/37?rgn=full+text;view=imagePage 67: quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/ASK0052.0001.001/38?rgn=full+text;view=imagePS1: FYI from the 10th to 15th April 2015 I will be on Corregidor and will be away from the www and email service. PS2: The other 5 pages of this report will follow upon my return and they deal with conditions inside Manila during the Siege.
|
|
|
Post by cbuehler on May 7, 2015 4:20:49 GMT 8
Somewhat of a trivial note, most of us will remember Filipino actor and comedian "Panchito" Alba. Born Alfonso Tagle Sr., he was the son of the well known actress Etang Discher. She was the daughter of a German father and Filipina mother.
CB
|
|
|
Post by Karl Welteke on Jun 27, 2015 20:41:18 GMT 8
GERMAN MILITARY ATTACHE REPORTS ABOUT THE MANILA SIEGE 1898, 2ND PART On the 8th of April 2015, in this forum, I presented the first part, the first 3 pages of the below document and link (a report about the ships and conditions in Manila Bay): The economic condition of The Philippines with illustrations / Max L. Tornow. Manila and The Philippines / A. Falkner von Sonnenburg. Tornow, Max L. Washington : National Geographic Society, 1899. babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=miun.ask0052.0001.001;view=1up;seq=1If you click the above URL you can download all of it as a PDF file. In this thread I will only address the story of A. Falkner von Sonnenburg, Imperial German Military Attaché, at Manila. And today it will be the next 5 pages about the conditions in the city of Manila, the suburbs and the Spanish front line around the city. These 5 pages actually came from this URL and are listed as page numbers 68 to 72: quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/ASK0052.0001.001?view=tocThese images have been uploaded at their download size and you should be able to zoom in to a little larger size! X641. Page 4 of 8 from Major A. Falkner von Sonnenburg, Imperial German Army. Late Military Attaché at Manila. Presented in National Geographic 1899. X642. Page 5 of 8 from Major A. Falkner von Sonnenburg, Imperial German Army. Late Military Attaché at Manila. Presented in National Geographic 1899. X643. Page 6 of 8 from Major A. Falkner von Sonnenburg, Imperial German Army. Late Military Attaché at Manila. Presented in National Geographic 1899. X644. Page 7 of 8 from Major A. Falkner von Sonnenburg, Imperial German Army. Late Military Attaché at Manila. Presented in National Geographic 1899. X645. Page 8 of 8 from Major A. Falkner von Sonnenburg, Imperial German Army. Late Military Attaché at Manila. Presented in National Geographic 1899. For your convenience the URLs for the above five pages also follow here: Page 68: quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/ASK0052.0001.001/39?rgn=full+text;view=imagePage 69: quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/ASK0052.0001.001/40?rgn=full+text;view=imagePage 70: quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/ASK0052.0001.001/41?rgn=full+text;view=imagePage 71: quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/ASK0052.0001.001/42?rgn=full+text;view=imagePage 72: quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/ASK0052.0001.001/42?rgn=full+text;view=image
|
|
|
Post by Karl Welteke on Jun 29, 2015 17:50:02 GMT 8
A FRIEND CORRECTS THE GERMAN MIL. ATTACHE
The friend wrote:
Karl, One more thing on von Sonneburg's journal. He states Rizal had no trial. That is incorrect. He was tried by a Spanish court and was defended ably by a Spanish officer, named Taviel de Andrade. Unfortunately, the colonial authorities wanted Rizal out of the way and the court found him guilty. They created a martyr. The governor general of the colony Polavieja was convinced by the Archbishop of Manila to condemn him to death. Governor Blanco who had just been relieved by Polavieja would not have done so. He was very sympathetic to Rizal. Spanish historians have acknowledged that the execution of Rizal was a great injustice, total unfair and totally unnecessary. Rizal was on his way to Cuba to serve in the Spanish army there (the Cuban revolt against Spain started in 1895) as a doctor/medic when he was arrested. Not only did the Spanish execute an innocent man, they hammered the nail in the coffin of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines (the Americans, of course sealed. Rizal, rightfully became a martyr and the rallying cry to the revolution. Sorry for the long winded email. Just wanted to point out that von Sonnenburg made a mistake. thanks, Jose
Jose Thanks, I appreciate it. About the trial and the details of it are new to me. Thanks again. Karl
|
|