Philippine-American War

The Philippine-American War was fought from 1899 to 1902 after the United States, having defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War and acquired the Philippines from it, moved to assert direct colonial control over the islands rather than recognize the independence Filipino revolutionaries under Emilio Aguinaldo had already declared. Fighting began in February 1899 near Manila and, after American forces defeated the conventional Filipino army, shifted into a prolonged and brutal guerrilla insurgency across much of the archipelago, met by harsh American counterinsurgency measures including forced relocation of civilians into fortified zones. Aguinaldo's capture in March 1901 broke the back of organized resistance, and the United States declared the war officially over in July 1902, although fighting by remaining Filipino guerrilla bands and religiously motivated resistance groups continued in some regions for several more years. The war left the Philippines under American colonial administration until independence was finally granted in 1946.