The Emergence of American Amphibious Warfare, 1898–1945. David S. Nasca
destruction of Spain’s Pacific Fleet and the capture of Manila through amphibious operations using American ground forces was necessary because the Filipino insurgents were on the verge of seizing control and plunging the entire island chain into intrastate violence and disorder. With the Spanish colonial forces ready to surrender and wanting to avoid being massacred by the Filipinos, Commodore Dewey arranged the peaceful transition of control to the Americans, thus turning over possession of the island to the United States.113 In addition, the United States did not feel comfortable with turning over control of governance of the Philippines to the Filipinos because of the possibility of another major power moving into the country and reinstating it as a colony.
The hesitation of the Americans was based on how the European powers treated the newly independent Egypt in the late nineteenth century when it broke away from the Ottoman Empire to become a sovereign nation. Anglo-French management of Egypt’s finances, while meant to help manage the country’s money in order to pay off its debts to Europe, only provoked widespread unrest. Not only did the Europeans introduce unpopular economic reforms, but they also began swarming into Egypt to begin building and investing in the country’s commercial development and public infrastructure. As a consequence, life began to take a more westernized style in Egypt as the population began to embrace new cultural practices and goods from the West. However, discontent was also brewing in the local Egyptian population, especially among Muslim religious leaders who felt that Egypt was going to become another European colony like Cyprus and Tunis.114
With the Americans in control of Manila, the repercussion was that the Filipino insurgency began targeting the American military. The deteriorating situation in the Philippines forced the United States to begin transferring troops from North America to the Philippines to begin the long-term process of occupation, counterinsurgency operations, and state building. From Manila, the American expeditionary force transitioned into an occupational force and received additional ships, manpower, and supplies to begin expanding its control across the main island of Luzon. Although the United States quickly crushed the backbone of the rebels in Luzon, American military and political leaders realized that not only would insurgents slip back into the general native population, but that they were also setting up new bases on the other, smaller, nearby islands. Russell Weigley argues that possession of the Philippines urged the construction of a system of naval bases meant to not only protect the American archipelago, but also serve to project American military power to safeguard American interests in the Asia-Pacific Region, especially in China.115 To realize this new defense posture in the Pacific, either small-scale American amphibious operations had to be used to flush out Filipino insurgents on some of the islands or, in other cases, a garrison force would have to be established to maintain law and order.
Again, just like the Spanish-American War, ad hoc amphibious operations were used through a combination of American warships and gunboats or by making do with local fishing boats or other commercial vessels for ship-to-shore troop movements. In each case, the success of amphibious operations into what became the Philippine-American War introduced the need for better military training, equipment, and supplies as the occupation dragged on and became an increasingly long, frustrating war. The fighting in the Philippines eventually led to an “us versus them” mentality between the American occupational forces and the Filipino population, resulting in terrible atrocities, especially during the disastrous Samar campaign in which amphibious operations to land and control Samar Island suffered heavy casualties and culminated in the Balangiga Massacre.116 With American and Filipino casualties mounting in an openended war for control of the Philippine Islands, the United States stubbornly held on for purposes of geopolitical interests.
Michael H. Hunt’s examination of the United States during this time is interesting because he argues that the rise of the American Empire was based on the need for U.S. security. Cable and steam made the world smaller and increased the colonial appetite of most of the major powers, as seen with the conquests of Africa, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. From the perspective of American strategists, it looked as if these aggressive empires were hemming in the United States. Under these conditions, the United States had to fend against these possible dangers by creating a defense in depth by controlling the Pacific and the Caribbean. Not only would American outposts deter any hostile moves against the Western Hemisphere and uphold its determination to maintain the Monroe Doctrine, but they would serve as interior lines to move ground and naval forces against any attack on the U.S. perimeter.117
Meanwhile, the United States found itself in possession of Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea. While the Philippine-American War raged in the Asia-Pacific, it became apparent that the possibility of retaining Cuba as an American territory would compromise the reason for the United States’ involvement in the Spanish-American War: forcing Spain to grant Cuba its independence as promised through the Teller Amendment.118 The occupation of Cuba by the United States following the Spanish-American War dragged on because the United States had significant economic investments and trade with the island. American occupational forces became part of the island life with the intent of maintaining peace and order for the newly established Cuban government. In addition, military forces were kept in place for the geopolitical purpose of keeping Cuba under American control.
Senator Orville Platt introduced the Platt Amendment for congressional approval for the specific purpose of outlining the role of the United States in Cuba and the Caribbean. The amendment established boundaries for Cuba’s conduct of foreign policy and commercial relations, creating in essence a satellite state of the United States and putting the island nation at a diplomatic and economic disadvantage.119 The continued presence of American troops, as well as the United States’ control over the daily administration and maintenance of the island, became continued sources of pressure for the Cuban government as it debated whether or not to accept this American amendment into the drafting of the Cuban Constitution as it prepared for eventual self-government. Additionally, the amendment created a Cuba that would also allow the establishment of American military bases to forward deploy naval and ground forces in the Caribbean to protect newly acquired Puerto Rico as well as its growing interests in Central America and South America.
The annexation of Puerto Rico and turning Cuba into a U.S. protectorate positioned the American republic to begin looking at Central and South America as core interests to U.S. national security in the Western Hemisphere. With American ground and naval forces readily positioned in the middle of the Caribbean, the United States continued to involve itself in Central America with special attention to Nicaragua and Panama. American economic and political interests were heavily invested in these areas based on significant American investments because both countries were seen as potential routes for a cross-ocean canal that would connect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. In addition, Nicaragua had a particularly special economic interest for the American republic because it had significant control of the production and exportation of fruits to the continental United States. In other words, these two nations were economically vital to the prosperity of the United States and had the potential to be the site for a future American Canal Zone linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans together. This canal would not only shorten the maritime movement of people and commerce between the east and west coasts of the United States, but also allow American naval and ground forces to move quickly around the Western Hemisphere. Ivan Musicant points out, “The sea trade was lucrative, and Panama, by accident of geography, provided the crucial linchpin in the chain of Manifest Destiny.”120
While the United States now had the power projection capabilities to reach South American countries that had previously tried to bully or embarrass the American republic (as in the case of Chile), it could also prevent the European powers from getting too involved in the affairs of those countries, as would soon be the case with Great Britain and Germany in response to Venezuela’s financial woes. According to Edmund Morris, “The massive [American military] deployment [to Venezuela] appealed to [Theodore] Roosevelt as diplomacy, as preventive strategy, as technical training, and as a sheer pageant of power…. He had private information that neither British nor German naval authorities believed he could do it.”121 However, America’s new influence and involvement in the region required continued American ground and naval involvement when American authority or interests were challenged. In what became known as the “Banana Wars,” the United States