The Fall of the Philippines

The soldier reading these pages would do well to reflect on the wisdom of the statement exhibited in a Japanese shrine: "Woe unto him who has not tasted defeat." Victory too often leads to overconfidence and erases the memory of mistakes. Defeat brings into sharp focus the causes that led to failure and provides a fruitful field of study for those soldiers and laymen who seek in the past lessons for the future.

The statesman and the informed citizen reading these pages will realize that our military means as well as our estimates and plans must always be in balance with our long-range national policy. This lesson - signposted by the Battle of Manila Bay; the Treaty of Paris, signed in December 1898 when we decided to keep the Philippines; the Washington Conference of 1921-22; and the Manchurian Crisis of 1931 - we ignored before Pearl Harbor. The result was defeat on the field of battle and the loss of the Philippine Islands.

The author of The Fall of the Philippines, Louis Morton, served overseas as a historical officer in the South Pacific area and in the Philippines during World War II. Since 1945, he has been chief of the Pacific Section, Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Duke University, is the author of a volume on American colonial history, and has written a number of articles dealing with military affairs.

Work on this volume was begun in 1947. The reader may gain some idea of the size of the task of writing this history by an appraisal of The Sources.

Orlando Ward
Major General, United States Army
Chief of Military History