El combate de Cavite: un hito decisivo en la pérdida de Filipinas en 1898

Abstract

The battle of Cavite was decisive for the fate of the Philippines in 1898. Erroneous recurrent versions attribute the Spanish defeat to their old-fashioned vessels. Other versions, however, explain the North-american victory on the basis of arguments such as the decisive British logistic support which made possible the atack from Hong Kong; the moral and material erosion caused on the Spanish troops by the previous philippine insurrection; the tensions within the archipelago; serious mistakes as regards planification, and the sense of defeatism with which the Spanish high officers were seized.