This investigation will analyze the question: To what extent was the fall of Manila the Japanese high watermark in their conquest of the Philippines during World War II? The years between 1940 to 1945 will be the focal point of this investigation in order to coherently examine the battle of Manila during World War II, as well as the strategic views on the Philippines. The first source which will be assessed is titled “The Fall of the Philippines” written by Louis Morton. The origin of this source is beneficial in this investigation because Morton was a writer, editor and a professor at Dartmouth University. He received his doctorate degree in American colonial history from Duke University and served in the US army in 1942. He has written over 5 books on several events during World War II which would indicate his knowledge and expertise on the given topic. The date of the publication, December 1953, proves that this source is reliable in terms of providing thorough details of the events.
Morton has been able to analyze different sources, including maps of the attacks, tables of the number of military troops and government photos. However, the source is limited in relation to Morton who did not major in Philippine geography in which this topic is closely focused on. Furthermore, he was not able to provide exact details of the location of the attacks. The purpose of Morton’s book is to evaluate the fall of Manila during the Japanese conquest in the Philippines in 1941-1945. This is beneficial since it implies that the period of Japanese occupation has been examined and indicating to the events leading to the fall of Manila. However, based on the circumstances wherein Morton has covered 4 years of the geographic development limits the value towards a historian focusing on the geographic development of the Philippines given the short period.
The second source which will be assessed is from The Sunday Times Magazine with the article titled “Manila at the outbreak of the war: the unprovided city” written by Jean Pope. The origin of the source is beneficial in this investigation because it provides an in depth look into the fall of Manila in a Filipino point of view. Pope has been writing numerous historical articles for The Sunday Times Magazine which would indicate her intelligence and prowess in the given field. The writer made use of images that were taken during the attack and analyzed the events that were leading before and after the crisis. However, the date of publication is on April 9, 1967 which limits the value of the source since it suggests that the article was written after more than 2 decades of the attack. Thus, the details may not be as accurate as the actual events of the war.
The purpose of Pope’s article is to analyze the crisis during November, 1941 in Manila. This is valuable for this investigation because the writer evaluates the economic standpoint of the Philippines during the conquest of Japan. However, the source is limited in terms of explaining the needed details of the attack. There are insufficient information about the devastation of the Filipinos in Manila.
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The writer focused more on the US and Japan’s crisis leading up to the fall of Manila.
