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jasonrcf 's review for:
Malolos: The Crisis of the Republic
by Teodoro A. Agoncillo
Teodoro A. Agoncillo’s Malolos is a laboriously detailed account of the failed First Philippine Republic, beginning right where his Revolt of the Masses finished off with the execution of Andres Bonifacio, and ending with President Emilio Aguinaldo’s capture by the American forces (with large help from the Macabebes) in Palanan, Isabela.
The primary perspective that Agoncillo drills in in his retelling of events is that the main reason the Republic fell was that the “haves” betrayed the “have nots”, the intellectuals betrayed the plebeians, the bourgeoisie betrayed the proletariats, that the failures in our history are due to the indifference and often insidiousness of the wealthier classes, who only think about enriching themselves and have total disregard for the masses. The secondary reason is that people involved in the revolution were not nationalistic enough, that officers for example thought more “tribally” and held allegiance more to immediate superiors than that of what was best for the nation as a whole. Through these lenses our history is explored.
Agoncillo is quite polemical throughout the text, and whether or not you agree with his positions, it’s fascinating how much of our current day discussions and understandings of history seem to directly parrot a single interpreter’s views on them, perhaps only with the exception of his extensive laudatory praise for Aguinaldo, who many decry today for his involvement in the deaths of the Bonifacios.
It’s a bit of a long read and can be so detailed to the point that it becomes difficult to be consistently entertained reading it, but if you’re interested in the Philippine-Spanish and Philippine-American wars, the canonized accounts of the deaths of Gregorio Del Pilar and Antonio Luna, or just in the military and strategic histories of Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini, this is definitely worth a read.
The primary perspective that Agoncillo drills in in his retelling of events is that the main reason the Republic fell was that the “haves” betrayed the “have nots”, the intellectuals betrayed the plebeians, the bourgeoisie betrayed the proletariats, that the failures in our history are due to the indifference and often insidiousness of the wealthier classes, who only think about enriching themselves and have total disregard for the masses. The secondary reason is that people involved in the revolution were not nationalistic enough, that officers for example thought more “tribally” and held allegiance more to immediate superiors than that of what was best for the nation as a whole. Through these lenses our history is explored.
Agoncillo is quite polemical throughout the text, and whether or not you agree with his positions, it’s fascinating how much of our current day discussions and understandings of history seem to directly parrot a single interpreter’s views on them, perhaps only with the exception of his extensive laudatory praise for Aguinaldo, who many decry today for his involvement in the deaths of the Bonifacios.
It’s a bit of a long read and can be so detailed to the point that it becomes difficult to be consistently entertained reading it, but if you’re interested in the Philippine-Spanish and Philippine-American wars, the canonized accounts of the deaths of Gregorio Del Pilar and Antonio Luna, or just in the military and strategic histories of Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini, this is definitely worth a read.