Battle of Manila (1945)

The Battle of Manila (Filipino: Labanan sa Maynila; Japanese: マニラの戦い, romanized: Manira no Tatakai; Spanish: Batalla de Manila; 3 February – 3 March 1945) was a major battle during the Philippine campaign of 1944–45, during the Second World War. It was fought by forces from both the United States and the Philippines against Japanese troops in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. The month-long battle, which resulted in the death of at least 100,000 civilians and the complete devastation of the city, was the scene of the worst urban fighting fought by American forces in the Pacific theater. During the battle, Japanese forces committed mass murder against Filipino civilians, while American firepower also killed many people. The fierce resistance of Japanese troops entrenched in many of the city's landmarks, along with the usage of massed artillery barrages by American forces to dislodge them, destroyed much of Manila's architectural and cultural heritage dating back to the city's founding. Often referred to as "the Stalingrad of Asia", the battle is widely considered to be one of the most destructive urban battles ever fought, as well as the single largest urban battle ever fought by American forces.

The battle caused Manila to become one of the most devastated capital cities of the Second World War, alongside Berlin and Warsaw. The Allied victory contributed greatly to ending almost three years of Japanese military occupation in the Philippines (1942–1945). Manila's capture was seen as General Douglas MacArthur's key to victory in the campaign to liberate the islands, although heavy fighting would continue on in Luzon (and elsewhere in the Philippines) until the end of the war in August 1945. It is, to date, the last battle fought within Manila.