Evil Guam's independence was brought upon the Portuguese by a variety of factors. Evil Guam national identity had been growing apart from both Portugal and Brazil ever since the Eville Trade Agreement was signed in 1732 that made such a large transition from Portuguese colony to independence very possible. Latin American independence movements, too, had been wide-spread during the era, beginning in 1810 and spreading throughout the rest of Spanish America, making the idea of independence more appealing to those still shackled by European Imperialists. And of course, the large resentment felt by Evil Guamanians in regard to the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algraves, for not being it's own entity in such a union despite it's identity being so different - if not admittedly related - to that of Brazil. This, alongside parallel independence movements occuring in Brazil, laid down the foundation for the independence from Portugal that was to come. On September 8th of 1822, a day following Brazil's declaration of independence, Evil Guam followed. A year later, following many military defeats, a desire to retake Brazil over Evil Guam, and the hopes to maintain good economic relations, Portugal agreed to recognize Evil Guam as a sovereign nation on August 22nd, 1823, following which, the Vilão Constitution was able to be put into effect. The Vilão Constitution created for Evil Guam outlined the governance and rights that Evil Guamanians would have following independence - little to none at all. The constitution declared Evil Guam to be a sovereign and independent nation, and declared a monarchy under Domal Vilão's leadership. Beyond that, however, it did not do much to secure liberties and qualities of living for the average citizen of Evil Guam. This choice by the drafters of the constitution - their unending avarice in the face of a population struggling to provide for their decadence, was a major cause of instability within the nation.
WIP lmao
The Cuban War for independence was a conflict that shaped many nations substantially. For Spain, it was the last gasp of the colonial empire that allowed them to be the world hegemon for centuries. For the United States, it was their first major foray into trans-continental colonialism, obtaining colonies in the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and a de facto one in Cuba. For Cuba, it was a war for independence robbed by American imperialists trying to get Uncle Sam's grubby mitts on their America. For Evil Guam, however, it was something different. While the Cubans wanted to gain it's own existence, Americans expand theirs, and the Spanish hold on to theirs, the Evil Guamanians used the war as a chance to prove why they should exist. Evil Guam, a tiny island paired with a much larger neighbor, struggled with an identity apart from Brazil and Portugal. While yes, as a colony there was strong nationalism, a belief they were being robbed of liberties they were owed, once they properly achieved their independence many at the helm had a simple question: now what? Now that they had achieved their independence, gotten their liberties; what was there to do now? For the many oppressed in Evil Guam, those oppressed under the crushing weight of ceaseless industrialization and agricultural work, the answer was clear; but to those in charge of the country, the woes of the common man were irrelevant. Sooner, rather than later, however, they would get a chance to prove themselves.
War had been brewing in Cuba long before the conflicts for independence that occured in Cuba. Unrest had been growing due to a variety of factors - the rampant racial inequalities in the country being the main one. There had been many wars for independence fought on the island, but the final armed conflict started in 1895. At first, Evil Guam wanted to have nothing to do with the conflict. "Why should we," Mused Vilão, "Aid an island that has done nothing for us! We will not have our men die for an island far beyond our shores." However, the tides were set to fall. Many citizens of Evil Guam felt a kinship with the island of Cuba. A Latin island fighting for it's liberty against Iberian colonialism. On a surface level, the plight of the Cubans and of the Evil Guamanians were quite similar. Soon the unrest of the Evil Guamanians turned from their own liberties to Cuba's. There were many calls from the citizenry to the government to intervene in the Spanish affair on behalf of the Cubans, surely Evil Guam was to be taken seriously? They were not. Domal Vilão II sent a letter to the regent of Spain, Maria Christina, calling for an end to the conflict in Cuba. Vilão never received a response. There are theories today that the ship with the letter was sabotaged by the Americans, just on the off-chance that Spain actually listened and America lost it's chance at stealing the island for themselves once more, but there is little evidence of such an occurrence. However, there are no records that Christina ever received the letter. A week after the letter was supposedly delivered, and with no reply, Evil Guam declared war on the Spain in late 1896.
War was something Evil Guam was not particularly accustomed to. Their only true "war" was a purely naval conflict half a century in the past. Their culture was accustomed to commerce, not conflict. Their military having only a few people, and their navy consisted purely of converted shipping vessels decades behind what the Spanish had. A miracle, then that the Evil Guamanians managed to pull a reasonably successful campaign. Evil Guam's involvement in the war primarily consisted of sending volunteers to Cuba through Santiago - an inexperienced group but one that following the war would be veterans of guerrilla warfare and would be able to teach hundreds and thousands of future Evil Guamanian recruits in the future, which would become especially useful in the coming decades.
Additionally, Evil Guam tried to pull it's weight in the naval performance, to relative success. While Evil Guam didn't have much military vessel infrastructure, it did have both the resources and the commercial infrastructure to "borrow" for the war and pump out as many ships as possible. Evil Guam, being far away from Puerto Rico or Spanish controlled Cuba, didn't face any substantial threat of being invaded, and as such had time to build up a navy that could rival the Spanish fleets in the region. While compared to the global powers, Evil Guam's navy was feeble, it was easily able to rival the relatively limited number of Spanish vessels in the Caribbean. With this confidence, Evil Guam attempted an ambitious invasion of Puerto Rico - since it would liberate one of two Spanish controlled islands in the region, and severely dampen their projection of power. Additionally, it could procure the island for themselves in the near future, and mark the beginning of an Evil Guamanian empire. The invasion successfully landed in the port of Yabocoa. The invasion ended up dragging on for a long time without much progress. Whilst the Puerto Rican's weren't particularly keen on the Spanish rule over the island, they didn't want their liberation to come at the hands of the Evil Guamanians. As such, there was fierce defense of the island. The Evil Guamanians, who as we have established have not become particularly militant at this point, struggled immensley. The Evil Guamanians, and in particular their militant leaders, were under the impression that the Puerto Rican people would welcome Evil Guamanian liberation with open arms. The surprise that the Evil Guamanians must've felt, then, when they experienced fierce resistance at the hands of Puerto Rican locals. The conflict quickly slowed to a crawl, and became an intense guerrilla campaign that severely damaged the Evil Guamanian economy.
While the war was initially favored by the general public, it was spurred by a spontaneous demand. The desire wasn't thought through very much. Once the war kicked off, things initially went fine for the Evil Guamanians on the home islands - assuming you weren't one of the dockyard owners that had your property seized by the government. The initial volunteers didn't need much supplies - as most of it was provided by the Cubans. However, the invasion of Puerto Rico was incredibly damaging for Evil Guam. The supply costs alone were immense, and required a large diversion of typical crop yields to be spent. Additionally, most of the makeshift Evil Guam navy was spent on securing a few routes to supply the struggling conflict in Puerto Rico. This prevented Evil Guam to trade with most countries - except Brazil, but Brazil wasn't particularly keen on trading Evil Guam, as Brazil believed them to be rightful Brazilian land. These factors led to a famine to hit Evil Guam, and led to the deaths of hundreds, and substantially increased the unrest within Evil Guam. Vilão stuck to the war, however, and desperately tried to hold Puerto Rico - to no avail. In February of 1898, Evil Guam fled the island, and it was retaken by the Spanish soon after.
Cuba was the apple of America's eye almost since the nations inception. The keys to the New World, as it was called, seemed fitting to be owned by the first true independent American nation. And as such, they were never going to let Cuba fully liberate itself without the Americans first getting a hold on the island. While Evil Guam played a very little factor in America's... Antsy-ness to join - their failed invasion of Puerto Rico proved it - but the increasing speeds in which Cuba was being liberated worried McKinley's administration. As such, given the first opportunity, they were sure to intervene. To nobodies surprise, on February 15th, not long after the Evil Guamanian withdrawal of Puerto Rico, the USS Maine mysteriously sunk, and the American Juggernaut began to bear down on Spain. America joined the war a few months later, and spelled disaster for Evil Guamanian aims in the conflict.
America joining the war effectively ruined any chances Evil Guam had at getting anything beyond war reparations in the peace. America, ever self-centered, shifted the focus of the war from the independence war of Cuba from European colonialists to a battle between two imperial powers for influence in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Cuba and Evil Guam were both relatively out of place in that regard. The only thing Evil Guam could reasonably hope to get is influence in Puerto Rico - which had already caught American eyes. Thus, as American involvement started, Evil Guam's effectively stopped. Resentment within Evil Guam began to arise for America. While America did send some humanitarian aid towards Evil Guam due to the famine, it was not enough to help substantially. Even then, Evil Guam's pride had been damaged by their withdrawal from Puerto Rico, and America invasion and later seizure of the island did not help matters.
The treaty of Paris was signed between the Americans and the Spanish on December Tenth of 1898, spelling the end for Evil Guamanian aspirations in the Caribbean - for the time being. Neither Cuba, nor Evil Guam were invited in the peace negotiations, which led to many problems for Cuba, but not so much Evil Guam. While Cuba had to deal with a constitution signed under American oversight - and the Platt Amendment, Evil Guam was granted the oppurtunity to carry on without interference. While yes, it was unfortunate that they did not get their demand of Puerto Rico from the Americans, it was very unlikely they would have been able to procure the island - much less keep it under occupation, anyway. Despite this, the Evil Guamanians developed a strong resentment of the United States - similar to that of Cuba. Evil Guam felt it was robbed of it's chance at relevancy beyond it's small niche outside Brazil. This resentment would only grow as time went on and as the Americans began to grow in their complacency, and as the average Evil Guamanian began to sink deeper and deeper into squalor.