Today, the Philippine capital, Manila, is a sprawling city of about 2 million people. Known as "The Pearl of the Orient" for its beauty before WWII, Manila, a bustling city and the center of politics and business in the Philippines, has not captured its pre-war beauty since 1945. The reason is simple: Manila was destroyed at the end of WWII. Following their 1946 independence from the United States, Filipinos and their government relied on the US and its money to rebuild a war-torn economy. For the US, rebuilding quickly was one of the keys to getting the Philippines back on its feet and preventing a potential communist revolution in the country, which was a distinct possibility.