Spanish East Indies together with the Spanish West Indies, were administered through the Viceroyalty of New Spain based in Mexico City. After Mexican independence, they were ruled directly from Madrid. As a result of the Spanish–American War in 1898, the Philippines and Guam were occupied by the United States while about 6,000 of the remaining smaller islands were sold to Germany in the German–Spanish Treaty of 1899. The few remaining islands were ceded to the United States when the Treaty of Washington was ratified in 1901. Spanish contact began on , when a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan reached the Mariana Islands.
Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies () represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. The first Governors-General were appointed by the Dutch East India Company (VOC). After the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, the territorial possessions of the VOC were nationalised under the Dutch Government as the Dutch East Indies, a colony of the Netherlands. Governors-General were now appointed by either the Dutch monarch or the Dutch government. During the Dutch East Indies era most Governors-General were expatriate Dutchmen,