The Great Reconfiguration 1945-1949

Question 1

East Asia: From Hot War to Cold War

Answer 1

Immediate Aftermath War
- Willingness to compromise:
– US pursues progressive policies in Japan (purge militarists, support basic rights, and democracy)
– USSR supports peaceful solution China/Korea: unification more important than support communism

From 1946/7
- Increasing confrontation:
– US works with conservatives in Japan to make country into Cold War ally
– USSR begins supporting CCP in Chinese Civil War
– Both sides build state in their part of Korea: entrench division North/South

Question 2

Second World War?

Answer 2

• Views of start and end differ greatly
• Japan: 1941-1945 (15 August)

Question 3

Japanese Imperialism

Answer 3

• Taiwan: 1895-1945
• Korea: 1910-1945
• Northeastern China: 1931-1945
• China: 1937-1945
• Southeast Asia: 1942-1945

Question 4

Yalta Conference: 4-11 February 1945

Answer 4

• Mainly about postwar Europe
• But about East Asia:
  – USSR to join war against Japan 3 months after German surrender (secret)
  – Stalin promises not to support CCP (Chiang Kai-shek knows this, Mao Zedong doesn’t)
• What does Stalin want?
  – Northeastern China port access and railway control
  – Southern Sakhalin and the Kuriles
  – No demands, yet, regarding Japan

Question 5

Potsdam Conference: 17 July-2 August 1945

Answer 5

• Division of postwar Europe
• Increasing distrust of Soviet intentions in Eastern Europe: Truman has very different attitude to communism than Roosevelt
• Talk about the use of atomic bomb –> “A new weapon of unusual destructive force”

– Potsdam Agreement about Europe
– Potsdam Declaration about Japan

Question 6

Potsdam Declaration: 26 July 1945

Answer 6

• US, UK, ROC: “Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender”
• Call for unconditional surrender of Japan
• Very ambiguous about postwar rule of Japan

Question 7

Soviet-Japanese War (8 August-2 September 1945)

Answer 7

• 8 August 1945: USSR declares war and invades “Manchukuo”
• Japanese surprised (intelligence failure): had wanted USSR to help negotiate peace with Allies
• After 15 August: Northeastern China in Soviet hands –> suddenly Soviet troops based in area
• Then they quickly move into Korea
• 10 August: US suggests joint occupation of Korea at 38th parallel. USSR agrees.
• Ambiguity of Soviet role in East Asia will have tremendous repercussions

Question 8

15 August 1945: VJ Day in the West

Question 9

15 August 1945: National Liberation Day in Korea

Answer 9

• Independence activists and other political prisoners released

Question 10

15 August 1945:
- Taiwan “returns” to ROC (actually 25 October)
- China: End of Sino-Japanese War

Question 11

15 August 1945 –> Japan: Unconditional Surrender

Answer 11

• “Jewel Voice Broadcast”
• Emperor Hirohito announces acceptance of Potsdam Declaration (= unconditional surrender)
• “the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage”

Question 12

2 September 1945: Official Surrender on USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay

Answer 12

• Japanese Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru
• General Douglas MacArthur

Question 13

Echo from History: Same Flag 1853 & 1945

Question 14

Japan in 1945: Will there be a radical break with the past, or a sense of continuity?

Question 15

Allied Occupation of Japan 1945-1952

Answer 15

• President Truman’s objectives:
  – Eliminating Japan’s war potential
  – Turning Japan into a democratic-style nation with pro-UN orientation
• Led by “Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers” (SCAP)

Question 16

Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964)

Answer 16

• Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers 1945-1951
• SCAP superstructure imposed on existing Japanese government structures
• Difficulty: little experience with Japanese political structures
• Decision to rule “through” Japanese elites and Emperor
• Purges 200k Japanese for war role
• Oversees major reforms

Question 17

Allied Occupation of Japan 1945-1952

Answer 17

• Two phases:
  – 1945-1947: Progressive Reforms
  – 1947-1952: “Reverse Course”

Question 18

Allied Occupation of Japan 1945-1947

Answer 18

• Progressive Reforms:
  – Democratisation
  – Land reform
  – Reduce/restrict Zaibatsu
  – Large scale purge militarists
  – Tokyo War Crimes Trials
  – Encouragement labour unionism

Question 19

Allied Occupation of Japan 1945-1947: Two progressive Prime Ministers

Answer 19

• Shidehara Kijuro: PM Oct 1945-May 1946
  – Progressive Party Leader
  – Pacifist: had been anti-war
  – Author of “Article 9” of the Constitution
• Katayama Tetsu: PM May 1947-March 1948
  – Socialist Party Leader
  – Sweeping progressive reform: Labour Standards Act (Maternity Leave, Equal Pay), Unemployment benefits, Healthcare reform, Child welfare, etc.

Question 20

Three Pillars of the Japanese Constitution (1947)

Answer 20

• Democracy
• Pacifism
• Rights & duties

Question 21

1947 Constitution

Answer 21

• Replaced quasi-absolute monarchy with liberal democracy
• Drafted under supervision of SCAP
• Significant input from Japanese liberal and pacifist politicians
• Hard to amend: 2/3 majority in both houses + referendum
• Never amended: oldest non-amended Constitution in the world

Question 22

“Article 9” of the Constitution

Answer 22

• “Japanese people forever renounce war and the threat or use of force”
• Non-maintenance of potential war forces

Question 23

10 April 1946: Women’s vote

Question 24

Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal (April 1946-November 1948)

Answer 24

• 28 men tried as Class A criminals (Tojo Hideki), thousands as Class B&C
• Emperor Hirohito excluded
• Mostly focused on crimes against the West
• No comprehensive reckoning with history of Japanese Empire in East Asia

Question 25

The USSR in 1945

Answer 25

• Huge task of postwar reconstruction awaited
• But: new sense of optimism and pride
  – Increased legitimacy of regime
  – Greater international influence
  – Military predominance over Eurasian landmass
• Promising international situation:
  – Growth of communism and leftist parties in Europe
  – National liberation movements in Asia

Question 26

The USSR in 1945

Answer 26

• “Sphere of influence” thinking
  – Move ahead with buffer states in Eastern Europe
  – Discourage communists in Western Europe and Asia: at least until buffer zone is secured
  – Limited interest in China and Korea
  – Division war spoils took priority over confrontation with the West
  – Wait for US/UK rivalry to surface (“interimperialist contradictions”)

Question 27

The USSR and China

Answer 27

1945: Strategic interests of USSR override their loyalty to CCP
- USSR strategic priority: territorial security in the west
- Yalta: Stalin promises to cooperate with KMT and not to support CCP

• 14 August 1945: Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance
  – Chiang Kai-shek accepts Soviet demands
  – USSR recognizes KMT right to its lost territory
  – Stalin pressures CCP to negotiate with Chiang

Question 28

The USSR in East Asia

Answer 28

• Stalin’s East Asia goals met by September 1945
• Korea settlement 38th parallel of little interest to him
• Little faith CCP could win Civil War
• Did not want to risk conflict with US over China (thought US would interfere in Civil War)
• Got what he wanted in treaty with Chiang Kai-shek
• But, Stalin wants a role in postwar Japan

Question 29

The USSR in East Asia

Answer 29

• From Oct 1945 Stalin realises:
  – USSR excluded from role in postwar Japan
  – Future US-Japan alliance likely
  – US wants role in Europe similar to USSR
• This made Stalin very angry.

Question 30

From late 1945: slow start of Cold War in East Asia

Answer 30

• USSR
  – Start to obstruct KMT forces from Northeastern China
  – Advise CCP to move 300k troops into Northeastern China
  – Supply (Japanese) arms to CCP
  – Northern Korea: start reforms in the countryside and establishing communist control
• US
  – Starts opposing USSR-KMT cooperation
  – Increases military support KMT
  – Diplomatic effort to avoid deep involvement in Chinese Civil War
  – Southern Korea: increasingly willing to work with whichever conservative suits their short-term goals

Question 31

China in 1945

Answer 31

• Nationalist KMT Government recognized internationally as sole authority over China:
  – Participated in wartime international talks
  – Received aid from Allies forces during and after war
• Chinese Communist Party based in Yanan:
  – Did not receive aid during war;
  – Territorial rule limited to poor rural regions
  – Fate would change with Soviet help in Northeastern China

Question 32

When Chiang met Mao: Chongqing talks (28 Aug-10 Oct 1945)

Answer 32

• Double Tenth Agreement: KMT legitimate government, CCP legitimate opposition

Question 33

26 June 1946: Civil War Resumes

Answer 33

• Actually preceded by struggle for control in territories formerly under Japanese control, especially Northeastern China (Manchuria)
• Already clashes since April
• CCP increasingly popular in countryside
• Image of KMT suffers from corruption
• US gives support to KMT: $4.43 Billion in next two years
• USSR?

Question 34

USSR and the CCP

Answer 34

• From 1948: USSR more committed to open support of CCP
• Increase in aid
• Stalin starts to take personal charge of relations with Chinese communists
• But his advise (talks with KMT) largely ignored
• CCP in many ways fundamentally different from the CPSU
• But, fundaments for deep and formal alliance USSR-PRC are established before CCP takeover

Question 35

Meanwhile in Korea: “Joint Trusteeship”

Answer 35

• December 1945: US and USSR agree on “joint trusteeship” for 5 years
• US-USSR Joint Commission to work towards a unified administration of Korea
• Massive opposition among Koreans: want immediate independence
• Crucial question for US and USSR: which Koreans to work with

Question 36

Europe: Start of the Cold War

Answer 36

• West
  – March 1947: Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech
  – 1947: Truman Doctrine
  – Marshall Plan from 1948
  – Clear US is there to stay in Western Europe
• USSR
  – Massive rearmament
  – Moderate, pacifist politicians ousted
  – Anti-Western propaganda
  – From early 1947: forcible Sovietisation of Eastern Europe

Question 37

Allied Occupation of Japan 1947-1952: “Reverse Course”

Answer 37

• Global origin:
  – Escalation of Cold War
  – Chinese Civil War
• Local origin:
  – Rise of inflation and poverty
  – Instability
  – Growth of leftism

Question 38

Allied Occupation of Japan 1947-1952

Answer 38

• “Reverse Course”
  – Priority: Economic and Industrial Recovery
  – Rehabilitation of Zaibatsu
  – Democratisation/demilitarisation less important
  – “Red purge” (Anti-communist movement)
  – Restrictions on labour organisation
  – Class A war criminals released
• Result: Re-entrenchment Conservative forces
  – US goal: Japan as industrial engine in East Asia
  – Japan as US ally in Cold War

Question 39

East Asia: From Hot War to Cold War

Answer 39

Immediate Aftermath War: Willingness to compromise:
- US pursues progressive policies in Japan (purge militarists, support basic rights, and democracy)
- USSR supports peaceful solution in China and Korea: unification > communism

From 1946/7: Increasing confrontation:
- US works with conservatives in Japan to make country into Cold War ally
- USSR begins supporting CCP in Chinese Civil War
- Both sides build state in their part of Korea: entrench division North/South