The Great Reconfiguration 1945-1949 Flashcards
East Asia: From Hot War to Cold War
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
Second World War?
- Views of start and end differ greatly
- Japan: 1941-1945 (15 August)
Japanese Imperialism
- Taiwan: 1895-1945
- Korea: 1910-1945
- Northeastern China: 1931-1945
- China: 1937-1945
- Southeast Asia: 1942-1945
Yalta Conference: 4-11 February 1945
- 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
Potsdam Conference: 17 July-2 August 1945
- 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
Potsdam Declaration: 26 July 1945
- US, UK, ROC: “Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender”
- Call for unconditional surrender of Japan
- Very ambiguous about postwar rule of Japan
Soviet-Japanese War (8 August-2 September 1945)
- 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
15 August 1945: VJ Day in the West
15 August 1945: National Liberation Day in Korea
- Independence activists and other political prisoners released
15 August 1945:
- Taiwan “returns” to ROC (actually 25 October)
- China: End of Sino-Japanese War
15 August 1945 –> Japan: Unconditional Surrender
- “Jewel Voice Broadcast”
- Emperor Hirohito announces acceptance of Potsdam Declaration (= unconditional surrender)
- “the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage”
2 September 1945: Official Surrender on USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay
- Japanese Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru
- General Douglas MacArthur
Echo from History: Same Flag 1853 & 1945
Japan in 1945: Will there be a radical break with the past, or a sense of continuity?
Allied Occupation of Japan 1945-1952
- 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)
Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964)
- 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
Allied Occupation of Japan 1945-1952
- Two phases:
– 1945-1947: Progressive Reforms
– 1947-1952: “Reverse Course”
Allied Occupation of Japan 1945-1947
- Progressive Reforms:
– Democratisation
– Land reform
– Reduce/restrict Zaibatsu
– Large scale purge militarists
– Tokyo War Crimes Trials
– Encouragement labour unionism
Allied Occupation of Japan 1945-1947: Two progressive Prime Ministers
- 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.
Three Pillars of the Japanese Constitution (1947)
- Democracy
- Pacifism
- Rights & duties
1947 Constitution
- 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
“Article 9” of the Constitution
- “Japanese people forever renounce war and the threat or use of force”
- Non-maintenance of potential war forces
10 April 1946: Women’s vote
Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal (April 1946-November 1948)
- 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
The USSR in 1945
- 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
The USSR in 1945
- “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”)
The USSR and China
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
The USSR in East Asia
- 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
The USSR in East Asia
- 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.
From late 1945: slow start of Cold War in East Asia
- 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
China in 1945
- 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
When Chiang met Mao: Chongqing talks (28 Aug-10 Oct 1945)
- Double Tenth Agreement: KMT legitimate government, CCP legitimate opposition
26 June 1946: Civil War Resumes
- 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?
USSR and the CCP
- 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
Meanwhile in Korea: “Joint Trusteeship”
- 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
Europe: Start of the Cold War
- 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
Allied Occupation of Japan 1947-1952: “Reverse Course”
- Global origin:
– Escalation of Cold War
– Chinese Civil War - Local origin:
– Rise of inflation and poverty
– Instability
– Growth of leftism
Allied Occupation of Japan 1947-1952
- “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
East Asia: From Hot War to Cold War
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
