P4 - Asia C1949-55

Trumans concerns

-making Japan democratic and capitalist model state, being a US satellite

-extend economic aid to anti-communist forces in China and Indo China

-Pacific Rim - offshore islands as a barrier to communism with a policy of the Defensive perimeter strategy

-set a non- communist South Korean gov

Japan surrender - AUG 1945

-2 atomic bombs caused 210,000 deaths

-low industrial output, looting, spiralling inflation, food shortage so was an unconditional surrender

Macarthur

Japan under Allied military occupation, with Macarthur as Supreme Commander of allied powers

dominated the ruling of Japan, preventing it splitting

-Stalin given control of Kuril Islands, which was agreed in Yalta

How USA developed Relations with Japan ?

Used a 4 stages

-punish + reform

-rehabilitation process

-Japan to play a role in containment in Asia

-Japan to be independent and aid containment worldwide

1)Punish and reform

Removing elements of the old regime by:

-Japanese army dismantled and 200,000 militarists removed from public life

-war time profits taxed

war crime trial took place 1946-48

-Japanese prisoners of war returned home

1946 Macarthur gave Japan a new constitution renouncing war

Japan turned from an autocracy to a democracy

2) Rehabilitation process

Make Japan prosperous to keep it out USSR sphere of influence. USA wanted Japan and South West Asia into a group of anti-communist states so communism contained in the far east

-Japan had free markets and democracy, being a model state, but in 1947 trade had not recovered so US removed the control of the economy from Zaibatsu

-1949 congress gave $500 million per annum for food and raw materials

-5.8m acres of land bought from existing landlords and sold at low prices to tenants who worked them. 3 million peasants owned land

3) Japan to play a role in containment

fear that continued Us occupation in 1948 might lose Japanese good will

1949 USA tightened its control of Japan due to fears of communism within, like USA itself. USA needed to know Japan was free of communism before giving independence

4) Japan independence

June 1950 Korean war outbreak so Japan allowed to rearm, with an army of 130,000, tanks, artillery by 1954.

-war also led to a peace treaty with Japan in september 1951, which USSR refused to sign

Japan was not allowed to trade with China as both engaged in a war

San Francisco Treaty - SEP 1951

-Military occupation of Japan to end and rule itself

-USA allowed to use Island of Okinawa as a military base

-Japan to pay reparations to states effected by war and to give up all rights in Korea, Taiwan, China, Kuril island and south Sakhalin

-Japan also signed trade treaties with Taiwan but not China

Consequence

USSR concerned about the use of Japan as a US military alliance vs them

4 days after conference, a bilateral agreement made between Japan and USA, allowing US troops in Japan to defend itself from a newly communist China

• annoyed USSR, and responded in 1952 with a Treaty of friendship and mutual assistance with the peoples republic of China, saying they would act together if Japan attacked either of them or an ally of hers did

AUG 1949 - Loss of weapon supremacy

USA learned that USSR testing atomic weapons, with America gov expecting a 6 year lead

-US now had to build up a number of atomic weapons to maintain a lead e.g. new super bomb - H bomb

1)Spread of communism in China

OCT 1949 - Mao Ze Dong communist party of China (CCP) gained control. China under a civil war with the CCP and the National Peoples party/ Guomindang (KMT) led by Chiang Kai Shek/ Jiange Jieshi

-CCP wanted an end to Western interference in China whereas KMT willing to accept it

-Formed a temp truce in 1937 when Japan invaded and caused great suffering.

-USA assisted by providing nationalists only loans to buy weapons and under the Lend Lease Act 1941 USA sent weapons and advisors after the pearl harbour bombing

1943 - Cairo Conference

BR and USA recognised Chiang and KMT as China leader and on the other hand, they didn’t aid Mao

-saw Chang as the legitimate rulers of China

2)gradual communist spread

1944 -KMT not doing well in war but CCP doing well, with an army of 1 million and a militia of 900,000

-originally USSR also backed KMT as he also believed they would win the war and on August 15th Stalin signed the Treaty of Friendship and alliance with Chiang

-once WW2 ended, CCP met with KMT looking to negotiate a settlement to avoid the civil war restarting but failed and battles began in 1946

• USA supplied KMT, even though they were accused of corruption and Shiek was Nepotistic

• USSR gave aid to Mao in August from Manchuria, agreeing to allow them to occupy it if they had a majority ownership when they left + stopped KMT troops entering Soviet areas

-Mao campaigned he wanted to control North east China, and the KMT also increased troops there, with the US patrolling the USSR owned Port Arthur

3) continued

-Marshall Mission attempted a compromise by USA, which attained a ceasefire in spring 1946 but failed

-July the Civil war erupted, with Stalin sending his minister of transport to repair bridges and roads for CCP advantage

-Truman now pressured to increase aid but was rejected on cost grounds . USA now aware they backed a corrupt and lame duck

-October 1949 Jiang fled to Taiwan, still retaining US support and the Peoples republic of China was declared

Sino Soviet agreement

DEC 1949, Mao visited the Soviet Union formed an agreement - equivalent to NATO.

they would support each other in an event of an attack by Japan of its allies

-Stalin would give military support for the PRC e.g. air defence installations near Taiwan and USSR given raw materials

McCarthyism

Fears of spies in the USA developed hysteria

-Alger Hiss in USA and Klaus Fuchs in BR found as spies, and a belief there were more spies in the US gov sparked panic

fuelled anti-communist mood, which would reflect US foreign policy

-McCarthy exposed as a liar in 1954 but impact irreversible

NSC-68

Report to Truman from National Security Council exposing insecurities in US policy

called to be more aggressive policy of confronting vs containing

-called for 3x greater expenditure

influenced foreign policy buy shaping public opinion

Czechoslovakia

1945- soviet troops removed

1946- May communists won 38% votes in election with no salami tactics

1948-still democratic in Eastern Europe and was industrialised

-communists popular hear as they shared out land to the peasants at the end of the war

-The marshall plan caused tension, as USSR suggested to Gottwald that it was an attempt to isolate USSR

Feb 1948 - Czech communist party seized control before the elections, taking over the police force, and non-communists removed

-Czech communists took over without the help from Stalin, and he didn’t not control this area till 1949

Yugoslavia - unique case

1944 Br gave help Yugoslavia vs Germans, with Br weapons and equipment during war

NOV 1945 - communist bloc won 90% votes, dominated by Yugoslav communist members, so Tito in control, and set up a communist dominated committee that took orders from Tito

1947 - Tito hailed as chief ally of Soviet union, even though Stalin had reservations about him

-Tito preferred to carry out own policies independently e.g. established communist gov in Yugoslavia and Albania + placed troops in Albania to protect Greek communists. Stalin wanted to control his foreign policy

June 1948 - openly broke with Moscow and wouldn’t join Cominform

• he got away with it and soon received Marshall aid, and to keep with the west he stopped his support of the Greek Communist rebels

Western European Union

set up after Berlin crisis had revealed the need for coordinated responses for soviet aggression

wanted US guarantee aid in Western Europe for the future, as economic assistance wasn’t enough

-An extension of the Brussels treaty was signed by BR, FR, BEL, Netherlands established a military cooperation in an event of a war, led to the Western European Union, with the goal to prevent German hostilities

NATO- North Atlantic Treaty organisation

formed April 1949 , where an attack on one of its member was an attack on all.

-Was a defensive organisation to defend West from aggression

CAN, US, NOR, DEN, ICE, ITL, POR

originals - BR, FR, BEL, LUX ,NETH