The Western Powers in Asia before 1950 and the Cold War

Yalta Conference

• It was held on the black sea resort of Yalta from the 4^th– 12^th February 1945.
• Russia were supposed to join the war against Japan in 3 months. 
• Russia also received territory from Japan and concessions were also made from China to Russia as they leased rights the rights to port Arthur and railways in Manchuria.
•  There was also a trusteeship with the great powers in which they would supervise the European colonies and made sure that they became independent.

Potsdam Conference 

• It was held in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam from the 17^th July – August 1945.
• British forces took the surrender of the Japanese in the southern half of Indochina and the Japanese forces in the southern half of Indochina would surrender to the Chinese. 
• The future of Korea was undecided, and Truman rejected Stalin’s ideas on a trusteeship. 

The relationship between the USA and the USSR broke down as Truman did not trust Stalin, this shows as the Roosevelt was previously willing to have the Yalta conference in Russia, but the Potsdam conference was later in Germany which was more neutral ground for the two countries. 

Why the Cold War started:

The Cold War mainly started because of the ideological differences between the USA and USSR, the US were capitalist and had very little government involvement in businesses, they believed in free speech and individualism, there was also a larger financial divide between people. However, the USSR were communist, and they were a one party-state with censorship and full government involvement, there was greater equality however there was a generally lower standard of living. They wanted to spread communism throughout eastern Europe and SE Asia, which the US were very worried about as they didn’t want communism to spread due to the Domino Theory.

The use of the atomic bomb in Japan also raised tensions between the two countries as this alerted the USSR because it showed them the amount of power that the US had, and they didn’t want to tempt them to use it against the USSR. 

The war of words was also a massive factor because it increased tensions between countries as they both had very confrontational personalities. 

George Kennan’s Long Telegram on the 22^th February 1946 – showed the Soviets as aggressive and said that their aggression was not the US’ fault and he also implied that the USSR were scared of Western Powers. – ‘fear more competent, more powerful, highly organised societies.’

The Truman Doctrine Speech on the 12^th March 1947 – asked Congress for financial aid from Greece and Turkey saying that they would fight Communism together. – ‘At the present moment in world history, nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life.’ 

Kennan’s Mr X Article – He confirmed that the US would apply a policy of containment in order to stop the domino effect and that there was no prospect of good relations between the two countries. – ‘the US cannot expect in the foreseeable future to enjoy political intimacy with the Soviet regime. 

Containment

• In order to contain communism and to stop the USSR from spreading their ideologies, the US put in place a policy of containment that was at times aggressive. 
• There was a determination to maintain troops in Germany so that they wouldn’t be tempted to turn to communism as they recovered from the war.
• The US also made strong alliances such as NATO which was formed in 1949.
• The US formed a defensive perimeter strategy meaning that they would create military bases in countries along this imaginary line, this line was supposed to deter Soviet aggression in the region. They wanted to create model states in Japan and the Philippines, so they would develop to be countries that were democratic and anti-communist as well as pro-US and anti-Soviet.

Japan

• Japan was a successful model state for the US as there was very little opposition of MacArthur and SCAP as the Japanese were traditionally very respectful of authority. 
• Japan became a democracy and the Emperor Hirohito was demoted from his god-like status to just a constitutional monarch, MacArthur encouraged the emperor to take national tours and encourage a positive attitude to SCAP, this provided a welcome sense of continuity for the Japanese people. There were also free elections and as a result Yoshida became prime minister in May 1946.
• There were also purges of about 250,000 elites within Japan and the US tried to make another trading partner and build markets in Japan. 
• There was encouraged equality between people as women were given the right to vote in 1946, even though much discrimination continued. 
• Overall the Japanese were not very opposed to the US occupation as they had just suffered a humiliating defeat in the war and the US were helping them rebuild their country as MacArthur requested that the Truman admin give Japan more money than was originally planned. 
• Later Japan became a valued ally who helped in the Korean War and were slowly allowed to gain more freedom and slightly more military power, they remade Japan into ‘a model of democracy and capitalism’.

Philippines

• The Philippines, on the other hand, was not exactly a perfect model state but was still in many ways successful for the US.
• Manuel Roxas narrowly won the 1946 election, but only because the election was rigged by the US. He turned out to be a horrible leader as he kept all the traditional elite in power and had lots of corruption. The Philippines also joined SEATO.
• Lots of aid was given to the Philippines but it was stolen by corrupt government officials. 
• The Philippines also became an American consumerist society where it was better to have canned fruit from America, rather than fresh fruit. Moreover, the Bell Trade Act in 1946 limited Filipinos to American imports and basically allowed America to control the economy of the Philippines.
• As a result of the unfair policies that were put in place by the US, there was the Huk Rebellion form 1946-1956. They were communists that rebelled because the Filipino communist party had been denied seats in the government by Roxas, however they were also angry about social and economic inequality in the country. The US ended up spending over $500 million to stop the rebellion which was very important as the Philippines was on the defensive perimeter and they also had military bases there. 
• Overall, the US occupation of the Philippines was successful for the US because they knew that the Philippines needed them more than they needed the Philippines which made them an easy country to exploit for their own gain, generally the Philippines were not really used as an ally. 

The Fall of China 

• China fell to communism in 1949 after a Chinese civil war that was also fought with the US in 1945-1949, the reasons that they fell were:
• The Japanese Invasion: The Japanese offensive of 1937 cost Jiang his best troops and most of his money which allowed Mao Zedong to gain support in the countryside. The invasion also made Jiang look bad because he refused to call the CCP for support when China was in danger, making him look less patriotic than Mao.
• Communist Appeal to the Peasantry: Mao had come from peasantry, so he was more likely to understand how the peasants felt and therefore more likely to gather support. The rich people only made up around 10% of the population, however they held around 70% of the land. This meant that the idea of the distribution on land through communism was appealing to the poor and they were eventually helped by 2 million peasant workers.
• Jiang’s loss of middle-class support: Jiang and the GMD rose to prominence because the middle and upper classes were tired of having poor government, however when they actually won they lost their revolutionary dynamic and they employed corrupt officials who had been involved in other previous unpopular regimes. Also, the secret police undermined the idea of a democratic government. He also had an unsuccessful economic policy as there was hyperinflation and he did nothing to stabilise the currency, which eventually lost him the support of the middle and upper class, instead he raised taxes for the peasants making him unpopular and drawing support to the CCP.
• Jiang’s Army: The GMD had much corruption, which caused a rebellion in Taiwan in 1947, as officers sold food on the black market leaving many of the soldiers unfed. Later the desertion rates in the army were 70% and units had to tie up soldiers to keep them from leaving. As a result, morale was low, and conscription affected the peasantry the most and that encouraged them to turn to the CCP.
• Jiang’s Strategy and Generals: Jiang made frequent strategic errors and he didn’t trust his generals and was suspicious of them. However, he was not suspicious of the Communist spies that were in his camp, who ensured that the communists knew all the future moves of the GMD.
• The Communist military performance: Mao’s ‘Eight Rules of Conduct’ meant that they gained more support from the peasantry as they were ordered to be respectful to the poor as they helped the villagers and paid for what was damaged. They also used guerrilla warfare which meant that they never needed to face the soldiers head on. Also, Mao used his generals and listened to their advice unlike Jiang. 
• Mao’s Leadership: He was much more democratic and played on the nationalist feelings of the country more effectively. He also had better military tactics than Jiang which helped massively.
• Impact of US and Soviet Intervention: The US Republicans thought that the USSR had helped Mao in his victory, and that Jiang lost because of the limited intervention by the US which was simply not true. In actual fact, Stalin was a handicap to the civil war and didn’t actually want to help the Chinese, also the US’ top priority was the containment of the USSR in Europe and they couldn’t afford to waste time on China. 

The Impact

The fall of China was very important as it changed foreign and domestic policy. It heightened the US’ fears of communism spreading so much that it caused the Red Scare which eventually affected foreign policy as there was more focus on the defensive perimeter strategy and people were much more fearful and suspicious of communism, especially in the US. It also caused increased US involvement in Asian conflicts such as the Korean and Vietnam wars. There were some ways in which it wasn’t as important such as the fact that the USSR’s nuclear test was frightening and pushed the US, however the fall of China escalated tensions much more and what would have usually happened over a couple of years happened in a few months.

• There was a communist uprising in Malaya in 1948-1957, however many of the rebels were not actually Malayan instead they were actually Chinese as the British administration was making it hard for Chinese trade unions and leaders that were communist.
• However, the uprising failed due to many communist weaknesses and British strength. 
• The Communists were not successful because, they had no real leaders and also because it wasn’t actually their own country, as most of the rebels were actually Chinese, meaning that they didn’t actually gather much support. Moreover, the Korean war had made Malaya quite wealthy due to the boom in the rubber trade, which didn’t really provide the correct environment for people to turn to communism.
• The British were strong and had good tactics meaning that they were able to easily defeat the communists. They won the hearts and minds of the Malayan people and ran an anti-insurgent campaign that lasted about 9 years. Also, many of the troops used jungle warfare and wanted to ‘cut off the dragon’s head’. The British also succeeded in isolating the communists using the Strategic Hamlets programme which the US later used in Vietnam, however it backfired because in Vietnam they couldn’t tell who was a communist and who was not.

Korea

• Korea had been ruled by Japan since the late 19^th century, the 1943 Cairo declaration said that Korea would receive independence in due course. During Yalta there was an agreement that after the war, Korea would be divided up and governed by a four-power trusteeship with Britain, USSR, USA and China, however at Potsdam the US rejected the Soviets’ proposal of a detailed trusteeship plan. 
• By the 10^th August 1945, Soviet forces were already marching and approaching North Korea, and the US proposed a dividing line called the 38^th parallel which meant that two-thirds of the population was under the US administration and Stalin agreed to this. Eventually the Japanese surrendered on the 15^th August 1945 and the Koreans declared the country a Korean People’s republic, it included some communists and Syngman Rhee was elected the chairman. In December it was agreed that there would be a joint Soviet-American consulting commission who would make recommendations for a provisional Korean government who would work with the trusteeship towards independence.
• Syngman Rhee, was a nationalist who had lived in the US for nearly 40 years and wanted a separate South Korean state, he also denounced the KPR.
• On the other hand, Kim Il Sung was a communist who had fought as a CCP guerrilla and the red army in the USSR. He sent 30,000 troops to Manchuria for key military training and repressed the media and non-leftists. 
• In July 1948 the south elected Syngman Rhee as the president and formed the Republic of Korea and on the 25^th August 1948 the north elected Kim Il Sung ad the president of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, neither government recognised each other, which created in essence, two separate states. In addition, Acheson’s defensive perimeter speech made it clear that if south Korea was attacked then the Us would promote UN intervention. At this point it looked like there was no hope for a united Korea and that was with international intervention would be very likely. 

Korean War

Stalin failed to help North Korea as he was cautious of starting a war with the US. In spring of 1949, Kim Il Sung asked Stalin for help but he refused, however in 1950, Stalin finally agreed under the understanding that a decisive victory would be achieved, and war escalation would be impossible. The USSR was important in the initial escalation of the war, but they were more of a facilitator rather than an originator. They sent 150 T-34 military tanks as military aid as well as advisers and supplies in May and June. A united Korea Would benefit the USSR because it would secure the country’s borders and would also give the USSR access to Korea’s supply of lead.

Mao Zedong gave limited support to Kim as he had other focuses, specifically on China as he was trying to establish communist rule, he was also worried about a resurgent Japan and American influence in Korea. He did offer his help to Kim however, he said that Korea could look after themselves. 

There was a growing disillusionment with Syngman’s Rhee’s rule in South Korea as he was corrupt which worried the US. However, the south needed ongoing support from the US to reunify and after reunification.

South Korea had been under UN protection since 1947 and the UN voted overwhelmingly for a resolution requiring the NKPA to withdraw, which was not disputed because the USSR withdrew due to the fact that China’s seat in the UN had been given to Taiwan. Therefore, because the US was the biggest contributor to the UN, they lead the army. 

Kim Il sung was pushing for the reunification of Korea and to rid the country of foreign influences such as the US and USSR. He was inspired by the growing support for communism and thought that the war would only last for a few days. 

The fall of China and the Soviet bomb as well as the Red Scare had made the US more determined to contain communism and stop it from spreading to other countries, as a result this pressured Truman into taking firm action. However, there was the idea in US foreign policy that any and all communist was directed by Stalin which was simply not true and as a result, there was a desire in the US to protect Japan from any kind of communism. 

The Korean war was initially a war of ideological differences, however very soon it was a conflict in the context of the fight between the two superpowers that was engendered by the Cold War, it could be argued that international intervention made the war much worse as there had been a nationalist movement long before the Korean war. 

US War Aims changing

• The UN and the US both had different war aims as the UN wanted to bring repel armed invasion and bring peace and stability to the area, however, the US’ war aim was to restore the Korean status quo. The difference in war aims meant that much of the US actions could be justified and it was also a reason why the south didn’t wait for US approval before passing the 38^th parallel.
• The domestic pressure on Truman was also important in the changing of the US war aims because he was facing pressure back home to maintain his anti-communist credentials as he was still facing attacks from the Republicans due to the way he handled the fall of China. This was also important as if he didn’t take enough actions the democrats would lose during the upcoming election.

Chinese intervention

• The Chinese had good tactics and were also battle-hardened because they had fought in the civil war. They also thought that the South Koreans were weak, so they focused all their efforts on the South and opened up the UN lines.
• On the other hand, the US and ROK were struggling as morale was low as the leaders were lying to the troops saying that everything would be fine. They were also not prepared for the harsh Korean winters. Moreover, the US air surveillance could not detect the Chinese as they didn’t have much technology and used mountain trails instead of roads making them hard to find. 
• The Chinese were very worried about the US presence at their border and as a result they were more inclined to intervene in the Korean war as they were also worried about Jiang Jieshi launching a counter attack on the new communist rule with the help of the US.

MacArthur

• MacArthur was sacked in April 1951 as he was overconfident and his disastrous retreat in late 1950 decreased his influence. He also had different aims in the Korean war as there was a difference of opinion between Truman and MacArthur as to whether to use nuclear weapons in the Korean war and as to whether the US should continue to provoke China.
• On the one hand, Truman was committed to fighting a limited war, but MacArthur wanted to fully fight China. Truman, however didn’t want to challenge or get rid of MacArthur because he was popular and had a lot of influence, but MacArthur was very overconfident, and he said to a journalist in December 1950 that fighting a limited war was wrong.
• MacArthur also committed to acts of insubordination which was what got him fired eventually. He also disagreed with the JCS as they had previously said that Korea was not the place to fight a major war. Generally, MacArthur was too powerful and popular which became a threat to Truman which made him dangerous, also the clash of the two different personalities didn’t make it easier for the two leaders to work together. MacArthur’s dismissal had quite a big effect on Truman as it meant that his poll number dropped due to the fact that MacArthur was very popular.

Peace in Korea

• Peace in Korea was very slow as there were many military negotiators rather than diplomats, which further prolonged peace as it meant that there was no desire to compromise and they were also much more aggressive. Rhee was also obstructive as he was scared that he would be vulnerable as soon as the US left, and the communists were inflexible, and the US were simplistic. 
• The change in leader from Truman to Eisenhower was very important as E repeatedly said that he was prepared to use atomic bombs to end the war quickly. Moreover, the cost of the war and the changing public opinion made the countries more willing to sign a peace agreement as it was currently only a stalemate which was costing taxpayer money. At the start of the war US public opinion supported the war and was in favour of it, however, by the end of the war the public were very unsupportive and thought that it was a waste of money.